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Sad affects and contemporary women's media: depression, anxiety, and neoliberal (post)feminism in the post-recessionary West

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TitleInfo
Title
Sad affects and contemporary women's media: depression, anxiety, and neoliberal (post)feminism in the post-recessionary West
Name (type = personal)
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Thelandersson
NamePart (type = given)
Anna Fredrika
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1985-
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Anna Fredrika Thelandersson
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RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
author
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Bratich
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Jack Z
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Jack Z Bratich
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Dalbello
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Marija
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Marija Dalbello
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Chayko
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Mary
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Mary Chayko
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Gill
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Rosalind
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Rosalind Gill
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Advisory Committee
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outside member
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Rutgers University
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degree grantor
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School of Graduate Studies
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theses
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ETD doctoral
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2020
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2020-10
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English
Abstract (type = abstract)
This dissertation examines discourses of mental illness and sadness in women’s media culture during 2008-2018. It shows that there was an increase in conversations around mental illness in popular culture and on social media from 2015 and onwards. To understand what this increase looked like I examined three sites – women’s magazines, female celebrities, and social media – as purveyors of scripts for how we come to think about and experience mental health and illness. I conducted a textual analysis of the mental health coverage in the online editions of Cosmopolitan and Teen Vogue; a discourse analysis of first-hand confessions of mental illness by female celebrities; and online ethnography of communities that focus on these issues on social media.

This multi-methods approach revealed a multifaceted mental health awareness. Cosmopolitan tended to approach mental illness in a distanced and tongue-in-cheek way that acknowledges difficult topics but never veers too far into uncomfortable territory, exemplifying the “relatable” self that upholds the feeling rules of neoliberalism (Kanai, 2017; Gill and Kanai, 2018). Teen Vogue, in contrast, adopted a straightforward and earnest tone and frequently made connections between mental health and structural inequalities, with a recurring concern to provide support to their readers around issues of mental health. Among celebrities, my research shows that there was a move from media speculation about the state of female stars’ mental health, to them speaking out about diagnoses and experiences themselves. Here, increased confessions and firsthand accounts of living with mental illness can be traced to a larger shift in marketing strategies towards more relatability and intimacy. On social media, young women write about their sadness and mental illness diagnoses in a variety of ways. For some sad girl figures, the feeling-rules of neoliberalism are promoted. Others contest them explicitly while others are seeking precarious forms of solidarity. Regardless of the platforms, there is a key tension that runs through sad girl aesthetics and communities: there is a risk here of glorifying sadness and mental illness, but paradoxically in the very act of sharing one’s feelings online one also learns that one is not alone.
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Sadness
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Communication, Information and Library Studies
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD_11225
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application/pdf
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text/xml
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1 online resource (xiii, 265 pages) : illustrations
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Ph.D.
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Includes bibliographical references
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School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore10001600001
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Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/t3-7jqn-hv17
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Rights

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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
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Thelandersson
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Anna Fredrika
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Permission or license
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2020-09-28 12:05:22
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Anna Fredrika Thelandersson
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Rutgers University. School of Graduate Studies
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Author Agreement License
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
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Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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