Girlhood, Schools, and Media: Popular Discourses of the Achieving Girl (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies)

This book explores the circulation and reception of popular discourses of achieving girlhood, and the ways in which girls themselves participate in such circulation. It examines the figure of the achieving girl within wider discourses of neoliberal self-management and post-feminist possibility, considering the tensions involved in being both successful and successfully feminine and the strategies and negotiations girls undertake to manage these tensions. The work is grounded in an understanding of media, educational, and peer contexts for the production of the successful girl. It traces narratives across school, television and online in texts produced for and by girls, drawing on interviews with girls in schools, online forum participation (within the purpose-built site (http://www.smartgirls.tv) www.smartgirls.tv ), and girls discussions of a range of teen dramas. "This book explores the circulation and reception of popular discourses of achieving girlhood, and the ways in which girls themselves participate in such circulation. It examines the figure of the achieving girl within wider discourses of neoliberal self-management and post-feminist possibility, considering the tensions involved in being both successful and successfully feminine and the strategies and negotiations girls undertake to manage these tensions. The work is grounded in an understanding of media, educational, and peer contexts for the production of the successful girl. It traces narratives across school, television and online in texts produced for and by girls, drawing on interviews with girls in schools, online forum participation (within the purpose-built site www.smartgirls.tv), and girls' discussions of a range of teen dramas."--Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 1 The Future Girl’s Problem Past 20 2 The Achieving Girl as the Ideal Subject 35 3 The Archaeology: Sites and Stories 47 4 Girls Reading Girl Texts: Genres, Tropes and Trajectories 74 5 The ‘Girls Work Hard’ Narrative 117 6 ‘Girls Hang Back’: Choice, Complementarity and Collaboration 154 Conclusions 184 Bibliography 194 Index 234 Popular Discourses of the Achieving Girl The Future Girl's Problem Past -- The Achieving Girl As The Ideal Subject -- The Archaeology: Sites And Stories -- Girls Reading Girl Texts: Genres, Tropes And Trajectories -- The Girls Work Hard Narrative -- Girls Hang Back: Choice, Complementarity And Collaboration -- Conclusion. Michele Paule. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 175-214) And Index.