The Extra-Ordinary Girl Under Neoliberalism, On and Off Screen: How Teen Girls in Toronto Negotiate Care, Connection, and Figurations of Girlhood

This work examines the extra-ordinary girl as she exists under neoliberalismm today. The extra-ordinary girl in this dissertation refers to the girl with a public presence who has great physical, mental and/or social power. Through a combination of qualitative research group interviews with teen girls in Toronto, and textual and cultural analyses of figurations of girlhood in popular culture, I emphasize the importance of listening to real teen girls whose perspectives and values might not match those attributed to dominant cultural models of girlhood. I explore contemporary girl figures and figurations of girlhood, on and off screen, highlighting how girls who are not in the public eye negotiate standards of exceptionality in relation to their own experiences of social power, while also defining the importance of care and connection to their relationships and personal values. Katniss from The Hunger Games and Sabrina from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are two case examples within contemporary YA speculative fiction film and TV of an extra-ordinary teen girl protagonist. These two cases of the extra-ordinary girl the warrior-activist and the witch share some common traits rooted in an ethic of care. Moreover, these two character types are compelling for the ways they reflect social practices that real girls also engage in: activism and alternative spirituality. The fictional representations of extra-ordinary girlhood have a dialogic relationship with cultural-historical practices of girls who are visible activists, and with those who are increasingly interested in alternative spirituality. Both figures not only wield their exceptional power to effect social change, but they also become models for popular media to co-opt and appropriate into an extra-ordinary girl figure. For the girls in my study, the extra-ordinariness of the characters, like the extraordinariness of the activist discussed in our sessions, is understood within the context of care and connection. While the girls I interviewed value relationships and community, their underlying feelings of needing to work on being braver and more confident reveal internalized neoliberal messages. In my analysis of coming of age and figurations of extra-ordinary girlhood, I illuminate the complexity of care under neoliberalism for the teen girl today.