THESIS DEFENSE

"It" girl identity in

American culture: A
case of Kendall
Jenner
P R E PA R E B Y: N G U Y E N P H U O N G T H A O - 1 5 E 8
S U P E RV I S O R : M . A H O A N G H A I A N H
M.A NGUYEN NHU MAI
 I. INTRODUCTION:
1. Background of the study
Table of 2. Definition of key terms
Contents 3. Rationale for selection of case
4. Research questions
5. Significance of the study
 II. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY IN THE
FASHION SCENE THROUGHOUT THE
20TH CENTURY:

Table of 1. How “It” movie and its constituents

navigated “It” girl identity.
Contents
2. How “It” girl identity was constructed
in the fashion scene: Edie Sedgwick &
Chloe Sevigny.
 III. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY & THE
MODERN “IT” GIRL KENDALL
JENNER :

Table of 1. New, successful femininities.

Contents 2. Modelling industry in social media

era.
3. How Kendall Jenner visually
manifests new, successful femininities.
 IV. CONCLUSION:
1. The contribution of Kendall Jenner’s
participation in constructing “It” girl

Table of identity in fashion scene.

Contents 2. Limitations of the study & future

approaches.
 I. INTRODUCTION:
1. Background of the study

• The Millennials: social media platforms become essential and popular media channels of information

exchange.

• “It” girls – models like Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevign:

o Have fan base of millions of followers.

o Set out fashion and beauty trends.

o Receive mass media coverage as successful young women: wealth & beauty

o Change my aesthetic practices & view on my female identity.

 I. INTRODUCTION:
2. Definitions of key terms:
• “It”:
o 1904 – Rudyard Kipling: feminine sexual appeal.
o 1927 – Elinor Glynn: strong heterosexual attraction of men and women.
o 1927 – movie “It”: associated “It” with “girl”.

• “Girl”: young women

• “Identity”:
o “sameness, oneness, state of being the same” (Oxford Living Dictionary, n.d., para 1)
o “the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is” (Oxford Living Dictionary, n.d.,
para 2)
• “It” girl identity constructed upon:
o The shared characteristics among the participations of all “It” girls.
o The particularities belong only to each “It” girl’s participation.
o Retaining core sensibilities while constantly (re-)constructing.

• “It” girl identity in its existing history:

o Attributed to various figures, fields, circumstances: “…become a tangled mess to sort and define.”
(Gordon, 2015).
o “map a certain type of […] career and behavior trajectory.” (Peterson, 2015).
I. INTRODUCTION:
3. Rationale for selection of case:
• Kendall Jenner:

o “2015 was the year of the “It” girl, with models and personalities like Gigi Hadid, Cara

Delevingne, Kendall Jenner […] permeating pop culture at every level.” (Gordon, 2015).

o World’s highest-paid model in 2018 with earnings of $22.5 million (Forbes).

o Most-followed model in Instagram in 2019 with 105 million followers (Vogue).

o A specific space: very well manifests and contributes to the construction of “It” girl identity

according to the narrative in my study.

 1920s
Clara Bow
• Movie “It” and its
constituents:
• Produced the first “It” girl.
• Navigated “It” girl
identity: first networks of
meanings of the sensibility.
1960s 1990s
Edie Sedgwick Chloe Sevigny
• Have received this title from extensive media
coverage.
• Participate in the fashion scene.
• Manifest drastic changes in modes of femininity.
• Have significant contributions to the
construction of coding “It” girl identity.
I. INTRODUCTION
4. Research questions:

1. What are the historical context and networks of meanings that have rendered “It”
girl identity sensible in American culture?

2. What are the characteristics of “It” girl identity in American culture?

3. How does the participation of “It” girl Kendall Jenner manifest and construct
“It” girl identity in contemporary American culture?
.
I. INTRODUCTION
5. Significance of the study:

• [..] define an “It” girl is […] inherently indefinable (Gordon, 2015).

• […] antecedent to “It” remains unknown (Peterson, 2015)
• The first scholarly work to study this identity under the theories of cultural and media studies.
• Scholarly exploration and construction of the sensibility of this identity & its findings are original
and primary.
.
 • “It” girl identity in the particular space of fashion: “It” girls are the
visual manifestations of changing modes of femininity.
• Changing modes of femininity:
II. “IT” GIRL
o Femininity:
IDENTITY IN THE
 Not in binary opposition to feminism.
FASHION SCENE  Modes of femininity: structures of feelings, thinking and
THROUGHOUT THE meanings that render and construct gender identity of

20TH CENTURY: women, particularly young women.

o “Changing”: leaving spaces for the negotiation of gender identity,
and the continuous, not necessarily progressive nature of
femininity.
 II. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY IN THE FASHION SCENE THROUGHOUT THE 20 TH
CENTURY:

1. How “It” movie and its constituents navigated “It” girl identity:
• Tactics: associating “It” concept with “girl”, locating “It” girl in the youth scene, presenting “It” girl in concerns

with changing modes of femininities, producing and promoting the first “It” girl Clara Bow in the media.

• Coding the identity: “It” girls:

o The product of the media => narrative, constructing codes are manipulated by the media.

o Famous and influential to the youth.

o Have established popularity from participation in the youth scene.

o Manifest changing modes of femininity in media culture through their media representations.
II. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY IN THE FASHION SCENE THROUGHOUT THE 20 TH
CENTURY:

2. How “It” girl identity in fashion scene was constructed:

2.1. Edie Sedgwick (1960s): Defining the Authentic Look:
• Revolution in fashion:
o “The Rise of Individualism”(Best, 2017):
 Class & traditional gender roles conformity individual expressions and rebellion (Morin,
2018).
 Elegance (a dress, a suit) “the look”: how the bits & pieces put together to make an outfit
(Best, 2017).
 The Authentic Look: remarkable creation of fashion - aesthetical, individual, original, personal,
unique, inimitable.
o Fashion magazine: fashionable femininity - sexual freedom: self-expression, body mobility, fluidity of
gender, negotiation of body.
• Sedgwick’s significant contributions:
o Fashion “It” girls: visual
manifestations of changing modes of
femininity.
o Visual: the body & the Authentic
Look.
o Sedgwick’s Authentic Look: “uptown
meets downtown”, unisex “boy meets
girl”.
o Sedgwick’s body: androgynous,
mobile.
 II. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY IN THE FASHION SCENE THROUGHOUT THE 20 TH CENTURY:
2. How “It” girl identity in fashion scene was constructed:

2.2. Chloe Sevigny (1990s): Continuing and reinforcing fashion

“It” girl codes:
o Sassy magazine - the feminine self in feminist youth culture:
powerful, creative, self-sufficient through do-it-yourself
practices, and self-confident through repellence of patriarchal
ideologies of feminine beauty.
o Sevigny’s Authentic Look: Do-it-yourself practices by mixing
subcultural clothes with self-made attires.
o Sevigny’s body: mobile, autonomous, central on self-
indulgence.
 “IT” GIRL IDENTITY IN THE FASHION SCENE THROUGHOUT THE 20TH
CENTURY: A SUMMARY:
• Consistent set of codes of the identity:
o Product of the media => possession of identity is manipulated and acknowledged by the media.
o Subject:(relatively) famous and influential young women who:
• Possess established popularity from participation in the fashion scene.
• Visually manifest changing modes of femininity in media culture through their media
representation: the body & the Authentic Look.

• Networks of meanings that govern the sensibility of the identity:

o Social, political and economic changes in the female youth scene.
o The changing modes of femininity constructed and propagated by the media.
o The changes in youth fashion scene.
o How each “It” girl performs the identity.
Kendall Jenner (2010s):
• Born in 1995 into “celebrity royalty” (Greenberg, 2017)
the Kardashian family.
• A supermodel, a fashion icon and a TV personality.
• Her media representations: the mass media & self-
published narratives on social media.
• The modern “It” girl.
• Embodiment of modern female success: manifesting new,
successful femininities.
 III. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY & THE MODERN “IT” GIRL KENDALL JENNER :
1. New, successful femininities.
• Racialised and heterosexualised modernisation of femininity marked by post-feminism and neo-liberalism,
which existed in contemporary media culture as analysed and constructed by Gill (2007) in her work
“Postfeminist media culture: elements of a sensibility.”
• Background of post-feminism and neo-liberalism:
o Third wave feminism (late 1980s to 1990s):
• Challenged the dualism in second wave feminism: focus on gender arrangements for mostly
white, middle class women (McRobbie, 2004).
• Feminist values: widely circulated in popular culture, adopted and supported in a number of
institutions (law, education, employment, health)(McRobbie, 2004).
• Feminist issues (domestic violence, equal pay, sexual harassments): brought to wide audience
through the media (McRobbie, 2004).
• New representations of young women: subject, “emboldened identities” (McRobbie, 2004).
 • “feminist success”: cultural space for post-feminism. “Equality is achieved, […] feminism
is no longer needed.” (McRobbie, 2004, p.255).

o Post-feminist world:
• “undoing of feminism” - sexism, exploitation, objectification of women are out of date, unnecessary
(McRobbie, 2004).
• Autonomous individuals: freedom of choice.
• Sexualisation: active, through women’s own choice and enjoyment.

o Neo-liberalism: “the dominant cultural and economic paradigm in Western ideology, promoting
values of freedom, equality, individualism, self-help.” (Frangos, 2018).
 • Post-feminist sensibility:
o Post-feminism: “is best thought of as a sensibility that characterises
increasing numbers of films, television shows, advertisements and
III. “IT” GIRL
other media products” (Gill, 2007, p.148).
IDENTITY & THE o Interrelated themes, some of which are:
MODERN “IT” GIRL  Femininity as a bodily property,

KENDALL JENNER :  The sexualisation of culture

 From sex object to desiring sexual subject
1. New, successful
 Individualism, choice and empowerment
femininities.
 Self-surveillance and discipline (Gill, 2007).
• The sexualisation of culture:
 Striptease culture:
• Frequent eroticised representations of girls & young women’s bodies in public spaces.
• “Porno chic” – dominant representational practice: rising popularity of hyper-
sexualized, hyper-feminine attires for young women.
• Femininity as bodily property:
 Women’s body = the site of femininity.
 Possession of “sexy”, toned, controlled figure: women’s key source of identity, main source
of power, successful femininity.
 Desirable heterosexual object: responsibility of girls & young women.
.
• From sex object to desiring sexual subject:
 Being passively objectified as sex objects to actively presenting themselves as desiring sexual
subjects, which is adopted out of freedom of choice.
 Modernization of femininity: centralized on sexual knowledge and practice.
 “Cool, modern sophisticated young woman”: approve, endorse, practice, at least refuse to pose
feminist critique to sexual representations (McRobbie, 2004).

• Individualism, choice and empowerment:

 Female success: female individualization (McRobbie, 2004).
 Autonomous, independent individual: personal choice and self-determination in every facet of life.
 Notions of choice: “pleasing oneself”, “being oneself” (Gill, 2007).
 Successful individual: make the “right” choice.
• Self-surveillance and discipline & the makeover paradigm:

 The performance of successful femininity: constant discipline of self-monitoring and self-

surveillance to better oneself.

 Labor of self-reinvention and self-surveying: “fun”, “self-indulgence”, effortlessness.

 III. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY & THE MODERN “IT” GIRL
KENDALL JENNER :
2. Modelling industry in social media era:

• Instagram:
o One of the most widely used social media platforms with 800
million registered users worldwide by 2017, mostly under age 30
(DeMers, 2017).
o The fashion industry:
 Social media: useful for marketing/branding strategy.
 Social media influencers: Important tool for customer
outreach, communication, promotion.

“Instagirl” models: massive built-in fan base promises potential

customer exposure & branding advocacy.

 III. “IT” GIRL IDENTITY & THE MODERN “IT”
GIRL KENDALL JENNER :
3. How Kendall Jenner visually manifests new,
successful femininities:

• The feminine body: Constant, intensive self-surveillance,

self-monitoring discipline:
o Rigorous, regular workout routine: form and keep
under control a toned, sexy figure.
o Frequently appear with impeccable, flawless look
(skin & makeup).
o Treat body imperfections & insecurities as failures
that require serious regulation.
o Associate attractive, sleek body with symbols of
success (wealth & fame).
 • The “Authentic” Look:
o Constant self-surveillance, self-monitoring and discipline:
 Prior planning for both “on-duty” (red carpet) and “off-duty” (street-purposed) looks:
tailoring, fitting, altering clothes.
 Perfect look with confident, carefree manners: fun, self-indulgent, effortless labor.

o Desirable sexual subject & Individualism, choice and empowerment:

Presentations are
 Dominance of sexually charged style: hyper-sexualized clothes, eroticized “Free the Nipple”
communication tools that
dressing.
can be lectures.
 Autonomous, independent individual: notions of freedom of choice, self-determination in
sartorial choice – “pleasing oneself”, “being oneself”.
 Successful individual by making the right choice: endorsement from the media, association
with symbols of success (wealth & fame).
IV. CONCLUSION:
1. The contribution of Kendall Jenner’s participation in constructing “It” girl identity in
fashion scene:
• New code:
o Celebrity status.
o Embodiment of female success by visually manifesting new, successful femininities
propagated by post-feminist media culture.

• Femininities in post-feminist media culture:

o “[…] higher or deeper form of exploitation [of women], […] in which the objectifying
male gaze is internalized to form a new disciplinary [gender] regime.” (Gill, 2007, p.152).
o Deep, pernicious gender inequalities: dilemma of “freedom” of choice – “modality of
constraint” that ties women to the double entanglement of neo-conservation and liberal
values (McRobbie, 2004).
IV. CONCLUSION:
2. Limitations of the study & future approaches:

• The sensibility “It” girl identity: constructed upon each “It” girl’s participation.
findings in this study only makes sense within contexts.
not applicable to all “It” girls.
• “It” girl identity in relation with other fashion “It” girls: Alexa Chung, Gigi Hadid, Cara
Delevign.
• The lack of consistent theoretical framework throughout the study & critical reading of scholarly
texts referenced.