Post-feminism for children: feminism ‘repackaged’ in the Bratz films

Post-feminism in women’s media

Media is a primary place post-feminist thematics are emplaced. Indeed, ‘elements of contemporary popular culture’ are ‘perniciously effective in regard to [the] undoing of feminism, while simultaneously appearing to be engaging in a well-informed and even well-intended response to feminism’ (McRobbie, 2004: 255). Media artifacts as variant as beauty pageants, television, advertisements, films, books, and magazines engage with, validate, construct, and/or repudiate contemporary feminism (Joseph, 2009; Thompson, 2010). Analysis of such artifacts focuses on a few core qualifiers to evaluate whether they are feminist/post-feminist. Emphasis on collective power, advocating social change/equality, and highlighting bonds between women are taken as signs of feminist tone/theme (Brasfield, 2006; Peirce, 1990). Simultaneous engagement with and dismissal of feminism; emphasis on personal struggles and women’s independence rather than collective efforts; individualization of social problems; conflating bodies, beauty, appearance, or consumption with power; and/or framing sexual objectification as freely chosen have all been used to qualify content as post-feminist (Bae, 2011; Coulter, 2010).

Using these measures, scholars have critically analyzed the feminist/post-feminist thematics of popular television series. For example, some contend that Sex and the City (SATC) is feminist because it portrays the ‘tension [women experience] between independence and the desire for sex, love and partnership’ (Wignall, 2008: 18), challenges heteronormative sex, and focuses on female friendship (Gerhard, 2005; Henry, 2004). Most, however, point out the show’s post-feminist content – looking at how it ignores race and class struggles, for example (Henry, 2004). Likewise, contemporary beauty shows contain the same dueling thematics. For example, while the Miss America Pageant declined in popularity, shows like The Swan and Extreme Makeover – which promote finding individual fulfillment through cosmetic surgery and body-shaping technologies – gained large audiences (Banet-Weiser and Portwood-Stacer, 2006). Reality television is in tune with ‘a particular version of femininity that resonates with contemporary ideologies of personal transformation, celebration of the body, and female empowerment’ (Banet-Weiser and Portwood-Stacer, 2006: 256–257). These shows replace feminist emphasis on social change and liberation with narratives of personal struggles, choices, and triumphs over individual circumstances. They celebrate women’s power to change their lives by changing their bodies. As such, they engage in a post-feminist conflation where ‘appearance is one’s character and capacity for achievement’ (Banet-Weiser and Portwood-Stacer, 2006: 268).

Analyses of media aimed at children and/or girls

While youth are among the nation’s most avid media consumers, few studies look explicitly at feminist messages (or the lack thereof) in media for younger audiences (e.g. Hains, 2009; Peirce, 1990). Instead, studies of children’s media tend to look at issues like gender stereotyping (e.g. Gooden and Gooden, 2001; Taylor, 2003), bodies and/or sexualization of young girls (Durham, 2009; Weida, 2011), or representations of race/ethnicity (Bang and Reece, 2003). Studies reveal how children’s media products reproduce inequality by leaning on racial/ethnic stereotypes, erasing the significance of race in shaping people’s experiences (e.g. Sano, 2009; Winograd, 2011), or representing boys more often and in a wider range of roles (Gooden and Gooden, 2001; Taylor, 2003).

Even when claiming to be more progressive than previous films, movies for girls and children often reinforce patriarchal gender norms (Orenstein, 2011; Whelan, 2012). Notwithstanding the longstanding popularity of fairy tales that tend to emphasize ideal feminine beauty, recent films like The Princess and the Frog, Brave, and Frozen show more complex princesses who challenge stereotypes. Nevertheless, most Disney Princess films support narrow, traditional views of femininity (Whelan, 2012). Disney’s monopolization of the ‘princess narrative’ means these messages shape the lives of girls in powerful ways (Orenstein, 2011).

Few studies evaluate the content of media aimed at children and young girls regarding whether or not it is somehow feminist. For example, Peirce’s (1990) analysis of Seventeen Magazine revealed that much of the magazine’s text is dedicated to girls’ concerns about appearance, finding a man, and managing a household. Schlenker et al. (1998) extended that analysis to a longer time span and revealed that while visibly cognizant of feminist movements in the society, the magazine still provides only a limited presentation of female adolescence: one centered on appearance, beauty, and traditional femininity. Seventeen’s simultaneous engagement with the women’s movement and dismissal of its importance for young girls’ lives arguably make it more ‘post-feminist’ than ‘feminist’.

Debate on whether or not children’s media contains feminist elements tends to center on the concept of ‘girl-power’ or ‘pro-girl rhetoric’ that champions girls and girl-culture by ‘reclaiming the feminine and marking it as culturally valued’ (Hains, 2009: 98). Girl-power resonates with power-feminism (Wolf, 1994: 53), a version of feminist thought that represents women as powerful political and financial agents:

…. [power-feminism] encourages [women] to identify with one another primarily through the shared pleasures and strengths of femaleness, rather than primarily through our shared vulnerability and pain [and] calls for alliances based on economic self-interest and economic giving back rather than on a sentimental and workable fantasy of cosmic sisterhood.

Here, women are powerful individual agential subjects who enjoy the strengths of femaleness and pursue self-interest instead of uniting on the basis of shared victimhood (Hains, 2009). Thus, power-feminism is an identity feminism predominantly embodied by economically privileged White women who control resources poor women and/or women of color do not (Guerrero, 2009; Hains, 2009). Hence, ‘it is up to the individual woman to make her own way, without the need for collective political action or sustained critique of systemic injustices’ (Levine, 2008: 376). By rendering ‘(women’s) power as consumer power’, power-feminism carries great salience in pop culture (Hains, 2009: 93).

The ‘tremendous financial power’ of young girls and/or tweens led to power feminist discourse finding ‘an unexpected home in children’s media’ (Hains, 2009: 90–91). Cartoons and products made specifically for girls (e.g. Bratz, The Powerpuff Girls, Kim Possible) are evidence that marketers feel tweens are ‘worth courting’ and that a new ‘populist feminism’ (i.e. ‘girl-power’) helps companies harness and benefit from girls’ market power (Hains, 2009; Lamb and Brown, 2007). However, media artifacts aimed at tweens are not subjected to analysis that explores their feminist or post-feminist themes as frequently as those aimed at adults.

In this article, we examine how feminism is packaged and sold to tween/teen audiences in the Bratz movie series. Given that it is nearly impossible to shield children from interaction with market and media forces aimed at capturing, shaping, and capitalizing on girls’ interests, closely examining how girlhood is constructed vis-à-vis feminist/post-feminist thematics in pop culture artifacts is an important research venture (Lamb and Brown, 2007; Orenstein, 2011). Our analysis builds on studies of media for women – which examine feminist/post-feminist thematics – and studies of media for girls/tweens, which typically examine race/gender stereotyping. Our underlying objective is to conceptually understand embedded messages about feminism in the popular Bratz movies, thereby allowing insight into the images of girlhood being marketed through the films. We focus specifically on how the films emphasize individuality and collectivity and how the merging of these two themes – post-feminist girl-power and second/third wave feminist notions of empowerment through friendship and language – repackages not only girlhood but also feminism itself.

Tensions around individualism

Our sample includes over 450 examples of emphasized individuality. Nearly two-thirds of these cases celebrate an individual’s self-expression and encourage pursuit of dreams. Oftentimes, however, girls who step out independently are framed negatively as selfish or reckless and incapable of solving problems without help. Thus, there is a tension between celebrating opportunities girls have to become who they want to be (positive individuality) and highlighting pitfalls of complete independence (negative individuality).

Individual characters who boldly express themselves are highly praised. In fact, the code ‘express self’ appears nearly 100 times in 11 films, and the phrase appears directly in music and conversations. For example, during a makeover scene in Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz, a Bratz friend named Sharidan walks the catwalk while music in the background plays:

Shinin’ like real diamonds

Got a style your very own

Don’t be afraid to let it show

C’mon express yourself

The way that you feel

Be who you are

Cuz you glow like a star

Strut it, love it, work it-yeah!

You got it goin’ on

Time to take control – oh

On the catwalk here you go – oh

Believin’ in yourself

And everyone can tell

That you’re shinin’ like real diamonds

Yeah – hit it

You’re an individual

Don’t be afraid to let it show

C’mon express yourself! – oh

Anyway you want to …

In Starrin n’ Stylin, the Bratz’s teacher echoes this sentiment when he tells students to‘[c]hoose an artistic medium – any medium – and express yourself. The project you turn in should tell me who you are and what it’s really like to be you’. In each of these cases, when an individual expresses herself, others respond positively to her decision to take charge and embrace ‘what it’s really like to be [her]’.

Self-awareness is also valued in the films in a way that illustrates individualized conceptions of inequality present in post-feminist pop culture tropes, where ‘questions of equality and choice have been resolved in women’s favor’ and ‘it is up to the individual woman to make her own way’ (Levine, 2008: 360). For example, in Genie Magic, Sasha announces, ‘People, my dream is about to become reality. B-HIP Radio is auditioning teen DJs for a part-time gig. Sasha is about to take over the airwaves!’ In Pampered Petz, Bratz friend Lola comments, ‘This is like a dream come true. My two greatest passions, music and animals, together in one night!’ The films endorse the idea that girls should be aware of and use talents to pursue their dreams, but present these ventures as a matter of choice, simplifying the path to success. After all, the Bratz establish a fashion magazine, open a fully equipped office suite, and start a rock band in the span of one film (Rock Angelz) with minimal trouble.

However, the films also communicate that girls are dependent upon and responsible to others. The Bratz are most likely to celebrate individual pursuit of dreams that enable the collective good. Individual accomplishment is limited (or impossible) without the collectivity. For example, when the Bratz plan to start their own magazine in Rock Angelz, they map out how each member will share responsibilities according to her unique skills:

Each individual has a clear sense of what part she can play as well the others’ talents, which is evidenced by the Bratz’ completion of Jade’s sentence. Their individuality is celebrated inasmuch as it enables the group to achieve a collective goal: magazine publication. As this example illustrates, celebration of individuality is carefully balanced in relationship with the collectivity, which in the films is not society generally, but the friendship of the four main characters – the Bratz.

This balanced celebration is also apparent when individuals try to work independently, but fall short. Just as collective goals require individuals, individuals require the collectivity to be successful. For example, in Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz, the girls meet Sharidan, who is afraid to model her designs. Yasmin encourages her:

Cloe gives Sharidan a necklace for good luck, and Sharidan marches out onto the catwalk, strutting to the following music: ‘You’ve got it – something like no one else. You can tell. That you’ve got it. The way that you sparkle and the way that you shine’.

Examples where individual girls struggle without the support of the group find parallel in cases of self-interested individuals who attempt to operate independently and fail. When the Bratz or their friends strike out on their own, they fail and/or incur the displeasure of their peers. In this typical plot pattern for the series, a character succeeds only after reunification with her friends. For example, in Starrin n’ Stylin, Yasmin hurts her friends when she publishes secrets in her school newspaper column to increase her own popularity and readership. In the end, Yasmin apologizes, ‘I’m sorry … I wanted to spice it up. Then, when everyone started talking about it, I felt important’. After this apology, the girls accomplish goals (planning prom and completing their school group project) that had previously vexed them in the film because of their inability to work together.

A similar theme, the tension between individuality and connectedness to the collectivity, is present in other films. In Girlz Really Rock, the Bratz’ friend Anna expresses doubt about becoming a professional ballerina when she sings, ‘In my heart, I’ve always had a dream. But all alone, what does it really mean? … Is my dream worth the price?’ In Pampered Petz, Lola, a middle-aged woman of color who runs a pet shelter, is estranged from her daughter who is very career-driven. ‘Celia is a very important lawyer … She doesn’t have time for me’, Lola laments. The films celebrate Yasmin as a good writer, Anna as a talented dancer, and Celia as a powerful lawyer, but the tension is clear. Pursuing individual goals is attached to relational sacrifices and individual women/girls are framed as incapable of accomplishing goals without the help of peers. While the Bratz speak freely and make numerous personal choices, they cannot take successful individual action. The only way the Bratz successfully navigate their lives is through the power of the collective expressed in the form of small-group friendship.

Power of the collective

Together, the Bratz wield significantly more power than any one individual in the films. They apply this power to collective dreams of starting a rock band or creating a fashion magazine and to each member’s individual dreams, like Sasha’s music career. They also use it to reshape the identities and prospects of individuals invited into their circle, such as helping Sharidan model her designs. The girls’ collective power is embodied through physical interactions and verbal celebrations of friendship such as high-fiving each other while squealing with excitement. For example, in the opening scenes of Go to Paris The Movie, the Bratz decide to throw a party to celebrate 15 years of friendship. After the decision, they high five each other and dance around:

This group interaction is typical. In our sample, there were over 50 examples of the Bratz high-fiving, hugging, and gathering for ‘emergency huddles’ to problem-solve. Group hugs often signal individual (re)admission into the collective. In Desert Jewelz, Alia, a girl who was betrayed by a villain pretending to be family, is invited to join the Bratz family:

Group physical interaction is often accompanied by simultaneous verbal exclamations (‘Bratz!’). The final product is a group plan superior to anything one individual could come up with. This process is exemplified when the Bratz name their magazine in Rock Angelz:

Here, they desire a name representing their collective, decide that attitude and style describe them, take a name the Tweevils call them (Brats), and then transform it using attitude (a Z instead of an S) and style (a halo above the R). Transforming a word that has previously been used to insult them into a source of empowerment pays significant homage to second and third wave feminist and queer scholars who, noting the power of everyday words and spaces, reclaim terms that were once sources of discrimination, infusing them with new political meaning (e.g. Cooper, 2002). It is important to note, however, that Bratz reclaiming has more to do with style/attitude (a.k.a. ‘Brattitude’) than politics.

Collaboration is deeply embedded in the plot of each film. Typical plot conflicts occur when individuals are separated from the collective. For example, in Kidz Fairy Tales, Sasha, Jade, Cloe, and Yasmin spend a significant amount of time separated and attempting to solve problems alone, but failing. It starts with them preparing to put on a play. The girls lambast young women in fairy tales for being ‘lame’ and ineffectual in the face of challenges. They argue if they had been in their place, they would overcome those challenges easily:

The Bratz are then thrown into an alternate reality where they face what fairy tale heroines did. Their success comes only when they work together rather than alone. Once reunited, they reflect on nearly failing to defeat fairy tale villains. Jade remarks, ‘And [the princesses] were alone. We had friends to help us!’

Jade’s remark highlights the Bratz’ shift in perspective. Early on they criticize the princesses’ inability to overcome gendered obstacles, such as being forced to cook and clean for men. Their ridicule embodies post-feminist blindness to ongoing inequalities in unpaid and paid domestic labor that continue to impact women’s lives – especially women of color (see, for example, Bae, 2011; Joseph, 2009). In the standard Bratz narrative, the girls would have helped the princesses understand the power they have. Instead, the Bratz realize the princesses were up against an unfair system (i.e. working without their friends). This consciousness-raising experience helps the Bratz overcome the horizontal hostility (i.e. negative feelings toward another marginalized group) they previously expressed toward the other heroines (White and Langer, 2006). They conclude it is unfair to judge girls whose lives they have not experienced. This conclusion aligns with second and third wave feminist resistance to essentializing privileged women’s experiences; promotion of the value of difference; and acceptance of multiple, coexisting standpoints as valid starting points for inquiry and activism (e.g. Mohanty, 2013). It also complicates viewing the Bratz through a strictly post-feminist lens because their blindspot is challenged by a consciousness-raising experience, and their final conversation emphasizes the need for collective action to overcome obstacles.

In Fashion Pixiez, the Bratz work with two pixie sisters, Symboline and Brianna, to reanimate their mother, who Lena (a villain) turned into a tree. At first, Symboline is alienated from her family and socializes with evil pixies who spend their nights dancing (disconnected from one another, as though they are in a trance) in a forest night club. Her family’s problems are solved when the Bratz bring Symboline and Brianna together to help their mother:

Here, the girls harness their collective power, and all of the film’s problems are resolved simultaneously: Lena is defeated, Symboline is turned back into a good pixie, her mother is brought back to life, and the family is reunited.

As these examples show, collective power resolves tensions around individuality in the Bratz films. Individuals become their most powerful selves when connected to the collective. The collective allows pursuit and accomplishment of goals without relational sacrifices or failure. This creates a paradox in the films, however. The Bratz celebrate individuality only so long as the individual submits to their collective identity. Where a feminist collective gains power from diverse individuals who freely engage in it and aims that power at collective liberation (e.g. Smith, 2012), a post-feminist collective gives power to individuals who submit to it. When paired with the series’ focus on fashion and limited vision of femininity, individuals become powerful via the collectivity through conformity to beauty-oriented group standards. Consumerism becomes the means to solve problems and enact collective power.

Consumerism as girl-power

The Bratz’s collective problem-solving power is a dominant theme in each film, but they wield it in consumerist contexts and ways. Stores, the food court, and the outdoor courtyard at the mall are often where the girls huddle up to generate solutions to problems they face. In fact, shopping scenes are featured over 60 times in the sample and present in 80% of the films. In addition, the Bratz often use transformations of an individual’s appearance as a means to solve problems – transformations that are then modeled onstage (a dressing room, catwalk, or concert venue) in front of an audience.

One of the films’ most common plot arcs involves the Bratz bringing a fifth character into their group and collectively empowering her through a fashion makeover. A version of this takes place in Genie Magic, Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz, Fashion Pixiez, Pampered Petz, Girlz Really Rock, and Genie Magic 2: Desert Jewelz. In Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz, the Bratz give Sharidan a makeover so she will have the courage to express herself as a burgeoning fashion designer:

The Bratz insist Sharidan take ownership of her fashion talent by modeling her own designs, but they collectively take ownership of her to empower her to do so (‘our girl needs a confidence adjustment’) (emphasis added).

In Genie Magic, the Bratz help Katia move from being socially awkward and insecure to a proud and confident teenager. As they try on clothes at the mall, all five girls find outfits that are a fusion of the Bratz style (tight jeans or short skirts) and Katia’s Indian cultural accessories (such as forehead jewelry similar to a bindi). Katia explains her transformation to her father: ‘Father, it was wonderful. It was the most enjoyable time I have ever had! I made friends. We danced, we laughed. I had a life! Everybody liked me’. Katia’s statement is a good summary of how the Bratz negotiate the tension around individualism and the paradox of expressing individuality through conformity. Girls find their true individual identities (‘I had a life!’) through the process of being incorporated into the group (‘Everybody liked me’). The group establishes the boundaries for self-expression.

Characters’ self-expression, while lauded as authentic and unique, involves routinized, uniform displays of femininity and consumption of material products. When the Bratz makeover Sharidan, for example, the music playing in the background proclaims, ‘got a style of your own, don’t be afraid to let it show’ as Jade removes Sharidan’s glasses. The song says ‘c’mon, express yourself, the way that you feel’ as the three other girls approach Sharidan with cosmetics and ‘be who you are, cuz you glow like a star’ as someone puts eyeliner on her. Lyrics like ‘time to take control’ and ‘believin’ in yourself’ play as the Bratz cut, color, and style her hair. In the end, she is told to walk the catwalk and ‘express [her]self’, but instead of a farm girl with glasses, Sharidan is now a Bratz duplicate with flared jeans, makeup, and blonde highlights in her brown hair.

Style and/or fashion are mentioned over 180 times throughout the films. One of the most common phrases the Bratz say to affirm an individual is that she is ‘super-stylin’. Clothing and accessories are the outward markers of belonging to the group. Since it is important to display these outward markers of belonging and power, post-makeover fashion shows like Sharidan’s are a hallmark of Bratz films. This is documented in the first Bratz makeover scene, when the girls go for some ‘shopping therapy’ after a stressful week in Starrin n’ Stylin. The scene comes to a screeching halt when Jade comes out of the dressing room in an outfit the others do not approve of:

The Bratz hold Jade accountable to their style standards by giving negative feedback on her outfit choice. Jade says she is only trying to ‘make a splash’, which is connected to celebration of individuality so frequently echoed in the films, but because the group disapproves of her choice, she changes her mind. Later in the film, she redeems herself when the Bratz have a fashion show while getting ready for prom. A telling song plays in the background:

You know what they say

Clothes make the girl [yeah]

Clothes make the girl

My friends

We take it seriously

Gotta get it right

We know wherever we go together

We’ve got to be

Up to the minute

Gotta see me in it

Like my outfit?

I got a passion for fashion

An obsession for dressin’ up

I gotta make an impression

So what?

I get my look all together

I can take on the world

You know what they say

Clothes make the girl

After the song, Yasmin declares, ‘[You] look especially hot, Jade’ and Cloe remarks, ‘It’s official. Jade, the Styles High fashion maven has returned’. Jade wins prom queen, evidence of her peers’ approval. For the Bratz, choosing the right outfit is the difference between making the right and wrong impression and, consequently, being able to ‘take on the world’. A style mistake – or consumer error – has consequences for a girl’s power and agency. In all the examples above, characters’ problems are solved through successful consumerism. Sharidan gains confidence to pursue her dream, Katia learns what it means to be a teenager, and Jade reclaims pride in her fashion sense by selecting the proper type of fashion artifacts.

The plot arcs for each film involve the Bratz and their friends creatively solving problems and overcoming adversaries. In Go to Paris the Movie, the villain captures Cloe and Jade, who are rescued after creatively leaving a message for Sasha and Yasmin using makeup that doubles as invisible ink. In Kids Fairy Tales, the girls are isolated and threatened by mythical villains, but one by one, they find each other (gradually re-establishing their collective power) and outsmart their enemies.

In each film, the Bratz outsmart and overpower adversaries using creativity sometimes culminating in a physical showdown between the Bratz (good) and their foes (evil). The Bratz win these showdowns, such as when they make the evil queen and the big bad wolf fall into a well (Kids Fairy Tales) or kick evil supermodel Nicole in the face to knock her out (Go to Paris the Movie). Fashion accessories and gadgets aid their physical prowess so that the Bratz’ ‘passion for fashion’ is rarely overshadowed. While their victories could carry potentially empowering messages for young girls, displays of stereotypical femininity are the main method through which they collectively assist an individual in solving her problems. Thus, the feminist liberatory tool of political consciousness raising is repackaged and resold to a pre-teen audience in the form of individual conformity to the group through consumerism.