The discreet charm of the petite celebrity: gender, consumption and celebrity on My Super Sweet 16

This paper analyses MTV's My Super Sweet 16 as an articulation of a cultural position that the author has termed petite celebrity. The term petite (or petty) expresses a subordinated relationship to accomplished celebrity that is built upon reverence and aspiration because petite celebrities consume products and fashion associated with celebrity stars to try to articulate their own sense of distinction. An analysis of the first season generated two overarching themes. First, through consumption practices and coming-of-age birthday rituals of mostly teenage girls, the MTV programme links the subordinated position of petite celebrity to problematic gender representations. Secondly, the participants must actively work and engage in surveillance strategies to attempt to attain a desired sense of distinction. This labour also places them in a petite position in relation to accomplished celebrities, whose distinction is established and regulated through media and cultural intermediaries. Ultimately, the ritualistic texts of My Super Sweet 16 encode a preferred meaning of the participants as petite celebrities who are devalued and feminised while simultaneously critiquing and relying on celebrity culture.

Keywords:

• gender
• celebrity
• consumerism
• media ritual
• reality TV