Gender Biased Hiding of Extraordinary Abilities in Girl-Powered Disney Channel Sitc

237 Pages·2017·1.84 MB·English

by  Christina Hodel

SECRET SUPERSTARS AND OTHERWORLDLY WIZARDS:
Gender Biased Hiding of Extraordinary Abilities in
Girl-Powered Disney Channel Sitcoms from the 2000s

By
© 2017
Christina H. Hodel
M.A., New York University, 2008
B.A., California State University, Long Beach, 2006

Submitted to the graduate degree program in Film and Media Studies and the Graduate Faculty
of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy.

Chair: Germaine Halegoua, Ph.D.

Joshua Miner, Ph.D.

Catherine Preston, Ph.D.

Ronald Wilson, Ph.D.

Alesha Doan, Ph.D.
Date Defended: 18 November 2016
The dissertation committee for Christina H. Hodel certifies that this is the
approved version of the following dissertation:
SECRET SUPERSTARS AND OTHERWORLDLY WIZARDS:
Gender Biased Hiding of Extraordinary Abilities in
Girl-Powered Disney Channel Sitcoms from the 2000s

Chair: Germaine Halegoua, Ph.D.

Date Approved: 25 January 2017
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ABSTRACT
Conformity messaging and subversive practices potentially harmful to healthy models of
feminine identity are critical interpretations of the differential depiction of the hiding and usage
of tween girl characters’ extraordinary abilities (e.g., super/magical abilities and celebrity
powers) in Disney Channel television sitcoms from 2001-2011. Male counterparts in similar
programs aired by the same network openly displayed their extraordinariness and were portrayed
as having considerable and usually uncontested agency. These alternative depictions of
differential hiding and secrecy in sitcoms are far from speculative; these ideas were synthesized
from analyses of sitcom episodes, commentary in magazine articles, and web-based discussions
of these series. Content analysis, industrial analysis (including interviews with industry
personnel), and critical discourse analysis utilizing the multi-faceted lens of feminist theory
throughout is used in this study to demonstrate a unique decade in children’s programming about
super powered girls. This research is invested in answering questions about how and why this
decade of gendered programming was constructed and its impact on television’s portrayal of
female youth. To address these issues, close study of dialogue and action via textual analysis,
and application of insights from socioeconomic and historical perspectives elucidate the antics
surrounding the hiding and misappropriation of extraordinary power by young girl role models.
In addition, such methodologies reveal much about the attitudes of the creators of these programs
(mostly white, middle-aged, Western, heterosexual males). What is discerned from scripted
material on the motivations behind elaborate attempts to hide the extraordinary are the meanings
disseminated from the female subject-position representations in these blockbuster sitcoms that
reveal despite Disney’s progress towards creating empowered girls, the network is at best locked
into tradition.
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For girls and girls at heart.
Valuable.
Deserving.
Powerful.
Let us own who we are.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation is the result of years of diligent research. I am indebted to a particular
group of colleagues, friends, and family members who either encouraged me to pursue my
longstanding interests in a scholarly environment or to persevere in completing what at times
seemed a monumental undertaking.
First and foremost, I would like to express deep gratitude to my advisor Dr. Germaine
Halegoua for her continuous support of my doctoral studies and research. Her immense
knowledge and helpful comments on numerous drafts of this manuscript challenged me to think
more critically about the world’s most powerful medium as it relates to “girl power.” I am
indebted to Dr. Halegoua for her overall guidance, insightfulness, and patience in bringing my
dissertation together.
I would also like to pay particular thanks and appreciation to the members of my
dissertation committee: Dr. Catherine Preston, Dr. Ronald Wilson, Dr. Joshua Miner, and Dr.
Alesha Doan. Their vital encouragement, constant motivation, and empathy—along with their
extended support and critical commentary on both early and later revisions of chapters—assisted
me at every point of the process and helped finely shape my research.
Further thanks are extended to the faculty, staff, and students of the Department of Film
and Media Studies at the University of Kansas. The entire department—led by Dr. Michael
Baskett—was involved in the process of deep learning about gender representations on
children’s television, by way of formal coursework and countless conversations shared over the
years. Special thanks to my fellow grad students; their comradery and genuine interest in my
work lifted my spirits and made the doctoral experience both intellectually stimulating and
enjoyable. I would also like to thank my best friend and perpetual page-turner, Richard Paul
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Paczynski, for five incredible years of unwavering support, understanding, and commitment to
both my research and myself.
Although less directly related to the completion of this project (but no less instrumental) I
would like to thank my dance teachers and classmates at the Lawrence Arts Center School of
Dance, particularly instructors Cynthia Cruz, Shannon Pickett, and Jerel Hilding. I believe that I
owe much of my success as a scholar, artist, and person to the uplifting and reassuring
environment these individuals created every day in their classes. It perhaps goes without saying
that their insistence on keeping dance in my life while working through school helped keep me
fit, motivated, and balanced in the often demanding atmosphere of academe.
Of course, I must acknowledge my family—my parents, Donald and Marianne Hodel,
and my brother Robert Hodel. Robert, thanks for being the “big guy” who taught me—way back
before I could even walk—how to crawl to the TV and tune into Disney Channel. Mom and Dad,
thanks for eventually abandoning the rule of “No TV after 5:00.” Growing up with free rein over
that analog Sharp has finally paid off.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ v
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. vii
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................ 8
Girlhood ................................................................................................................................... 9
Gender and Television ........................................................................................................... 10
Super Powered Females......................................................................................................... 13
METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 18
Textual Analysis and Content Analysis................................................................................. 18
Discourse Analysis I and II ................................................................................................... 19
Cultural Studies and Historical Approach ............................................................................. 21
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ............................................................................................ 22
CHAPTER OUTLINES ............................................................................................................ 23
CHAPTER 1: THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF GENDER IN DISNEY TELEVISION .... 26
DISNEY THROUGH THE DECADES ................................................................................... 28
1920s and 1930s .................................................................................................................... 29
1940s and 1950s .................................................................................................................... 33
1960s and 1970s .................................................................................................................... 35
1980s and 1990s .................................................................................................................... 38
2000s ...................................................................................................................................... 44
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 48
CHAPTER 2: DISNEY CHANNEL PACKAGES GIRLHOOD ................................................ 51
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BUILDING A TWEEN GIRL AUDIENCE ............................................................................. 55
CONCEPTUALIZING THE TWEEN GIRL CONSUMER .................................................... 57
UTILIZING CROSS PROMOTION TO BUILD THE TWEEN AUDIENCE ........................ 65
BRANDING, MERCHANDISING, AND FRANCHISING: CONSUMER SUBJECTIVITY
FOR TWEENS .......................................................................................................................... 68
CONSTRUCTING THE STAR, CONSTRUCTING THE CONSUMER ............................... 72
DISNEYFICATION: SUSTAINING A CONSUMER CULTURE VIA NARRATIVE ......... 77
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 81
CHAPTER 3: DISNEY CHANNEL TV: GIRL POWER AND ITS DISCONTENTS ............... 82
DESCRIPTION OF TEXTS ..................................................................................................... 84
That’s So Raven..................................................................................................................... 85
Hannah Montana.................................................................................................................... 86
Wizards of Waverly Place ..................................................................................................... 88
METHODS................................................................................................................................ 90
FINDINGS AND RESULTS .................................................................................................... 94
Girls and Empowerment ........................................................................................................ 94
Girls and Agency ................................................................................................................. 100
Multi-dimensional Girls ...................................................................................................... 107
Gender Performance ............................................................................................................ 112
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 119
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 118
CHAPTER 4: A NEW DISNEY CHANNEL EMERGES ......................................................... 119
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION OF 2011-2011 TRENDS ................................................. 129
SHIFTS IN NEW PROGRAMMING ..................................................................................... 131
Ensemble Programming ...................................................................................................... 134
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Female Buddy Series ........................................................................................................... 144
Lack of Magical Powers ...................................................................................................... 153
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF WHAT THESE SHIFTS MEAN ............................... 160
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 166
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 167
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 177
APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................. 194
APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 196
APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................. 200
APPENDIX D ............................................................................................................................. 205

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INTRODUCTION

You get the limo out front/
Hottest styles/
every shoe, every color/
Yea, when you’re famous it can be kind of fun/
It’s really you but no one ever discovers/
Who would have thought that a girl like me/
Would double as a superstar!/
You get the best of both worlds/
Chillin’ out, take it slow/
Then you rock out the show/
You get the best of both worlds/
Mix it all together, and you know that it’s the best of both worlds.

“The Best of Both Worlds,” theme song from Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana
written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil

Hannah Montana (2006-2011) was an immensely popular Disney Channel sitcom created
by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O’Brien. The program focused on protagonist Miley
Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a teenager in junior high by day who had a secret life as teen pop star—
Hannah Montana—by night. The theme song’s lyrics describe the premise of the series—that
any girl may become famous and buy anything her heart desires. The words also reveal that such
a life of glitz and glamor is to remain hidden from society, thus lending the girl the mystique of
someone leading a secret, double life. At the heart of this conflict lies the discretion and restraint
on the part of the divided teen, sometimes to the point of conscious subterfuge, required if she
wants to continue to function in the “real world.”
This study examines themes of girls with hidden abilities on Disney Channel programming
to better understand the powerful sociological, historical, and economic forces at work in
Disney’s investment in girls’ subjectification. The super-tweens depicted in the Disney programs
examined here possess extraordinary lives—phenomenal abilities, talents, and possessions that
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