Kylie Jenner and Her Instagram Audience: A Lacanian Cultural Analysis Kylie Jenner und ihr Publikum auf Instagram: eine Lacanische kulturelle Analyse by Viktoria Pekarskaya A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo and the Universitaet Mannheim in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Intercultural German Studies Waterloo, Ontario, Canada / Mannheim, Germany, 2019 © Viktoria Pekarskaya 2019 Author’s declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. Mannheim, 05.07.2019 Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung Ich versichere, dass ich die Arbeit selbstständig und ohne Benutzung anderer als der angegebenen Hilfsmittel angefertigt habe. Alle Stellen, die wörtlich oder sinngemäß aus Veröffentlichungen in schriftlicher oder elektronischer Form entnommen sind, habe ich als solche unter Angabe der Quelle kenntlich gemacht. Mir ist bekannt, dass im Falle einer falschen Versicherung die Arbeit mit „nicht ausreichend“ bewertet wird. Ich bin ferner damit einverstanden, dass meine Arbeit zum Zwecke eines Plagiatsabgleichs in elektronischer Form versendet und gespeichert werden kann. Mannheim, den 5. Juli 2019 ii Abstract This thesis aims to examine the perception of female gender on Instagram by utilizing a conceptual framework based on the Mirror Stage theory of Jacques Lacan. Taking Kylie Jenner’s Instagram profile as an example of virtually-constructed female gender representation, I will describe the Instagram mode of operation and its cultural and social implications for users’ identity formation processes. I will analyze four positively and three negatively assessed Instagram posts by Kylie Jenner. Guided by Lacanian terms and concepts, I will investigate the behavioural and emotional patterns of Kylie Jenner and her followers on Instagram, providing insights into the specificities of gender, race, and class performance in the context of new media. By means of a qualitative analysis of the comments section, I have divided Kylie Jenner’s Instagram posts into two categories. The first entails images of Kylie presenting herself in a traditional female role as mother, sister, daughter, or beauty-oriented woman. The second comprises all image deviations from that traditional feminine representation, including Kylie as an entrepreneur, billionaire, and car lover. In the subsequent analysis, I will compare followers’ reactions to both categories by studying 500 randomly chosen comments for all seven selected posts. I will calculate the number and proportion of positive, negative, conversational, neutral, international, and Like Back comments in order to place the posts on a gradual scale and trace correlations between the position of the post on the scale, its femininity level, and its function as an object of self-identification. I will argue that followers tend to show more approval when Kylie presents herself in a traditional female role. The posts in which Kylie occupies gender-unmarked or masculine interests are expected to initiate concern, negative emotions, and fierce debate in the comments section. The posts that conform to the “feminine” domain, on the contrary, are usually better assessed and less iii discussed. Moreover, I will aim to prove that Kylie Jenner’s negatively assessed content tends to dilute race and gender dichotomies. iv Acknowledgements My sincere gratitude goes to Alice Kuzniar and Thomas Wortmann for their guidance and patience throughout this project. Thank you for believing in this idea and for helping me see the big picture. v Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 The classic feminine side of Kylie Jenner’s identity-crafting process ................................................ .7 THE HISTORY OF PURCHASING ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR IDENTITY-CRAFTING SOCIAL PLATFORMS .................................................................................................................. 10 APPROACHING LACAN ............................................................................................................. 10 THE KYLIE JENNER PHENOMENON: BIOGRAPHY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PUBLIC ..........................................................................................................................................14 QAULITATIVE ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 19 WE ARE FAMILY ......................................................................................................................... 31 Positive feedback ......................................................................................................................... 32 Negative feedback ....................................................................................................................... 44 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 48 I AM BARBIE ................................................................................................................................ 48 Positive feedback ......................................................................................................................... 55 Negative feedback ....................................................................................................................... 56 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 61 MOTHER AND DAUGHTER ....................................................................................................... 62 Kylie’s vacation with Stormi ....................................................................................................... 65 Stormi’s Birthday Party ............................................................................................................... 66 Negative feedback ....................................................................................................................... 67 Positive feedback ......................................................................................................................... 70 Conversational comments ........................................................................................................... 72 Conclusion. .................................................................................................................................. 73 SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................ 74 Kylie Jenner’s Instagram identity-crafting process as an endeavour to dilute the interplay between race and sexuality................................................................................................................................. 81 KYLIE JENNER’S IDENTITY POSITION ON THE RACE CONTINUUM .............................. 82 RACISM IS THE ESSENSE OF THE VISUAL ............................................................................ 85 EXPLOITING BLACK CREATIVITY ......................................................................................... 87 BLACK SKIN MASQUERADE .................................................................................................... 88 Blackface ..................................................................................................................................... 93 Negative Comments .................................................................................................................... 95 Positive Comments ...................................................................................................................... 99 vi Conversational Comments ................................................................................................... 100 Neutral and Like Back Comments ....................................................................................... 103 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 103 THE ORIGINS OF USERS’ HATRED TOWARDS KYLIE JENNER’S FINANCIAL SUCCESS ...............................................................................................................................106 Self-Made Billionaire ........................................................................................................... 107 Negative Comments ............................................................................................................. 109 Conversational Comments ................................................................................................... 116 Positive Comments ............................................................................................................... 118 EXPENSIVE PRESENT ......................................................................................................... 120 Negative Comments ............................................................................................................. 123 Positive Comments ..............................................................................................................