Not Just a Phase: Queer Girlhood and Coming of Age on Screen. Issue 1 (1st March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Monaghan, Whitney
• Is Part Of: Girlhood studies. Volume 12:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 98
• Page End: 113
• Publication Date: 2019-03-01
• Subjects: diversity -- independent cinema -- representation -- sexuality -- queer girl; Girls -- Periodicals; Girls -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Girls -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Girls -- Education -- Periodicals; Girls -- Sexual behavior -- Periodicals; Girls -- Health and hygiene -- Periodicals; Women's studies -- Periodicals; 305.23082
• DOI: 10.3167/ghs.2019.120109
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1938-8209

Abstract

Abstract : In this article, I seek to interrogate the visibility of queer girls in contemporary cinema. I demonstrate how queerness has long been associated with a passing phase of adolescent development in the teen media sphere. I reflect on the nuanced relationships between queerness and girlhood in four contemporary US independent queer films, arguing that Pariah (2011), Mosquita y Mari (2012), First Girl I Loved (2016), and Princess Cyd (2017) are representative of a new wave of queer girlhood on screen. Rejecting the pervasive tropes of coming out as coming of age and just a phase, these films use queer girlhood to challenge linear models of girlhood.