Insatiable

By: Anessa McMillian

Introducing Artifact

The artifact that I have chosen is the tv show Insatiable which is a show that premiered on Netflix in 2018. Debby Ryan who played "Patty Bladell" who was an overweight teenager who becomes thin after getting jaw surgery and wants to seek revenge on everyone who bullied her. She enters beauty pageants with the help of her coach, Bob Armstrong; it leads to a mix of a lot of drama, scandals.

The show explores different themes like Body image, revenge and identity. Insatiable connects to girlhood and identity by exploring the difficulties that young girls face to fit into the beauty standards and societal expectations. Patty's transformation from being bullied for being overweight to being celebrated for her looks, it shows how identity can be shaped based on appearance. The show goes into the confusion and instability that can come with teens, especially girls who are trying to figure out who they are in a world that defines them by how they look.

Research Question & Thesis Statement

The key question I'm aiming to explore in my paper is "How does insatiable construct the experience of girlhood in relation to societal beauty standards and body image?" and "How does Insatiable explore the impact of adult expectations and pressures on the shaping of girlhood?" These two questions will help me explain and analyze the show through a deeper lens, seeing how it not only connects to girlhood, but as well as the expectations of adults and girls' culture.

The show Insatiable shows that being a girl can be very hard in many ways as it explores how society's beauty standards and adult expectations have on girlhood by making girls feel their worth depends on their looks, making them meet unfair expectations.

History and Description of Artifact

The Netflix series premiered on August 10th, 2018, and ended after two seasons with the final episode airing on October 11th, 2019. The show focuses on Patty Bladell, a teenager who undergoes physical transformation and wants to seek revenge on the people who had bullied her. Some viewers saw this series to be a funny but sharp way of pointing out problems when it comes to beauty standards and societal expectations. Others felt it kept spreading hurtful ideas about body image and eating disorders. The disagreement surrounding the portrayal of weight loss and body image led to widespread debate about its messaging and the possible impact on the audience

Critical Analysis of Insatiable

Insatiable was meant to make people think about how society judges girls based on their looks. It attempted to show the pressure that young girls felt to be thin and beautiful and how it hurt their mental health. The creators of the show decided to use dark humor to highlight problems such as bullying, body shaming, and the need to seek revenge.

At the time when the show came out people were talking about body positivity and the harmful effects of beauty standards, so the directors thought it was a good idea to make a show about this topic and join the conversation that many people around the world were having. However, it also upset many people who were sensitive to these kinds of topics.

Significance To Girls' Culture

The show is significant to girls' culture as it's a representation of what society thinks about women. The series focuses on the pressure of teenage girls, working through expectations of body image, popularity, and social acceptance. It's important that this series is shared with others because the show covers very important topics that are current to the society we live in.

In an article written by Heather Simmons titled "Girlhood and the 'Problematic' Body: The Struggle for Acceptable Femininity" it discusses all issues with literature and body imagery. Simmons in the article while talking about visual culture says "At the centre of visual culture, of course, lies the blueprint for the "ideal" woman and girl: thin, athletic, white, with long hair and Eurocentric features." (Simmons, 2013, p. 124). This line from Simmons describes perfectly what a girl's world is and how it appears to her, this is why Insatiable is so significant to girls' culture.

The show Insatiable doesn't fit the stereotypical visual culture because the series does a great job defining and showing true girl culture. The show brings forth great examples of what girls go through all while focusing on one character. The creators use the main character Patty Baldell to show the expectation of what a girl should truly be in society's eyes. They also have a way of showing difference by bringing in girls from all backgrounds that don't "fit" the perfect girl image, to be in the pageant show.

Unlike other shows that only portray girls to be thin and white. A research paper written by Dania Melissa De La Cruz says "thousands of women had at some point believed the ideal woman was 'tall, thin, white, and blond, a face without pores, asymmetry or flaws'". (De La Cruz, 2018, p.7). This is why Insatiable is so significant to our broader understanding of girl culture. As it mixes in society's view of girls and the view of you're perfect the way you are and shows us all the challenges girls face.

Another way Insatiable is significant to girls' culture is the way it explores adult expectations on teenage girls. The show put the expectation into great perception by showing how much pressure girls face to look and act perfect. The parents and pageant coaches had such high standards for Patty Bladell and the other contestants that it didn't matter how they felt on the inside. All that mattered to the adults in the show was how the teenage girls acted, constantly forcing the teenagers to change themselves and meet the beauty standards set by adults.

There was a scene from the series that displayed Patty Bladell's room as a mess, the way the adults acted was as if she had just committed a crime and forced her to keep it clean. In an article written by Daniel Ashton and Karen Patel they discuss how the bedroom is a space for girls to explore and make sense of culture. Almost used as a safe space for girls to express themselves (Ashton & Patel, 2020). Thinking deeper about what they've said, we can look at that scene and see Patty's room is a clear demonstration of her making sense of girl culture. The room beginning a mess symbolizes how girl culture is a mess and causes stress.

Which is why Insatiable should be in a digital exhibit on girls' culture. The show deals directly with many struggles girls face today and shows them off in various ways. The show opens up important conversations about real life experiences of teenage girls. Including Insatiable into an exhibit shows how popular media reflects and influences what it mean to be grow up as a girl today.

Accompanying Politics and Girlhood Studies Analysis

Insatiable shows how power works differently depending on things like body image, gender, age, and social class. Throughout the show you see how Patty was treated when she was not a "perfect" ideal girl and you see how she gains power when she becomes thin. Showing how society only is going to value someone and listen to someone if they are "attractive". The series also shows how older adults try to control how young girls look and act, adding unneeded stress to their lives as they grow up.

The article Girlhood Studies talks about how before girls were studied, everything about girls was focused on through men. The article states "By the late 1990s, girl power had become a mainstream expression made popular by the Brit- ish pop group the Spice Girl." (Pomerantz, 2020, p. 848). This quote is important because as the series is ending the pageant girls start to lean on each other fully taking the power from the men. This demonstrates how Insatiable helps us understand how unfair it can be for a girl to grow up.

Girlhood as a Devalued Subject

Insatiable relates to girlhood as a devalued subject by showing how young girls, especially Patty are treated as if their worth depends mostly on their appearances. Before Patty lost weight, people would always ignore and bully her. After losing weight and becoming "attractive" others began to suddenly care about her, but mainly due to her looks and not for who she really is.

In the article written by Viriya, V & Susilo, D they state "Appearance supports a woman to look even more beautiful. Not only a slim body, but appearance also supports a person to be more beautiful and pleasing to the eye." (Viriya & Susilo, 2023 p.2579) This message shows that girlhood is often not taken seriously as needed unless it fits into narrow beauty standards. Instead of valuing girls for their thoughts, feelings, and intelligence, the show reflects on how society mainly focuses on their appearance and popularity.

Contributions to Girlhood Studies

Insatiable also contributes to the field of girlhood studies by showing real issues that teenage girls face. It looks at how girls are bullied because of their looks and how they're pressured to be perfect can affect their self-esteem and choices. Insatiable is a way for not just girls, but other people to learn about girlhood and what it means to grow up as a girl today.

The series is a great way for young girls to learn that you don't have to fit a "specific" look to be considered attractive. In the article "Celebrity Studies" by Spring Duvall, she discusses how girls today fall into a trap of looking up to celebrity culture. A culture that is all about popularity and influence. Duvall points out that some of the highest paid white women are young and white. Portraying an image that to be attractive and successful, you too must be young and white.

However, Duvall pointed out celebrities like Zendaya. A young rising biracial celebrity who doesn't fit the "perfect" girl standard. (Duvall, 2024). Insatiable does this very well too. Having many girls from all different backgrounds fit into Miss America Beauty Pageant. That's why it is a useful example for studying how girls are treated in society.

Understanding Girls' Culture

Insatiable helps us understand Girls, Girlhood, and Girls' culture by showing the pressure that many girls feel to look a certain way to be accepted and loved. It shows how Girls are usually judged more for their appearance than their personality and skills. Patty is treated badly when she is overweight, but people begin to treat her better when she becomes thin even though she's still the same person inside.

In the article written by Harlan, M. A, she states "They are presented as a girl with natural beauty, but they are not so beautiful that the average or ordinary boy cannot interact with her without feeling intimidated." (Harlan, 2019, p.9) This explores how girls sometimes compete with each other, feel insecure, and try to make themselves fit. It shows how hard it can be growing up in a world that tells girls they have to be "perfect" to be valued.

References

Ashton, D, & Patel, K. (2020). Girls' bedroom cultures, In K. Roos (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communications (pp. 1-6). Wiley Blackwell.

De La Cruz, D. M. (2018). Perceptions of traditional beauty standards in televised pageants

Duvall, S. (2024). Celebrity girls' studies: Interdisciplinary scholarship on fame, girlhoods, and identity. In L. K. McCabe & M. B. Duffy (Eds.), The Routledge companion to girls' studies. Routledge

Harlan, M. A. (2019). Challenging Girlhood. School of Information Student Research Journal, 9(1), 2

Pomerantz, S. (2020). Girlhood Studies. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies, 4, 847-851.

Simmons, H. (2013). Girlhood and the 'Problematic' Body: The Struggle for Acceptable Femininity. In Liminal: Proceedings of the Second Annual Critical Femininities Conference (pp. 123-129).

Viriya, V., & Susilo, D. (2023). MEANING AND REPRESENTATION OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN THE FILM INSATIABLE. Jurnal Scientia, 12(03), 2576-2586.