Positioning the teen girl as a figure possessing exceptional power with the potential to instigate change, this book examines the “extra-ordinary” girl as she exists under neoliberalism today.

Through a combination of textual and cultural analyses of figurations of girlhood in popular culture, and qualitative research group interviews with teen girls, the author emphasizes the importance of listening to real teen girls whose perspectives and values might not match those attributed to dominant cultural models of girlhood. This book explores contemporary girl figures and figurations of girlhood, on and off screen, highlighting how girls who are not in the public eye negotiate standards of exceptionality in relation to their own experiences of social power, while also defining the importance of care and connection to their relationships and personal values.

This book is a unique and comprehensive combination of methodological and conceptual approaches to cultural, historical, and sociological analyses, while exploring questions of feminism and the speculative fiction genre. It will appeal to girlhood and feminist studies, film and media studies, child and youth studies, humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences.

Tina Belinda Benigno is Assistant Professor of Media Studies/Humanities, and Faculty Advisor (Arts, Humanities, Political Science, and Education) in the Department of English and Communications at Albertus Magnus College, USA.