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Material girls and Material love: Consuming femininity and the contradictions of post-girl power among Kenyan schoolgirls.

Authors :
Mojola SA
Source :
Continuum (Mount Lawley, W.A.) [Continuum (Mount Lawley)] 2015; Vol. 29 (2), pp. 218-229. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Mar 19.
Publication Year :
2015

Abstract

In this paper, I use qualitative data to explore the practices engaged in by Kenyan schoolgirls to participate in modern consuming womanhood, as well as the contradictory implications of these practices for thinking about globalized mediated femininities and their enactment in resource-poor settings. The paper examines the centrality of consumption to valued modern femininity among young women around the world, as well as the structural reality of gendered access to income. I show how the cooptation of the materiality of romantic love and normative expectations of male provision in romantic relationships bridge the gap between consumption desires and economic realities among Kenyan schoolgirls in both powerful and problematic ways. The paper ends with a reflection of the implications of these findings for post-girl power, the post-feminist age and the re-inscription of patriarchy.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1030-4312
Volume :
29
Issue :
2
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Continuum (Mount Lawley, W.A.)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
28344428
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2015.1022949