Keywords
girls and politics
postfeminism
neoliberal girl power
girl leaders
girl empowerment
agency
recognition
How to Cite
Abstract
This article examines the 2024 documentary Girls State which chronicles a week-long immersive political leadership program hosted by the American Legion Auxiliary for girls in Missouri. The film, directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, captures girls’ experiences with creating their own governments and political parties, campaigning for elected office, and adjudicating legal disputes in mock simulations of the democratic process. It bears witness to their political development while bringing viewers face-to-face with the promises and failures of postfeminism to deliver authentic forms of empowerment. Drawing from girls’ commentary, I suggest Girls State elucidates the paradoxes of exceptionality for girl leaders today. I mobilize Harris and Dobson’s “casting of girls as ‘suffering actors’” to underscore the current political moment in American girls’ lives and to appreciate the shaping of girls’ political selves across postfeminist scripts of neoliberal girl power (154). The article concludes with alternative patterns for girls’ political recognition.
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