Millennial celebrity feminism: creative agents in UK/US film and television and the shaping of feminist subjectivity and discourse, 2013-2023

Hunter, Sian (2025) Millennial celebrity feminism: creative agents in UK/US film and television and the shaping of feminist subjectivity and discourse, 2013-2023. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis aims to understand the specific generational expressions of feminism produced by Millennial celebrities working within the UK and US film and television industries between 2013-2023. This period was characterised by a highly polarised culture that featured heightened visibility of both feminism and antifeminism, during which engagement with political issues increasingly took place on emerging digital platforms. Existing scholarship acknowledges that feminist ideas are largely engaged with by the general public through media and popular culture, but often rejects celebrity articulations of feminism as lacking substance. This thesis asks what kind of Millennial feminist narratives are given representation in film and television, how Millennial celebrities working in the film and television industries leverage their personal brands to further discussions of feminist topics within their work in traditional and digital forms of media and what the importance is of authorship in the progression of popular feminist discourse. In order to answer these questions, this thesis takes the form of five case studies. These do not seek to evaluate the feminist credentials of the celebrities or their work, but instead interrogate the ways in which these celebrities are constructed as feminist through the popular culture texts they create and the paratexts that surround them. This project offers a new perspective on celebrity feminism through the lens of this specific generational cohort and historical period to uncover the differences and similarities of the strategies celebrities operating within film and television used to incorporate feminist themes into their authorship. Demonstrating the importance of celebrities in reaching large audiences, this thesis offers the perspective that engaging with what is popular and trending is necessary and urgent in order to enlist future generations to the cause of feminism.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Media, Language and Communication Studies
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	04 Feb 2026 08:27
Last Modified:	04 Feb 2026 08:27
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101831
DOI:

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