Teenage Girl Culture
Something that has constantly bothered me is how massively unbalanced cultures are between men and women, particularly for teenagers. Things like makeup and boy bands are heavily disregarded and mocked, forcing pretty much every girl to go through a ‘not like other girls’ phase. However, this is a really hard thing to vocalise and actually communicate, particularly to people who haven’t already spent a massive amount of time reading feminist theory online after coming out the other side of this internalised misogyny.
So, I have linked this youtube video by Ashley AKA Best.Dressed. She is an amazing YouTuber with well over two million subscribers, and if you ended up here before you ended up there I have to question your internet usage.
The video is quite light-hearted as she explores TikTok, a relatively new social media platform, but she delves into some hard-hitting subjects like the treatment of women on social media. This is one of the reasons I love her, I do the same thing. I’ll start a casual conversation about Adventure Time and then 5 minutes later be on a rant about how few kids shows teach kids about real aspects of life-like emotions, relationships, war, and learning from some pretty massive mistakes, like Finn mistreating Flame Princess to the point where it ends their relationship. But right now I’m going to stay on topic, so let’s do that.
Things that are enjoyed by teenage girls today are written off, dismissed from culture, no matter how successful or impactful that band, business, artist, or whoever, might be. This is not a new occurrence, and has been happening as long as people have had any interests other than surviving the night. So lets start in 1966 with Star Trek.
Star Trek
Star Trek was built by women. When the show was first released in 1966, it was ready to be cancelled after the first season. Gene Roddenberry intended for Star Trek to exist in a world where racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia or even money and capitalism no longer existed.
Star Trek fans were ignored and disregarded by other Sci-Fi communities, and women were often written off, accused of watching the show due to a lust for Spock. - You can watch a show for two reasons.
Today, the show has been considered a classic of sci-fi, with multiple reboots on a variety of mediums, including animation, novelisation, film, and inspiring other shows such as The Orville, the women that helped create it are still disregarded by fans. When the Star Trek: Discovery trailer released there was immense online backlash, as fans claimed that this was another show taken by the feminist agenda, asking “Are these people even real Trek fans?” It’s not like Star Trek
Fought for proper education on birth control because “life is scared” - The Mark Of Gideon 1969
Hired Dr Mae Jemison a black woman who was an actual NASA astronaut, to be on Star Trek: The Next Generation
Inspired Whoopi Goldberg through the character Uhura. "Mamma! There's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"
Stated “The claim ‘I was only following orders’ has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history” and encouraging people to make their own assessments. - Redemption 1991
Used male gaze to distract from themes in episodes that would have been considered controversial and become a red flag for producers. Because who cared what’s being said when there’s a little thigh on screen.
Originally designed the uniforms to be unisex, however after being altered by the network, the actors said they didn’t feel sexualised by the costumes. The 60’s was a massive era for the mini skirt, as they were “a fashionable expression of modernity and freedom from the domestic sphere.”
Two highly important women for the success of Star Trek were Bjo Trimble “The Woman Who Saved Star Trek, and none other than Lucille Ball.
Lucille Ball became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood when she gained control of Desilu Productions in 1960. Lucille Ball bought Star Trek in 1964 after a pitch from Gene Roddenberry, and stood by the show. According to Edwin Holly, an employee at the time, "If it were not for Lucy, there would be no Star Trek today."
With Lucille Ball fighting for Star Trek in the corporate world, Bjo Trimble fought for the fans. She organised one of the most famous letter writing campaigns in history, where producers were receiving 6000 letters a week. Bjo Trimble was apart of the convention world from 1952, where she was stationed as part of an all-female Navy volunteer emergency response system known as WAVE. She was key in organising the 1972 convention “Star Trek Lives!”, aiming to bring together fans of all walks of life. The convention exceeded even the wildest expectations, to the point the fire marshall was called due to over crowding, but didn’t stop the event as “Star Trek’ fans are some of the nicest, well-behaved, accommodating people I have ever met.”
In 1963, The Beatles took off, and are now said to have revolutionised music. “Their sound, rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. They also pioneered recording techniques and explored music styles ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock.” But before that, they were a boy band, with hordes of screaming fans. “Beatlemania” was what took hold throughout the world, and were mocked by music fans and by press.
Journalist Paul Johnson said “Those who flock round the Beatles, who scream themselves into hysteria, whose vacant faces flicker over the TV screen, are the least fortunate of their generation, the dull, the idle, the failures.” With fans screaming, jumping in front of cars, stuffing themselves into drum kits, all to get closer to the celebrity boy band, it bears a strong resemblance to fans of musicians today.
American Girls Screaming for the Beatles
In the past 2-3 decades, the media has been saturated by boy bands, from New Kids on the Block to BTS. While not all of them can have the long term effects of The Beatles, the disregard for anything simply because of its stereotyped fanbase, is something to be regretted.
Frank Sinatra has the same history and legacy. In 1944 the Columbus Day Riot took place outside Sinatra’s concert. Sinatra was blamed for girls losing "control of their emotions", and creating mass hysteria. His fame had been on the rise for years before the riot, as girls screamed for the singer.
While women working in the tech field aren’t teenagers, we see the same effect. Women were key to the development of computers, but now, nearly a century later, only 25% of IT jobs are held by women.
During WWII women stepped up into the workforce while men were drafted. When they returned, most women were sent back to domestic life, while men regained control of the workforce. Computers, however, still being relatively new, kept women at the thresh hold. Men had little experience at working computers, and believed it to be “women’s work”. So men build the hardware, and women designed the software, the belief is that once the computer was built, it did the work.
When the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was built in 1946, the male inventors received praise, however, the women weren’t given public recognition until most were in their seventies. Before this, they were passed off as models for the computer. These women were Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Elizabeth “Betty” Holberton, Frances Bilas Spence, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Kathleen “Kay” McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum.
1967 Cosmopolitan “The Computer Girls”
In 1967, Cosmopolitan released an article telling how computers were the perfect career path for women. With second wave feminism gaining influence, and more women entering the workforce, Grace Hopper stated, “It’s just like planning a dinner. You have to plan ahead and schedule everything so it’s ready when you need it.” While it doesn’t have the same punch of Rosie the Riveter, the article did result in the increase of women in computer work.
By the 1980s companies began to require aptitude tests when hiring, testing “masculine” skills that would be gained during a higher education that women were often denied. Structure and wording of job listings also heavily influence the applicants.
In 2006, an open-source software project, the GNOME Project, advertised a program promising tough competition. The program received almost 200 male applicants. When advertising for women, they emphasised learning and mentorship and received more than 100 highly qualified female applicants. Women often avoid highly competitive paths, as the ‘boys club’ mentality so strongly affects opportunities, giving women little promise of success.
The gender divide and preference were only reinforced with the advertisements for home computers being directed to men. The 80s Radio Shack advertisement features two boys, Elliot and Geoff, who play video games as well as complete programs for school. The 1985 Apple computer ad telling the story of Brian Scott, who decided to be an astronaut, and the first step to succeeding was the Apple computer. In the ad, he also messes with a girls computer when she turns away, then proceeds to laugh with his friends while she scowls. In 1984 37% of computer science majors were women, numbers that are only just being reached today. The effects of the past 30-40 years have caused for the strong decline in women’s interest in computer and STEM fields, and this while there are many factors, ignoring women’s contribution and history in the field is definitely one of them.
For the bibliography and references for this exceptionally long piece, please click here
