Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Communication (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Communication

Advisor/Mentor

Neville-Shepard, Meredith

Committee Member

Hatfield, Joe

Second Committee Member

Mensah, Angela D.

Keywords

girl dinner; girl math; postfeminism; social media; TikTok

Abstract

This thesis provides a critical analysis of viral girlification trends on TikTok to bolster understanding of the rhetoric of popular feminism in the emerging digital landscape. Grounded in feminist cultural theory, this thesis posits that women’s digital engagement influences their notions of self-actualization, their avenues for resisting sexist ideals, and ultimately, their political mobilization. Extending scholarship on postfeminism, I offer two unique but co-constructive features of the postfeminist sensibility: post-irony and the confession paradigm. The first chapter analyzes the “girl dinner” trend as a site of post-ironic discourse. Characterized by ambiguity and ambivalence, post-ironic discourse muddles the line between sincerity and irony to the extent that no distinctive feminist sentiment can be reliably discerned. The second chapter examines on the “girl math” trend with a focus on confession, discipline, and humiliation. I argue that the postfeminist sensibility has developed a confession paradigm that promises women empowerment through self-disclosure but ultimately results in feminine humiliation and further discipline. In an effort to cultivate digital visibility in an economy of popular feminism, these trends have adopted both post-irony and confession as central discursive tools. In doing so, the culture of the postfeminist sensibility has persistently evolved and with it, the ways in which women conceptualize feminist engagement.

Download

Included in

Communication Commons

Share

COinS