'Keeping it real': young working class femininities and celebrity culture

Abstract

Through a discourse analysis of several celebrity gossip texts, this thesis argues that the discourses within celebrity culture are highly classed and highlights that the little empirical research on female audiences of celebrity gossip magazines does pay significant attention to the category of class.Therefore, this research seeks to explore how young working class women not only negotiate and interact with the classed discourses of celebrity culture, but also the role these discourses play in young working class women's everyday lives and lived experiences. The empirical data demonstrates how young working class women negotiate the complex discourses that are at work in celebrity culture, particularly with regards to the construction of the self, the female body, fashion and beautification. Furthermore, through a feminist ethnographic framework, this thesis explores the place of celebrity discourses within the context of young female working class experience, and provides a valuable and much needed insight into the ways in which these discourses are at play in the subjectivities of young working class women