Chin

Girl Culture
An Encyclopedia
Volume
1
Claudia A. Mitchell'
and
Jacqueline Reid-Walsh
':..
Westport, Conndcficut
.
London
Library of Congress Cataloging.in-Publication Data
Girl culture : an encyclopedia / edited by claudia A. Mitchell and
Jacqueline Reid-walsh.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-313-33908-0 (set : alk. paper)
ISBN:978-0-313-33909-7 (vol.
1 : alk. paper)
ISBN: 978-0-313-33910-3 (vol. 2 : alk. paper)
1. Girls-United States--Social conditions-Encyclopedias. 2. Genage girls-United
StatesSocial conditions-Encyclopedias. I. Mitchell, claudia. II. Reid.\7alsh,
Jacqueline, 1951_
HQ798.G523
2008
305.235'2097303--dc2Z
ZOO7O4O5L7
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright O 2008 by Claudia A. Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh
A11 rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique,
express
written consent ofthe
without the
pubiishe..
n
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: ZOO?04051.7
ISBN: 978-G-3 13-33908-0 (Set)
97
84-313-33909_7 (Vot.
9?
8-0-313-33910-3 (Vot. 2)
1
)
First published in 2008
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, !?estporr, CT 06gg1
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the Unired States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.4ULgg4).
10987654327
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118
African American Presence in Popular Culture
Abstinence brackets and abstinence-only messages can also be found in nainstream girls,
magazines such as Seuenteea For example, in the
July 2005 issue there is a four-page"arti-
cle on the virtues ot ahstinence, which not only ffies to convince readers to practice
abstinence using qui::es anJ citing statistics ("53 percent of high school students are
virgins,', ,,ZO
percent of sexualil acti\-e teens say they had sex to try to make their relationshi"p
closer,,,
"92 percent of reenagers agree that being a virgin in high school is a good thing,,, ,,Stopl
Read this het.rre v.'u have sex"), but also aims to ally itself with the virginiry
movement
("one in eight reenasers has taken a virginity pledge") (Seuenteen,july zoo5, g4-g8).
The
article also Jire.r-' reaJers to several Web sites, such as candiesfouniation.org, which carries
a strong absrrne:;e message ("To be sexy you don't have to have sex;,), and http,//
teenpregnall.',.-. ri. u.hicl-r appears to promote a strong abstinence message as well. Abstinence
,,1,11
bracelet-. are i:-:r::r.ntlr' featured in its online photographs with the
wait.,,
-"rrng"
complicarr:: rhrs issue is the interpretation of "abstinence.,,For some, the word
implies a ir.crrlrreJ choice to abstain from any sexual behavior or thought; others consider at'stin'n.. :-' :llean that all forms of sexual expression short of uctrally engaging
in
heteroseru:- -r,r:rjrrurse are acceptable. Many critics note that reconcilir-rg *hriyol.rth
feel thev .1rc -- i-.ttltitting to u,ith adult expectations of what abstinence aclually means
presenrs a ;. :-...:e ::'cle challenge for both educators and adolescents.
Ser
-.., )r r
3:.r-clrr>
Further Reading
Lrsa Tnnanlp
AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESENCE IN POPULAR CULTURE. The
AfTican
American presence in popular culture is particulariy notable for being about Aftican
Americans but not /or them. The complexities of the African American presence popin
ular girl cukure can be traced largely through dolls, which have long played an i-po.trnt
role both in girl culture and, perhaps surprisingly, in national neg"otiations of race
and
inequality. As access to and control over a wide variety of media have broadened,
the
African American presence in popular culture has become increasingly prevalent, partic- i
i
ularly in the areas of music and television.
I
Dolls, Race, anA Popular Cubure. One of the earliest African American sirls ro I
become an element of popular culture is the character of Topsy, a young siave girl in
rtarrier I
Beecher Stowe's abolitionist novel Uncle Tom's cabin (1852). The niel itsjf
be.u*" ,.,
I
important cultural touchstone, and dol1s based on its characters Eva and Tonsv iikewis" I
became widely popular. These "topsy-turvy" dolls featured the white E,ru
,r-rd th" blr.t
I
Topsy as two parts of a single doll. Basically the doll had no legs ancl two
heads, one ar each I
enJ of the doll; the bodies of Eva and Topsy were joined at the waist. If
the doll *r. t.,"lj I
- :,:'1';,'"1:,,Ti:1i*':
":f
j5,lT,H;
jl;i :t: f,Hx.:*,I:
t?
l,l""ll[*:t
l
African American Presence in p..pular Culture
.-,: their very construction, which joined Eva's u,hite body with Topsy's black c:-.. .:-facturing and media developed, black dolls continued to be a staple of doll pr i,::. :
The civil rights movement established an enduring connection with black : ..- :- .
popular imagination through the work of psychologists Kenneth B. and \1:r::-... ,. ;.^
'
Clark. In 1939 and 1940 the Clarks conducted what are referred to as "the i. -. . ,:.-'
in which young children were presented with two identical dolls, one with t r..ii.:. :r .r ,r ',i -'
-r'
one with pink skin. The child subjects were asked a series of questions, such -i.
doll is the good doll?" and "\il/hich dol1 u,ould you like to play with?" The hn;-- -'---:: :
was "Show me the doll that looks like you." African American children, the Cl;ii':. : -- tended to associate positive characteristics with the pink-skinned doll and neq.i:: . i : :"
with the brown-skinned doll. When asked which doll looked like them, chili:.: r-:i
became agitated, refused to choose, broke into tears, or chose the pink-skinn=: :
These results, the Clarks argued, indicated that African American children u.-.:::-: 'that they iived in a society ln which their race, and therefore they themsel\'e !. ',r,:r: I valued. This research is widely viewed as having made a key contribution tt ir.= . -:Supreme Court decision that held segregated public schooling to be unconstitul- :-,
the landmark case Brocrn u. Boord of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Influenced by social change and the civil rights movement' major toy produce:. ::1.:
to make black dolls in large numbers in the 1960s. Mattel introduced its hrst b1:;. :.
Christie, in 1968. By the late 1980s, the African American middle class had g: ",;,.. both size and buying power. During this period the African American popula::- --.
presence made a marked shift toward representations of African Americans tr.-:. t-.:
themselves produced. Pressured by disgruntled consumers who did not want J- --. :-" '
rvere little more than brown plastic poured into the same molds used to make u.hirt : -'
toy manufacturers began to produce so-called ethnically correct dolls, which pu4'-'::.i :
n'rore realistically represent the features of different racial groups. While in rna:,'. ', .
problematic, this change nevertheless represented an attempt to embrace diver..:' :
L.road and more democratic fashion than was previously the case.
Mattel's offering in the ethnically correct doll category was the Shani lin.--,: .,
-\frican American dolls in light, medium, and dark skin tones. Among the u.'r. : .-::
versial aspects of these dolls was their hair, which remained long, silky, and eair, : : - In short, Mattel was unwilling to sacrilice what the industry calls "play I'alue": : ' :'
sion of African American hair that might be curly, kinky, or nappy. More.-''. : ' , '
: : -rumored that Mattel had reshaped the dimensions of Shani's body-specilicaii',about Shani's halr and body dimensiorr: rc- i - - - - -her an enlarged rear end.
Questions
at work more broadly for African American women and girls. They are .ir-r--' -. -pressured to conform to dominant, rvhite beauty norms but are defined 1-r' ::-. : r: -: :
heing outside those norms.
More recently, the American Girl do1l Addy has entered the scene. AJi'; -, . - :' ,
-* :
original American Girl dolls, developed as an antidote to Barbie, who i: r ;..'. . -- .-,
r: i l
as a vapid, pointy-footed sexpot. Each American Girl doll is packaged ri'i:h : 'r
j
I
:with
soft,
cylinder-sha:;
dolls
are
designed
period
history.
The
a different
of
- I -,i
:.spirit.
instead
a
can.do
emphasize
their
stories
Jeemphasize sexuality;
-'- ;'' '. :
ability to overcome challenges, and an interest in learning. Americar -r.: - -'-- :
heen widely successful, but because of their $B0 price tag, they are prin--: . r" :i:l i
niddle- and upper-income families. Not surprisingly, Addy's story cen:r:' . . :r:--:ri
:iom slavery. Of the thirteen historical characters offered by Amen;.-. -r :..:.c are
119
140
African American Presence in Popular Culture
white; Addy remains the only African American doll in the series. The message in these
numbers cor-rld be interpreted as a statement that there are many ways to be white, but
only one way to be African American.
Hand Clapping, Double Dutch, and Hip Hop. Popular culture is not synonymous
with mass culture. The everyday games played by African American girls are important
popuiar culture resources that have been passed down from girl to girl for generations. In
these forms, created and generated by girls themselves, an image of African Americans
emerges that is multifaceted and complex in ways that the American Girl version, for
instance, is not. Girls' hand.clapping games test skill and competency as well as weave
stories about romance, school, and other topics. Double Dutch, a form of jump rope,
clemands intense physical stamina and creativity in performing complex moves. Both of
these vernacular forms mix music, singing, and dance in distinctively Afrlcan American
ways, and emphasize a fusion of dance, song, syncopation, and improvisation. ]t has been
argued that these games-played intensively by inner-city girls-have made signilicant
contributions to the emergence of Hip Hop music and break dancing. The relative invisibility of these forms may have much to do with the gendered way in which men versus
\ romen and boys versus girls are under surveillance in public space; focus is often given to
men and boys, who are viewed as dangerous and threatening. Similarly, because boys and
men have dominated the music industry, the debt owed by this mass cultural phenomenon to urban girls' popular culture is less likely to be recognized. Hip Hop songs, which
graphically detail the trials of urban life, did not effectively describe girls' and women's
experiences until girls and women started making their own music.
Q,-reen Latifah is one of the lirst women to break into the Hip Hop scene as a rapper
:ni musicirrr-r. VILrch of ',vhat she has to sa1', in a nutshe1l, is "mind your manners, and
'.,,..:::-- ,,r'1-rLle I lre:1r \-rrrL at voLrr game." ,Similarlv. such artisrs as TLC, Missy Elliott, and
S.-.,:-\-F.::- erp1..re rs.ues .,t rolrdrrCe . sexualitv. prrverr\'-the u,hole gamut-from the
:a,l1I -': '.-r.'.t' .,i :he ,,-;,1-11;1 thev are.
}fedia: Filrn, Telelision, and. the \Yeb. Queen Latifah's successful musical career is
equaLed hv her torat's intu. rrlm and television. Like many African American celebrities,
Queen Latifah has consistently challenged dominant notions of African American femi.
ninity and sexualiry. She plays a lesbian bank robber in Ser It Off (1996) and celebrates
her large, curvy flgure rather than trylng to change it. In the frlmBeauty Shop (2005),
Queen Latifah's character asks her daughter, "Does my butt look bigl" \7hen her daughter answers yes, Queen Latifah responds, with a satislied smile, "Goodl"
Still, breaking into various media has often required African American women and
girls to break out of stereotypes. Until the 1980s portrayals of Afrlcan American families, television tended to focus on poverty and the inner city. Janet Jackson, for
instance, got her first big break in show business with a role in Good Times
(1974-1979), a sitcom set in the Chicago housing projects. The groundbreaking Cosbl
Shoc, (1984-1992) was the lirst to offer a prime-time view of a middle-class African
American family in which both parents were working professionais. Tll,o of the actresses
who portrayed girls on that show went on to attain influential positions in girls' popular culture. Lisa Bonet played Cosby's daughter Denise, and went on to srar in the spinoff series A Different World. This series was the first and onLv show to focus on an
-{frican American women's institution of higher learning, SpeLn-ran College. Born in
-4S5, Raven-Symone played Olivia on the Cosby Shoru's final three seasons. Her career
:....rplilies those of more recent popular culture figures, and covers multiple media
l
l
Aguilera, Christina
i
outlets. As popular girl culture has become more media-driven and incremingly dominated by cross-pollination among movies, television, and merchardisirog, ms have
become brands themselves. Raven.symone has a successfi.rl recording caeeq md sted
in the Disney Channel series That's So Rauen (2003-2006) and in dre E|imey ffiie Ttc
Cheetah Girls (2003 ), both of which spawned huge merchandising deetq frr a rille arey
of products, including a Raven-Symone per6meToday's girls face a world dominated by tigfuly coondinmd modtr ad menemdi*ry;
in which celebrities rhemselves are brands. It is teryting b ritr girls'pqrilr orlnre a
little more than a mass-marketing ploy. Howerer, imeamd eocss Uo mfi1 ;rx-Lrling
cameras and the Internet, has opened omffiunities frr gek b fuE ecir pcryaiws
more widely than ever before- Kid Davis's slrut film A G;l l-*.fe 0[n6] tmis
notions of beauty and race. She intervie*s fti€tr& ad cu*rcts bs ro rtrsim of 6c
Clark doll studies, with results not much different ftm dtrc of dre hte f95$- Shtrn h
the Media That Matters Film Festival, Davis's film was viewed by more than haffa millirn
people and has since been viewed by hundreds of thousands more. On one hard it isdir
turbing that little may have changed for African American girls since the Clarks' timeOn the other, the fact that at least one girl's exploration of these issues has reached so
many is perhaps a positive sign of things to come.
See also Cross-Merchandising
Further Reading
Chin, Elizabeth. (1999). "Ethnically Correct Dolls: Toying with the Race Industry."
Amencan
Anthropologist 101, no. Z, 305 -321.
Craig, Maxine Leeds. (2002). "Ain't I a Beauty Queen!" Black Women, Beauty, md the Politics of
Race. New York: Oxford University Press.
DuCille, Anne. (1996). "Toy Theory: Black Barbie and the Deep Play of Difference." In SkinTrade.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 8-59.
Forman-Brunell, Miriam. (1993). Made to Play House: DoLk and the CorrmercialiTation of Ameican
Girlhood. New Haven, CT Yale Universiry Press.
Gaunt, Kyra D. (1998). The Gones Block Girk Play: kaming dw Ropes fromDoubb Dutch m Hip
Hop. New York: New York Universiry PressThomas, Sabrina Lynette. (2007). "Sara [-ee: The Rise and Fall of the Ultimate Negro DJLTiuuforming Anthropobgl 15, no. 1, 3849-
EtlzcBErH CI{N
AGUILERA, CHRISTINA ( 1980-). Ct[istina Aguilera is a singer rho eain€d Pqu.
larity in the late nineties with tween and teen girk $re is a frre-tirrr CrrmmT
award-winning artist with a four-octave vocal range- $re u'as bmn m ecmher l&
1980, in Sraten Island, New York, to an Ecuadorian father and m Armi<:m modrer- She
appeared on Star Search at age 10 and loined the cast of Tfu Nen, Mi*c-l Mo,se Ct& h
1992, ,taying on the show for two seasons. Aguilera appeared orr 6e shil rilfr Brlney
Spears, *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake, and Felicity's Keri Russell, I.ntil fip shor crdd foi
1994. ln 1998 she recorded "Reflection" for Disneyh animated film l!fii4 ad $e s-as
later signed by RCA Records. Her self.titled debut album, released in 1999, im[dd dre
hit single "Genie in a Bottle" and earned her a Grammy Award for Best Ner Artist. She
followed rhe success of her {irst album with a Spanish album, MiReflfi, shkh reflected
her Latina heritage and won her a Latin Grammy Award. In 2001 Aguilera collaborated
L4t