The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education THE MEDIA(TED) GIRL: CREATING (FEMINIST) SPACES A Dissertation in Curriculum and Instruction and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies By Laura E. Rattner © 2015 Laura E. Rattner SuBmitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 The dissertation of Laura E. Rattner was reviewed and approved * by the following: B. Stephen Carpenter, II Professor of Art Education Dissertation Advisor Patrick Shannon Distinguished Professor of Education, Language and Literacy Education Co-Chair of Committee Stephanie Serriere Associate Professor of Social Studies Education Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Affiliate Co-Chair of Committee Michelle Rodino-Colocino Associate Professor Film/Video, Media Studies & Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies William Carlsen Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies, Curriculum and Instruction *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT American popular culture perpetuates sexist and repressive myths of dominant femininity and heteronormative relations that flatten the experiences and complexities of girls and women in raced and classed ways (Kearney, 2006; Sweeney, 2008, Zaslow, 2009). While our sexist society often presents messages that can feel limiting for all citizens, for girls and women these messages can be particularly problematic. In the highly digitized public spaces girls traverse, how do girls seek to mediate, combat and/or inform messages of who they are (or not)? The purpose of this study is to explore the ways Reel Grrls, an after school media literacy/technology film program with a feminist culture, offers a counterbalance to repressive and limiting messages for and about girls in mainstream media culture. This work highlights the official and unofficial curricula of the Reel Grrls program and the experiences these girls encounter to create personal narratives as they move from roles as cultural consumers to cultural producers. The girls’ stories, “the ones that only they can tell,” transcend those told by conventional media as they highlight issues of race, class, gender and other differences, in interesting and poignant ways. Girls, then, are not mere sideline characters or ‘tokens, but rather are the protagonists of their films just as they author the stories of their lives. This feminist ethnographic study reveals what I call an enmeshed feminist curriculum, a positive normative feminist praxis, visible throughout the Reel Grrls program and in the finished films the girls produce. Reel Grrls provides possibilities of how feminist pedagogy and feminist activism might be practiced with youth engaged in contemporary media production. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of TaBles vi List of Figures vii Acknowledgements viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Popular Culture and Public Pedagogy 1 The Beginning 2 Undertaking a research project on feminism, girls, and the media 7 Research questions and situating the research 15 A word on structure: Flashforward (prolepsis) 19 Chapter Overviews 20 Chapter 2: Overview of Reel Grrls and Methods 24 The Reel Grrls and the Researcher 24 Reel Grrls Program: The History 24 Research Questions and Feminist Ethnography 30 Situating the Researcher 32 The Ask and Lead Up 35 The Study Itself 37 Goals and Norms 42 Reflexive Analysis and Emergent Data 45 Presentation of Data 47 The Flashforward 49 Conclusion 50 Chapter 3: Bad Ads 57 Screenplay page (data) 57 Advertising and Kids 58 Image-Based Culture and Advertising 60 Women and Spectatorship 64 Magazines, Dominant Femininity and Sexism 69 DouBle standards and confusing times 72 What is Bad Ads? (Exercise #1) 75 Hit the Ground Running 76 Media Girl (Exercise #2) 84 She’s Come Undone 85 Mediating Critical vs. Typical Perceptions: The Beginnings of An Enmeshed Feminist Curriculum 88 Chapter 4: Turning Point 95 Screenplay page (data) 95 Complicating notions of ‘girl’ 96 (Feminist) Media Literacy Past and Present 99 Laying the Groundwork of the Enmeshed Feminist Curriculum 112 iv Turning Point: what does it mean? 119 Conclusion 121 Chapter 5: Seattle Community Action Network (S.C.A.N.) 125 Screenplay page (data) 125 Introduction 127 A Recurring Panic Attack 129 “At Risk” 130 “Can Do” 131 What is a Riot Grrrl? 136 Visting S.C.A.N. 150 Democracy in Action 154 Chapter 6: Pitch Day 161 Screenplay page (data) 161 Introduction 163 Girls as Agents 164 What does it mean to Be ‘mean’? 168 Mean girls on the screen 173 ‘Pitch Day’ Exposition 181 A ‘turning point’ revisited 184 Red/Yellow/Green light: the selection process 189 Working Together: Mentors and Girls 196 A place for meaning: the Enmeshed Feminist Curriculum revealed 199 The heroine’s journey and conclusions 202 Chapter 7: Resolutions and Textual Analysis 206 Screenplay page (data) 206 Girl Gaze 207 Textual Analysis 210 Role Tape 211 Suicide: Cut Here 211 Generational choices: Breaking the Cycle 224 Family Struggles: It Takes A Village 237 The Girl Gaze and the Enmeshed Feminist Curriculum 251 Chapter 8: Conclusions and Beginnings 256 The tipping point 256 Reflections of the study 259 Situating the work 263 Implications for future research 265 Limitations of the study 267 Final wrap-up 270 References 271 Appendix: The girls’ writing prompt from the Reel Grrls Mentor 293 v List of TaBles TaBle 2.1 Demographic and Media Interests of Participants 55 vi List of Figures Figure 2.1 Reel Grrls Master Schedule—2006 52 Figure 2.2 Timeline of Reel Grrls Curriculum 54 Figure 2.3 Reel Grrls Goals and Shared Norms 41 Figure 2.4 Informational Flow of Qualitative Analysis and Interpretation 56 Figure 3.1 Alexander Wang advertisement/WWD 63 Figure 7.1 Still from Cut Here, 2006 212 Figure 7.2 Still from Cut Here, 2006 215 Figure 7.3 Still from Cut Here, 2006 218 Figure 7.4 Still from Breaking the Cycle, 2006 225 Figure 7.5 Still from Breaking the Cycle, 2006 227 Figure 7.6 Still from Breaking the Cycle, 2006 232 Figure 7.7 Still from It Takes a Village, 2006 240 Figure 7.8 Still from It Takes a Village, 2006 243 Figure 7.9 Still from It Takes a Village, 2006 246 vii Acknowledgement To my Dissertation Advisor, B. Stephen Carpenter II, thank you for your steady guidance and unparalleled editing abilities. I offer my heartfelt and deepest gratitude for making the hard academic times seem easy, and the easy times much more fun. To my Co-Chairs, Patrick Shannon who besides providing just the right question at the right time, gave freely of his knowledge and assistance. I appreciate your commitment to hang in there with me long (long) after what was required; and, Stephanie Serriere for her enthusiasm, her insightful questions, and her encouragement. To Michelle Rodino-Colocino for providing her feminist eye and staunch support. To Marnina Gonick for starting me on my way through girl world. Lastly, Jeanne Hall whose untimely death left a hole in my heart and a world that is a little less bright. I heartily thank Malory Graham, Lucia Ramirez and the mentors of Reel Grrls, but most of all, to the Reel Grrls who let me Be present on their journey, moment By moment. This dissertation would never have Been completed without the constant cajoling, humor, encouragement, support, threats, and love of many, many friends, neighbors and family. But, I would like to especially acknowledge: DeBra Freedman and Natalie Jolly. Both of whom continued to be actively present, offer their high erudition, unwavering belief, and ass-kicking—advice. To my mother Bonnie G. Rattner, a powerful role model who showed me following your intuition and creating your own path is never easy, and requires much determination. Lastly, to my two loves and greatest cheering section Madeleine and Ray. For conversations, for distractions, for understanding, and for knowing when I did not, this is for you. My gratitude to you all remains endless. viii “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” (Rumi, 2004) “Here, in a Bizarre twist, it is feminism that is seen to complicate what is assumed would otherwise be an easy and straight-forward transition from girlhood to woman.” (Gonick, 2006, p. 8) “She struggles with the forces that would tell her story for her, or write her out of the story, the genealogy, the rights of man, the rule of law. The aBility to tell your own story, in words or images, is already a victory, already a revolt.” (Solnit, 2014, p. 78) ix Chapter 1: Introduction Popular Culture and PuBlic Pedagogy Much informal learning happens outside of classroom hours. In fact much of that time is spent engaging with some form of popular culture, which incorporates a wide range of media sources, film, music, television in addition to “the full range of cultural forces we experience on a daily basis” (Sandlin, Schultz, & Burdick, 2010, p. xxii). In those informal learning spaces, popular culture Becomes the teacher. Given our constant connection with some form of popular culture, educators find its influence to Be greater than formalized educational settings (Sandlin, Shultz, & Burdick, 2010, p. xxii), most likely Because popular culture not only educates, But also entertains us in the process (Giroux, 2002). Writing specifically of film media, Giroux (2002) notes they “…deploy power through the important role they play connecting the production of pleasure and meaning with the mechanisms and practices of powerful teaching machines” (p. 3). The mixture of pleasure with the power of learning sometimes can make the messages and/or meanings seem innocuous. Giroux continues that this public pedagogy we are getting helps to “…construct the landscape of American culture” By offering “suBject positions, moBiliz(ing) desires, [and] influenc(ing) us unconsciously” (Giroux, 2002, p.