Hot right now: Diverse girls navigating technologies of racialized sexy femininity

Abstract

In this paper, we draw upon group interviews in London and New York City to explore how differently classed and racialized groups of teen girls navigate media constructions of hot, sexy, femininity. We explore how cultural ideals of sexiness are shifting to include more skin shades and larger body parts in specific proportions which align to new sexualized and racialized ideals of femininity. Some celebrities embody these new forms of what is termed racial mobility, but these ambiguous mixtures still relate to a standard that references normative white, middle-class femininity. All girls found navigating the contradictory and impossible ideals of sexy femininity challenging, but white girls had internalized the norms and technologies of “perfectibility” the most, and believed that achieving sexy femininity would bring them confidence. In contrast, racially marginalized girls were much more critical of normative ideals of sexiness. Black girls had a heightened awareness of how their bodies were consistently read as either not sexy enough or hypersexualized and they discussed the dangers this posed to them in both their school communities and in other public spaces. Overall, our findings demonstrate how diverse girls must undertake very different forms of work to navigate and manage expectations around racialized and classed sexiness.