an analysis on andrea sachs' girl power aspects and women's dis/empowerment in weisberger's

150 Pages·2015·97.83 MB·English

AN ANALYSIS ON ANDREA SACHS’ GIRL POWER ASPECTS AND
WOMEN’S DIS/EMPOWERMENT
IN WEISBERGER’S CHICK LIT THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Attainment of the Sarjana Sastra Degree in English Language and
Literature

By
Amanda Resy Prafitra
08211144003

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE STUDY PROGRAM
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
2013

DEDICATION

To

My inspiring parents, Papa and Mama
And to
My brother, Mas Rizki

For their endless love, support and encouragement
v
MOTTO

“What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

- Johann von Goethe

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank God the Almighty, for giving me
the power to believe in myself and pursue my dreams. I would have never finished
the writing without the faith I have in the Almighty.
Importantly, I offer my sincerest gratitude to my thesis advisors, Dr.
Widyastuti Purbani, M.A. and Rachmat Nurcahyo, M.A. for the guidance, advice,
and hours of struggling through this challenging process. Without their kind and
patient instruction, it is impossible for me to finish this thesis. Moreover, I thank
my father Heri Widodo, my mother Ririen Sofia Riny, and my brother Rizki
Ridho Zulfikar for their love and support. My gratitude also goes to my big family
for being the most supportive family one could hope for.
During the process of writing the thesis, I wish to thank my best partner ever
Hananto Nur Aditiya for believing me long after I had lost belief in myself, and for
providing me endless support when times were tough for me. I also thank my
dearest best friends Shely Rosita Dewi, “Chocho” Richo Nurdini, “Solpung”
Sholih Rahmadi, and “Upil” Supriyanti who always remind and motivate me to
finish this thesis. I am also indebted to the members of English Language and
Literature „08 class G, Literature Concentration, and those whom I cannot mention
one by one.
Finally, I realize that this work is far from perfection. Thus, it is open to all
criticism and suggestions.

Yogyakarta 17, May 2013

Amanda Resy Prafitra
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE .......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL ................................................................................................ ii
RATIFICATION ......................................................................................... iii
PERNYATAAN ........................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION ............................................................................................. v
MOTTO ....................................................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................ viii
TABLE OF FIGURE .................................................................................. xi
LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................... xii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................. xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study ............................................................. 1
B. Research Focus............................................................................ 8
C. Research Objectives .................................................................... 10
D. Research Significance ................................................................. 10
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................. 12
A. Feminism ................................................................................... 12
B. Postfeminism ............................................................................. 17
1. Riot Grlll .............................................................................. 24
2. Girl Power............................................................................ 25
a. Girl Power’s Meanings .................................................. 27
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1) Girl Power as Anti-Feminism .................................. 27
2) Girl Power as Postfeminism .................................... 28
3) Girl Power as Individual Power............................... 31
4) Girl Power as Consumer Power............................... 32
b. Girl Power Aspects ........................................................ 33
1) Celebrating Femininity ............................................ 33
2) Enjoying Empowerment .......................................... 34
3) Being Independent ................................................... 35
4) Making Individual Choice ....................................... 36
5) Girl Power’s Dis/Empowerment ............................. 37
6) Chick Lit .................................................................. 38
a) Women in Chick Lit .......................................... 40
C. Previous Research Findings....................................................... 42
D. Framework of Thinking ............................................................. 44
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ................................................... 45
A. Research Design ........................................................................ 46
B. Data and Sources of Data .......................................................... 47
C. Research Instruments ................................................................. 48
D. Technique of Data Collection .................................................... 49
E. Data Trustworthiness ................................................................. 51
F. Analytical Construct .................................................................. 52
CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ........................................ 54
A. Andrea Sachs’ Girl Power Aspects ........................................... 54
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1. Celebrating Femininity ........................................................ 54
a. Wearing Fashionable Wardrobes ................................... 55
b. Seeing Make Up as an Important Need ......................... 59
2. Making Individual Choices ................................................. 62
a. Choosing to Work at Challenging Fashion Magazine ... 62
b. Choosing to Live in New York...................................... 64
c. Choosing to Change Her Performance .......................... 66
d. Choosing to Quit from Her Job ..................................... 69
3. Being Confident ................................................................... 71
4. Being Independent ............................................................... 73
B. Andrea Sachs’ Empowerment and Disempowerment ............... 75
1. Andrea Sachs’ Empowerment ............................................. 75
2. Andrea Sachs’ Disempowerment ........................................ 78
a. Having Rudderless Career ............................................. 78
b. Having Bad Relationship with Her Family, Friends,
and Boyfriend ................................................................ 80
C. Discussion .................................................................................. 82
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ................................................................... 89
REFERENCES ............................................................................................ 92
APPENDIXES ............................................................................................. 96

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