Unruly Girls, Unrepentant Mothers : Redefining Feminism on Screen

Since the 1990s, when Reviving Ophelia became a best seller and "Girl Power" a familiar anthem, girls have assumed new visibility in the culture. Yet in asserting their new power, young women have redefined femininity in ways that have often mystified their mothers. They have also largely disavowed feminism, even though their new influence is a likely legacy of feminism's Second Wave. At the same time, popular culture has persisted in idealizing, demonizing, or simply erasing mothers, rarely depicting them in strong and loving relationships with their daughters.Unruly Girls, Unrepentent Mothers, a companion to Kathleen Rowe Karlyn's groundbreaking work, The Unruly Woman, studies the ways popular culture and current debates within and about feminism inform each other. Surveying a range of films and television shows that have defined girls in the postfeminist era--from Titanic and My So-Called Life to Scream and The Devil Wears Prada, and from Love and Basketball to Ugly Betty--Karlyn explores the ways class, race, and generational conflicts have shaped both Girl Culture and feminism's Third Wave. Tying feminism's internal conflicts to negative attitudes toward mothers in the social world, she asks whether today's seemingly materialistic and apolitical girls, inspired by such real and fictional figures as the Spice Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have turned their backs on the feminism of their mothers or are redefining unruliness for a new age. (201107) Since the 1990s, when Reviving Ophelia became a best seller and "Girl Power" a familiar anthem, girls have assumed new visibility in the culture. Yet in asserting their new power, young women have redefined femininity in ways that have often mystified their mothers. They have also largely disavowed feminism, even though their new influence is a likely legacy of feminism's Second Wave. At the same time, popular culture has persisted in idealizing, demonizing, or simply erasing mothers, rarely depicting them in strong and loving relationships with their daughters. Unruly Girls, Unrepentent Mothers, a companion to Kathleen Rowe Karlyn's groundbreaking work, The Unruly Woman, studies the ways popular culture and current debates within and about feminism inform each other. Surveying a range of films and television shows that have defined girls in the postfeminist era--from Titanic and My So-Called Life to Scream and The Devil Wears Prada, and from Love and Basketball to Ugly Betty--Karlyn explores the ways class, race, and generational conflicts have shaped both Girl Culture and feminism's Third Wave. Tying feminism's internal conflicts to negative attitudes toward mothers in the social world, she asks whether today's seemingly materialistic and apolitical girls, inspired by such real and fictional figures as the Spice Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have turned their backs on the feminism of their mothers or are redefining unruliness for a new age.--Publisher description Since the 1990s, when Reviving Ophelia became a best seller and'Girl Power'a familiar anthem, girls have assumed new visibility in the culture. Yet in asserting their new power, young women have redefined femininity in ways that have often mystified their mothers. They have also largely disavowed feminism, even though their new influence is a likely legacy of feminism's Second Wave. At the same time, popular culture has persisted in idealizing, demonizing, or simply erasing mothers, rarely depicting them in strong and loving relationships with their daughters. Unruly Girls, Unrepentant Mothers, a companion to Kathleen Rowe Karlyn's groundbreaking work, The Unruly Woman, studies the ways popular culture and current debates within and about feminism inform each other. Surveying a range of films and television shows that have defined girls in the postfeminist era—from Titanic and My So-Called Life to Scream and The Devil Wears Prada, and from Love and Basketball to Ugly Betty—Karlyn explores the ways class, race, and generational conflicts have shaped both Girl Culture and feminism's Third Wave. Tying feminism's internal conflicts to negative attitudes toward mothers in the social world, she asks whether today's seemingly materialistic and apolitical girls, inspired by such real and fictional figures as the Spice Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have turned their backs on the feminism of their mothers or are redefining unruliness for a new age. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction. Bad Mothers, Angry Girls 14 Chapter One. Postfeminism and the Third Wave: Titanic 38 Chapter Two. Trouble in Paradise: American Beauty and the Incest Motif 62 Chapter Three. Girl World: Clueless, Mean Girls, and The Devil Wears Prada 90 Chapter Four. Final Girls and Epic Fantasies: Remaking the World 112 Chapter Five. How Reese Witherspoon Walks the Line 140 Chapter Six. Teen-Girl Melodramas: My So-Called Life and Thirteen 174 Chapter Seven. Girls of Color: Beyond Girl World 204 Chapter Eight. The Motherline and a Wicked Powerful Feminism: Antonia's Line 240 Afterword 268 Notes 272 Introduction 272 Chapter One 275 Chapter Two 278 Chapter Three 282 Chapter Four 283 Chapter Five 285 Chapter Six 286 Chapter Seven 287 Chapter Eight 289 Afterword 291 Works Cited 292 Index 310 A Companion To The Author's The Unruly Woman, This Book Studies The Ways Popular Culture And Current Debates Within And About Feminism Inform Each Other--page 4 Of Cover. Introduction : Bad Mothers, Angry Girls -- Postfeminism And The Third Wave : Titanic -- Trouble In Paradise : American Beauty And The Incest Motif -- Girl World : Clueless, Mean Girls, And The Devil Wears Prada -- Final Girls And Epic Fantasies : Remaking The World -- How Reese Witherspoon Walks The Line -- Teen-girl Melodramas : My So-called Life And Thirteen -- Girls Of Color : Beyond Girl World -- The Motherline And A Wicked Powerful Feminism : Antonia's Line. By Kathleen Rowe Karlyn. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.