Anti-feminist messages in American television programming for young girls

Abstract

Although ‘girl power’ has become a mainstream concept, some scholars have argued that we are in the midst of a media-generated backlash designed to undo the empowerment of girls and women. US popular culture targets young girls with anti-feminist messages, which undermine feminist inroads. To explore this issue, I conduct qualitative textual analysis of four television programs aimed at young girls. I find that much of this programming is anti-feminist.

Keywords:

• girls' studies
• feminism
• youth
• televison media

Notes

1. Children, tweens, teens, young women, and middle-aged women are called ‘girls’ or ‘girlie’ in this literature (Harris 2004).

2. That episode garnered the most cable viewers for that week, with 5.9 million viewers.