Our icons: ourselves. Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Kevin Federline, and the construction of whiteness in a post-race America 

Abstract

Using a qualitative content analysis of US general and entertainment magazines, this study explores the presentation of Britney Spears and her two main love affairs, Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline. The article argues that in this avowedly post-race era, narratives of ‘blackness’ now join narratives of class as avenues used to define the failures of white-skinned bodies. Simultaneously, access to authentic whiteness remains, even for those with white skin, a formidable status to achieve. Moreover, the article posits that realisation of this status is not, as would be expected, based on the way an individual performs race, but instead is premised on their ability to execute a specific embodiment of highly traditional scripts of gender and sexuality.

Keywords:

• race
• gender
• whiteness
• popular culture
• media

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kimberly Bachechi

Kimberly Bachechi is a doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department at Boston College.