Yielding to the rite/ right femininity: ad(o)/(a)pting to gender performativity

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1449

Palabras clave:

performativity, sexual agency, femininity, gender norms, feminist, patriarchy, gender expectation, compliance

Resumen

Introduction: The acclaimed ex-Disney star Hannah Montana underwent a radical transformation in her coming of adulthood and becoming Miley Cyrus. This change sparked some controversy and criticism, particularly following her performance at the 2013 VMAs. Methodology: To analyse this situation, Judith Butler’s theories on gender performativity are particularly instrumental. Results: Applying gender performativity, when analysing the harsh criticism the singer received, sheds light on the patriarchal assumption that seem to inform this antagonism, especially when compared to other performances that same night. Conclusions: The media harassment Cyrus faced may stem from her non-adherence to expected patriarchal gender stereotypes. Her confident and bold performance could in fact be seen as an act of feminist empowerment. Currently, Cyrus presents herself as a less subversive and more conforming public character, which coincidentally or not, just so happens to be more popular and seems to receive kinder press by the media.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Biografía del autor/a

Margarita Navarro Pérez, University of Castilla-La Mancha

Margarita Navarro is a teacher and researcher at the Faculty of Education of Ciudad Real, University of Castilla-La Mancha. Her research interests combine innovation in the teaching of a foreign language, gender, and media analysis. After defending her European PhD, framed within the area of cultural studies, research on innovation in education takes up a relevant role. The combination of the aforementioned research interests proves to be a fruitful combination, both in relation to her teaching and research production. Having carried out several research stays in the United Kingdom and in Chile, Margarita has made extensive contributions at national and international congresses and has published both in academic journals and scientific book chapters, that are a prove of her research contributions.

Citas

Apolloni, A. (2014). "The Biggest Feminist in the World": On Miley Cyrus, Feminism, and Intersectionality. American Music Review, 43(2). https://rb.gy/tksgfs

Banet-Weiser, S. (2007). Kids Rule!: Nickelodeon and Consumer Citizenship. Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1198x7x

Benson, A. A., & Adinlewa, T. (2022). Influence of celebrities on young people’s aspiration for higher learning and desire for fame. GVU Journal of Communication Studies, 2(2), 44-55. https://acortar.link/5jJ8WV DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/cypn.2022.8.44

Blue, M. G. (2012). The Best of Both Worlds? Youth, gender, and a post-feminist sensibility in Disney’s Hannah Montana. Feminist Media Studies, 13(4), 660-675. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.724024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.724024

Brown, A. (2012). ‘She isn’t whoring herself out like a lot of other girls we see’: Identification and “Authentic” American Girlhood on Taylor Swift Fan Forums. Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 5(1), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.31165/nk.2012.51.252

Butkowsky, C. P., Dixon, T. L., Weeks, K. R., & Smith, M. A. I. (2020). Quantifying the feminine self(ie): Gender display and social media feedback in young women’s Instagram selfies. New Media & Society, 22(5), 817-837. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819871669 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819871669

Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. Routledge.

Butler, J. (1999). Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge.

Butler, J. (2004). Undoing Gender. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203499627

Butler, J. (2024). Who’s afraid of Gender?. Penguin Random House UK. https://shorturl.at/tPHd9

Clarke, B. (2013). MTV VMA’s 2023 – The Day Miley Cyrus Ruined her entire career. Digital Spy FORUMS. https://shorturl.at/QSGiS

Dobson, A. S. (2014). “Sexy” and “Laddish” girls: Unpacking complicity between two cultural imag(inations)es of young femininity. Feminist Media Studies, 14(2), 253-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.713866 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.713866

Freeman, H. (2013, August 27). Miley Cyrus’s twerking routine was cultural appropriation at its worst. The Guardian. https://shorturl.at/yhBIA

Gaunt, K. D. (2016). Youtube, twerking, and you: Context collapse and the handheld copresence of Black girls and Miley Cyrus. En Warwick, J. & Adrian, A. (Eds.), Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music (pp. 208-232). Routledge.

Gill, R. (2007). Postfeminist media culture: Elements of a sensibility. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(2), 147-166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549407075898 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549407075898

Grammy Awards. (s. f.). 2024 GRAMMYs: Miley Cyrus Celebrates “Flowers” GRAMMY Win With Jubilant Performance. https://www.grammy.com/news/miley-cyrus-grammys-performance-2024-flowers

Heraldo (28 de agosto de 2013). Duras críticas a Miley Cyrus por su provocadora actuación en los MTV. Heraldo. https://shorturl.at/uEp2f

Householder, A. K. (2015). Girls, grrrls, Girls: Lena Dunham, girls, and the contradictions of fourth wave feminism. En Feminist Theory and Pop Culture (pp. 19-33). Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-061-1_2

Jackson, S., Goddard, S., & Cossens, S. (2016). The importance of [not] being Miley: Girls making sense of Miley Cyrus. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(6), 547-564. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494166320 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549416632008

Jagger, G. (2008). Judith Butler. Sexual politics, social change and the power of performative. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203931905

Jenner, G. (2020). Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen. Hachette UK.

Kennedy, M. (2014). Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: 'Becoming' a woman, 'becoming' a star. Celebrity Studies, 5(3), 225-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2013.839349 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2013.839349

Lapatilla. (4 de septiembre de 2013). Échale otro ojo a la muy buceable Lady Gaga y sus FOTOS de los VMA. Lapatilla. https://shorturl.at/MAlbC

Lockhart, A. (2021). A Stolen Culture: The Harmful Effects of Cultural Appropriation [Honor Thesis]. The University of Mississippi. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1804

Łyszko, P. (2021). Around the Issue of the Body in Feminist Narratives of Selected Pop Artists of the Young Generation. Studia de Cultura, 13(2), 102-113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24917/20837275.13.2.8

Marshall, P. D. (2014). Celebrity and power: Fame in contemporary culture. University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/9780816695621.001.0001

Mazzarella, S. R. (2013). Media and gender identities: Learning and performing femininity and masculinity. In The Routledge international handbook of children, adolescents and media (pp. 305-312). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203366981-49

McMillan Cottom, T. (29 de agosto de 2013). Brown Body, White Wonderland. Slate. https://shorturl.at/O5a88

McNicholas Smith, K. (2017). Sexualisation, or the queer feminist provocations of Miley Cyrus. Feminist Theory, 18(3), 281-298. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700117721880 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700117721880

McRobbie, A. (2009). The aftermath of feminism: Gender, culture and social change. Sage Publications.

Michaels, S. (2013, August 27). Miley Cyrus criticised for raunchy MTV Video Music Awards performance. The Guardian. https://shorturl.at/RaNzp

Miley Cyrus Performs ‘We Can’t Stop’, Twerks on Robin Thicke During ‘Blurred Lines’ at the MTV VMAs. (25 de agosto de 2013). PopCrush. https://shorturl.at/TJp2T

Nicks, D. (2013, October 3). Miley Dubs Her VMA Performance a “Strategic Hot Mess”. TIME. https://shorturl.at/0MTfi

Oliver, S. (2014). She Can't Stop-Miley Cyrus: The Biography. Kings Road Publishing.

Ouvrein, G., Pabian, S., Machimbarrena, J. M., De Backer, C. J., & Vandebosch, H. (2018). Online celebrity bashing: Wrecking ball or good for you? Adolescent girls’ attitudes toward the media and public bashing of Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. Communication Research Reports, 35(3), 261-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2018.1467833 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2018.1467833

Patrick, S. (2022). Celebrity and new media: gatekeeping success. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003268659

Purepeople. (n.d.). Lady Gaga sur la scène des MTV Video Music Awards à Brooklyn, le 25 août 2013. https://shorturl.at/rwAHn

Raiken, A. (2023, August 30). Miley Cyrus reflects on ‘upsetting’ controversy surrounding her 2008 Vanity Fair cover. Independent. https://shorturl.at/mViya

Reilly, D. (2013, September 13). Miley Cyrus FCC Complaints: Pointing and Laughing at the Cable TV Prudes. SPIN. https://www.spin.com/2013/09/miley-cyrus-fcc-complaints-2013-mtv-vma

Runtagh, J. (2018, March 1). Why Miley Cyrus’ Life was ‘Changed Forever’ After Raunchy WMAs Performance with Robin Thicke. People. https://shorturl.at/pY3NO

Scarcelli, C. M., & Farci, M. (2024). Negotiating gender in the digital age: Young people and the representation of femininity and masculinity on social media. Italian Sociological Review, 14(1), 93-113. https://doi.org/10.13136/isr.v14i1.645

Serazio, M. (2010). Shooting for fame: Spectacular youth, web 2.0 dystopia, and the celebrity anarchy of generation mash-up. Communication, Culture & Critique, 3(3), 416-434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-9137.2010.01078.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-9137.2010.01078.x

Sibary, S. (2013, August 27). The most disturbing thing about this ex-Disney star’s sordid routine? My teenage daughter’s blasé reaction. Daily Mail. https://shorturl.at/6A7qw

Toofab. (25 de agosto de 2013). 2013 MTV VMAs: Show Highlights. https://shorturl.at/n6qoW

Vares, T., & Jackson, S. (2015). Reading celebrities/narrating selves: ‘tween’girls, Miley Cyrus and the good/bad girl binary. Celebrity Studies, 6(4), 553-567. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2015.1021822 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2015.1021822

Watson, L. (2014). How far will Miley go next?: Miley Cyrus and the news in celebrity gossip magazines [Tesis de grado]. University of Sydney.

White, M. (2015). Producing women: The Internet, traditional femininity, queerness, and creativity. Routledge.

Zink, S. (2016). Twerking and cultural appropriationg: Miley Cyrus’ display of racial ignorance. McEwan University Student Ejournal, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.31542/j.muse.158 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31542/j.muse.158

Descargas

Publicado

2025-02-10

Cómo citar

Navarro Pérez, M. (2025). Yielding to the rite/ right femininity: ad(o)/(a)pting to gender performativity. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1449

Número

Vol. 10 (2025)

Sección

Humanismo y Ciencias Sociales

Licencia

Derechos de autor 2025 Margarita Navarro Pérez

Creative Commons License

Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Non Commercial, No Derivatives Attribution 4.0. International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.), that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).