From Gilmore to Emo: Gifted girls'
engagement with popular culture
Wilma VialleAAEGT Conference
Hobart, 2008
or
Why Hillary Rodham Clinton did not win the
Presidential nomination
Pink or Paris?
“I don’t really think, I just walk.”
Go to Fred Segal, you'll find them thereLaughing loud so all the little people stareLooking for a daddy to pay for the champagne(Drop a name)What happened to the dreams of a girl presidentShe's dancing in the video next to 50 CentThey travel in packs of two or threeWith their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny teesWhere, oh where, have the smart people gone?Oh where, oh where could they be?
Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me backPorno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girlBaby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair backPush up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
The Simpsons
Daria
Harry Potter
Giftedness frequently dumbed down to achieve popularity/romantic success:
Xander: I'm just worried it may hurt my standing as campus stud when people find out I'm dating a brain.Cordelia: Please, I do have some experience in covering these things up.
BtVS: Lovers’ Walk 3.8
Themes
Gifted person: female, studious, not “cool”, may “dumb down”
Gifted programs: specialised setting, privileged (social status), filled with “precious” characters, undesirable
Themes
Sport is highly regarded & leads to social acceptance
Notion of delayed gratification for girls - adolescence vs adulthood portrayal
Some stereotypes:* beauty vs brain
(brunette/blonde)
* the male geek
* wearing glasses
The spectacle of spectacles
• Historically associated with intelligence - statement
• The smart girl makeover (not Daria)
beauty
vs
brain
Her beauty and her brain go not together. She’s a good sign, but I have seen small
reflection of her wit.
Cymbeline 1.2.24-26
William Shakespeare
It’s not easy being geek…
What is a geek?
A gendered construction
Computer geek
Bill Gates
Making beauty and geek mutually exclusive…
Children’s drawings of IT workers
The IT Crowd
QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The IT Crowd
QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Male geek stereotype is being challenged:
Abbie (NCIS)
Cindy ‘Mac’ Mackenzie (Veronica Mars)
Why?
“It is useful for educators to comprehend the changing conditions of identity formation within electronically mediated cultures, and how they are producing a new generation of youths” Giroux (1998)
Net generation
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Radio --Telephone --Television --
Mobile phones --Cable TV --
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Radio -- 38 yearsTelephone --Television --
Mobile phones --Cable TV --
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Radio -- 38 yearsTelephone -- 20 years
Television --
Mobile phones --Cable TV --
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Radio -- 38 yearsTelephone -- 20 yearsTelevision -- 13 years**
Mobile phones --Cable TV --
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Radio -- 38 yearsTelephone -- 20 yearsTelevision -- 13 years**
Mobile phones -- 12 yearsCable TV --
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Radio -- 38 yearsTelephone -- 20 yearsTelevision -- 13 years**
Mobile phones -- 12 yearsCable TV -- 7 years
Technological changepenetration rate (50mill):
Internet -- 4 yearsiPods -- 4 yearsBlogs -- 3 years
YouTube -- 1 year
Name the 5th largest country in the world
MySpace 125 mill in 2.5 years
2004: 87% of teenagers aged 12-17 have some level of Internet
access.
2006: 55% of online teens aged 12-17 profiles on social network
sites (64% for 15-17 yo)
If you’re not on MySpace, you don’t exist! 18 yo to mother
Media-saturated lives
Approx 6 hrs 21 min per dayMulti-tasking (neurology)
69% have tv in bedrooms35-50% computer= increased use
Digital natives (Prensky)
As a kid, you used your birthday party guest list as leverage on the playground. 'If you let me play I'll invite you to my birthday party.' Then, as you grew up and got your own phone, it was all about someone being on your speed dial. Well today it's the MySpace Top 8. It's the new dangling carrot for gaining superficial acceptance. Taking someone off your Top 8 is your new passive aggressive power play when someone pisses you off. -- Nadine, 16
Networked publics:• Persistence• Searchability• Replicability• Invisible audiences
unfamiliar to adults
a culture infatuated with celebrity
Shifting the stereotypes
from
beauty OR brain
To
beauty AND brain
The National Brain Bee Champion…
Rory Gilmore
Who do you think are the best smart girls on tv?
Buffy SummersWillow Rosenberg
Rory GilmoreParis Gellar
Lisa Simpson
Daria
Veronica MarsMac
Velma
(Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy)
Audience survey
title=Who_is_the_smartest_girl_on_tv
Most 'smart girls' on TV are so stuck in their exaggerated way of life that the stereotype has filtered through to everyday life. Sad.
On the other hand, TV shows like Doctor Who, Torchwood, etc value intelligence above all else. So maybe there is help yet! …I've noticed that the older the age range of the TV show the more subtle the characters are; in Waking the Dead there are many different characters with different personalities but they are 'more human’. They are not at all stereotyped, they are just very different people. Maybe this is why I mainly watch adult programs.
she's strong and she doesn't hide it. She is very competitive at school too which is quite unusual to see in girls on or off tv. She knows what she wants and she goes for it -sometimes she gets in people's faces but she risks it to do what's right. She used to be popular and have it all but when she and her dad lost everything she kept her faith in him and in herself. She doesn't sit around feeling sorry for herself, she helps others out and she manages to have a good laugh while she's doing it. Even if some don't like her they all respect her.
Veronica Mars
Sidney Bristow
She is tough as nails but sensitive and intelligent with it.
MaxGuevara
I think Max rocks too - she's genetically engineered to be better and smarter but she won't let them exploit her - she uses her super strength to fight the corrupt army and government - I like that. I think Manticore is interesting too - it’s like a really extreme gifted school and they all feel like freaks…
I think that Dora the Explorer is a
really good example as it
shows kids from a young age that there is nothing
wrong with being smart
Ugly Betty
I think ugly Betty is a bit weird against us smart girls, I know she has inner beauty but they make
her outside frizzy hair, braces and glasses. I am a smart girl but I don't look like that at all.
I think they are over stereotyped by a mile! Ugly Betty is smart, so ugly. Models are pretty and
thick.
Ugly Betty
While Veronica Mars, Sydney Bristow … are named as smart girls, they are also beautiful and although their beauty does not alienate us as viewers, we relate more to Betty because so many girls out there watching TV never believe they are beautiful enough. There is always something about physical selves we dislike. To compensate, we use our social skills such as wit, charm and intelligence to get by. That's exactly what Betty does in every episode and we love her for it. She proves that you don't always need the looks to make a positive impression on those around us. You need the smarts!
Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)she is not 'Smart' in an academic way …
but asks questions and picks things up very quickly.
Martha Jones (Doctor Who)She's clever and everything I wish I could
be!
Temperance Brennan (Bones)intelligent, witty and honest
Dr Cameron (House)Smart and pretty…makes good decisions
Velma (Scooby-Doo)… is just so smart…my role model
Why do clever shows with smart girls get axed?
I'm actually very annoyed about the cancellation of such shows! I think audiences are too used to seeing girls be pretty and not smart. Sad as it is, I feel men are more inclined to watch a show with a femme fatale rather than a strong leader….I think people are afraid almost, to see female figures as leaders.
I hope that with the success of Betty we get more intelligent and interesting women because without Gilmores and Veronica there's a real shortage. There seems to be a real lean to showing women as dumb and slutty not just in tv but in all media. I really hope it changes.
What problems do smart girls experience?
* Popularity
* Social economic disadvantage -“other”
I guess people who are more academic will be looked down on by others. *
Glass ceiling?
Hillary Rodham Clinton
IntelligentFeminist
Media attention
lampooned,misrepresented,
achievements ignored
e.g. jokes
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Media depiction:
unintelligenthumourless
vainarrogant
unfit (sexuality, child-hater, frigid)
Hillary Rodham Clinton
The last laugh:The Late Show with
David Letterman
Fictional women vs real-life intelligent
women
SMH Headline: “Metalheads not meatheads but scholars”
Research with 1057 students (11-19 yo)* Favourite music * 6% = heavy metal* “work off anger &frustration”* Lower self-esteem& adjustment
Emo culture
Music is cultural glue among youth (danah boyd)
emo stereotype: highly emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or angst-ridden --> depression, self-harm, and suicide (popular culture influence)