CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Sydney eScholarship The Father-Adolescent Daughter Relationship in United States Media Culture: Postfeminist Renegotiations of Ideal Girlhood and Hegemonic Masculinity Alexa Irini Appel Department of Gender and Cultural Studies School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The University of Sydney A thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2020 In memory of my beloved grandmother, Maria Hatzielenis. (1925-2019) Statement of Originality This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Alexa Irini Appel April 22 2020 i Abstract This thesis argues that the preoccupation with the father-adolescent daughter relationship in US media, from the early twenty-first century onwards, arose from and has been integral to a renegotiation of ideal girlhood and hegemonic masculinity in postfeminist culture. Through an examination of media texts produced from the early 2000s to the late 2010s, I establish how a confluence of cultural and ideological conditions – including post-9/11 anxieties, the ‘paternalisation’ of ideal masculinity in postfeminism, the commercialisation of ‘girl power’ and a fortified religio-political emphasis on girls’ bodies – precipitated the normalisation of two gendered subjectivities: the ‘sovereign postfeminist father’ and the ‘can-do/at-risk princess daughter’. Performing a close textual analysis of early-millennial ‘girl teen princess’ films; digital news mediations of Barack Obama’s ‘paternalised’ presidential persona; conservative evangelical girl-rearing literature; and television portrayals of father-adolescent daughter crime-fighting duos, I demonstrate how these subjectivities are constitutive of and constituted by imaginings of the father-adolescent daughter relationship in postfeminist culture. Furthermore, I assert that a wider cultural emphasis on the father-adolescent daughter relationship serves as a way of exploring new attitudes towards girlhood and paternity, albeit without disrupting dominant structures of masculine power. Focusing equally on girlhood and masculinity, I claim that contemporary media constructions of the father-adolescent daughter relationship engage feminist concerns about the paternalistic dynamics which constrain girls, whilst also often privileging whiteness and recalibrating hetero-patriarchal power. By examining the entanglements of postfeminism and patriarchal systems of authority, I illuminate how the father-adolescent daughter relationship operates as a key site upon which popular cultural contestations over gender arise, and the reproduction and disruption of gender-power relations takes place. ii Acknowledgements There are many people to whom I owe thanks for their contributions to the writing of this thesis. First and foremost, I am infinitely indebted to my supervisor, Anthea Taylor, for her ongoing mentorship, her profound generosity and her unwavering moral support throughout this entire process. I feel fortunate to have been one of Anthea’s students; I have benefited immensely from her commitment to my intellectual development, her sharp mind and her belief in my academic abilities. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without her patience and trust in me to cultivate my critical thinking at my own pace. I would also like to extend my thanks to my associate supervisor, Catherine Driscoll, for reviewing and offering critical comments on several chapters. Catherine emboldened me to begin this project, has always challenged me to think rigorously and inspired me to write about girls. I am appreciative of the encouragement I have received over the past decade from the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. I would like to express my gratitude to members of staff past and present, and particularly Elspeth Probyn, Meaghan Morris, Natalya Lusty, Carina Garland and Rowena Braddock for their excellent guidance, warmth and brilliance. I am filled with gratitude for the camaraderie of my friends and colleagues within the Department, especially Jan Filmer, Rachel Cole, Tim Steains, Paul Kelaita, Bin Wang, Daren Leung, Alex Heatwole, Lisa Lake, Nick Fogarty, Jaya Kearney, Christen Cornell, Daniela Villegas, Karma Eddison-Cogan and Paul Priday, with whom I wish I could have spent more time talking over drinks in the final years of my candidature. Great thanks to my dear friend, Nathalie Camerlynck, who was always there to listen and give me courage when the going was tough. I am thankful to my close friends, including Ashleigh Morse, Julia Grieves, Anna Westbrook, Yarran Hominh, Caitlan Cooper-Trent, Lucie Reeves- iii Smith and Sadie Blackie-Knapp for their reassurance and kindness. I must also thank Naomi van Groll, Jeffrey Millar and Christopher Black for their wonderful friendship and integral proofreading and feedback assistance in the final drafts. Their intellect, editing skills and finesse for grammar has helped make this thesis into a finished product. Special thanks and love go to my cherished partner, Julian Frood, whose devotion, understanding and resolute belief in me has been immeasurable and invaluable in this journey. Without fail, he has been there when I needed comfort and I feel so lucky to have him by my side. Finally, I have accomplished this enormous task because of my all-time biggest supporters: my impeccable parents, Sally and Brett Appel, my inspiring sister, Zoe Appel, and my selflessly kind grandmother, Maria Hatzielenis, who we sadly lost in the months leading up to my thesis submission. The unconditional love, nurturance, counsel, leeway, security and humour they have all provided is the foundation I have needed to overcome life’s challenges and achieve my goals, especially during this process. iv Table of Contents Statement of originality i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of contents v List of Figures vii Introduction – Refiguring the Father-Adolescent Daughter Relationship in a 1 Postfeminist Cultural Context Interrogating the father-adolescent daughter relationship 5 Defining and debating postfeminism 12 The celebrified, white ‘princess daughter’ and ‘can-do/at-risk’ girlhood 20 The ‘sovereign postfeminist father’ and postfeminist masculinities 27 Outline of chapters 31 1 – Sovereign Postfeminist Fathers and Celebrity Daughters in ‘Girl Teen Princess’ Films: What a Girl Wants (2003), First Daughter (2004) and Chasing Liberty (2004) Introduction 36 Revised fairy tales, postfeminist authenticity and tween culture 40 Celebrified girlhood and the centring of postfeminist fatherhood 46 The father-adolescent daughter relationship as an ‘erotic entanglement’ 53 Father-daughter dances and the girl’s sexual coming of age 58 Circumventing the white girl’s sexuality 62 The girl teen princess film’s (postfeminist) paradox 66 Conclusion 71 2 – “As the Father of Two Daughters”: Barack Obama, Paternalised Male Celebrity and Post-Racial Black Daughterhood in the Digital News Media Introduction 74 President Obama: the celebrity ‘black but not black’ politician and father of phenomenal 79 ‘can-do’ daughters Obama’s self-presentation as the ‘responsible’ and ‘manly’ father 88 The rise of ‘dad feminism’ 97 Plan B, institutionalised paternalism and (restricting) the girl’s right to decide 106 Conclusion 116 v 3 – Godly Fatherhood, ‘Authentic’ Biblical Daughterhood and Postfeminism in Conservative Evangelical Girl-Rearing Literature Introduction 121 The imbrication of sacred and secular in US society 128 Daughters as ‘princess-brides’ and fathers as ‘purity warriors’ 133 ‘Kings produce queens’: postfeminist discourse in conservative evangelical literature 141 directed to an African-American audience Girls as ‘gifts’ from Heaven, fathers as ‘visions of the Almighty’ 146 Sexualisation, ‘can-do/at-risk’ girlhood and the father as ‘obstructer’ of secular culture 151 ‘Daddy-daughter dates’ as ‘investments’ in the daughter 160 Conclusion 166 4 – The Father-Adolescent Daughter Crime-Fighting Duo in Serialised Television: Veronica Mars (2004-2007), Castle (2009-2016) and Black Lightning (2018-present) Introduction 170 ‘Resurgent protective paternalism’ and the ‘captive daughter’ in Castle 178 The father-adolescent daughter relationship as feminist resistance in Veronica Mars 185 Postfeminist parenting, black feminist girlhood and the ‘new’ African-American family 195 Paternally signified black superheroism and the father as a champion of ‘black girl magic’ 204 Conclusion 214 Conclusion – The Father-Adolescent Daughter Relationship Rethought: Popular 211 Feminism, Media Democratisation and the New Age of Activism Bibliography 230 vi List of figures Figure 1.1. 1957, Ebony magazine. Figure 2.1. 2015, Pete Souza, ‘Obama Family Portrait’, April 5 2015. Figure 3.1. 2012, David Magnusson, ‘Purity’, Fotografiska, The Swedish Museum of Photography. Figure 4.1. 2019, Black Lightning, Jennifer aka ‘Lightning’ and Jefferson aka ‘Black Lightning’, https://www.yahoo.com/news/cw-moves-black- lightning-season-163000787.html. Figure C.1. 2017, Marzia Messina and Sham Hinchey, ‘Dear Daughters’, March 8 2017, https://www.facebook.com/marsandsham/. vii Introduction – Refiguring the Father-Adolescent