For step two, I articulated how the stereotypes or images I identified above circulate through the pop cycle. How do feminine beauty, feminism, fandom, and credibility occur in school, in discipline studies, in entertainment, and in home or family life (the realm of the personal)? (Note, the three f's listed above all work to constitute the stereotype of credibility.)
School
1. An analogue to feminine beauty in schooling can be found in a
lesson students learn early on: sitting still and being quiet.
The key here is bodily control.
2. As a movement, feminism concerns itself with power relations, particularly those between men and women. Schooling too concerns itself with power relations, particularly the power dynamics of the classroom -- the relationship between student and teacher.
3. Schooling often extends beyond the three R's. Like fandom, schooling involves socializing and the building of communities.
4. Grades represent credibility.
Entertainment
1. In the entertainment domain, feminine beauty is hardly veiled.
It occurs in various forms, though, such as the image,
particularly the still, and instructions on how to look like the
stars. I chose to work with the seminal how-to manual: Color Me
Beautiful.
2. Feminism appears in female buddy films such as Thelma and Louise and Beaches as well as pop questionings of style (see Madonna). Riot Grrrl bands also represent feminism in entertainment. I work with the Riot Grrrl-esque band L7 and their Rock for Choice actions.
3. In this domain, fandom plays out in two key ways: fan magazines (produced by the industry) including the tabloids and the "fiction" of the obsessed psychopath (see Play Misty For Me).
4. Credibility in entertainment occurs as awards (such as Oscars, Emmys, and Grammies) as well as sales, and conducting interviews (on the circuit) artfully. In addition, Courtney Love addresses the question of credibility in her lyrics and interviews.
Institution
1. Cultural Studies' discourse on beauty: I cite Roland Barthes'
mythology "Garbo" and Donna Haraway's "Cyborg Manifesto."
2. Feminist Theory, for instance, Laura Mulvey's work on spectral identification.
3. Hot theorists such as Walter Benjamin, Avitol Ronell, and Gilles Deleuze attract a kind of fan identification from academics.
4. Achieving credibility in the academy is a matter of aligning yourself with "great thinkers" (translation, 'academic hotshots') who provide argumentative proofs.
Personal
See discussion in step one.