The Heroine's Reclamation of the Girlish and the Portrayal of Girl-Power in Sailor Moon - Masters Thesis

Aug 25, 2026

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This thesis examines the value of 1990s “girl-power” as presented through Sailor Moon, focusing on how girl power and girlish bodies were criticized in popular culture for promoting a shallow, pleasure-seeking, self-involved model of strength. It argues that the genre is often unfairly grouped under post-feminism, then reframes Sailor Moon’s alternative identities within a feminist framework. The study analyzes how characters use their bodies, engage gender constructions, form bonds, and operate in female-only spaces, highlighting power beyond the male gaze.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages157

Reading Time6 h 36 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Girl-power and post-feminism

Feminist reclamation of the girlish

Bodies, gender performance, and relationships

The Heroine's Reclamation of the Girlish and the Portrayal ofGirl-Power in Sailor Moon A thesis submitted to the Department of English Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters ofArts in English By Quenby Joanette August 2009 1*1 Library and Archives Canada Published Heritage Branch 395 Wellington Street Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Direction du Patrimoine de I'edition 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-63532-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-63532-2 NOTICE: The author has granted a nonexclusive license allowing Library and Archives Canada to reproduce, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the Internet, loan, distribute and sell theses worldwide, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, in microform, paper, electronic and/or any other formats. AVIS: L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans lemonde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou autres formats. The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-cine doivent etre imprimes ou autrementreproduits sans son autorisation. In compliance with the Canadian Privacy Act some supporting forms may have been removed from this thesis. While these forms may be included in the document page count, their removal does not represent any loss of content from the thesis. Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la protection de la vie privee, quelques formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves decette these. Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenumanquant. 1+1 Canada Abstract This thesis considers the value of 1990s girl-power as demonstrated by the cartoon Sailor Moon. Girl-power and the girlish body were often chastised in 90s popular culture for providing girls with a negative example of empowerment that valued only a shallow, pleasure-seeking, and self-involved model of strength. Consequently, the girl-power genre is unfairly lumped in under the negative umbrella of post-feminism. Post-feminism is a label that sometimes includes ideas and thinkers that place themselves in opposition to feminism. The show is an adaptation of a Japanese text that, in its original format, represents various identities and orientations as powerful alternatives to normative ideology, which makes these alternative identities visible to a Western audience and helps to highlight the value of girl-power. This is more apparent in the English subtitled episodes that are not censured in the way the English dubs were. The examination ofSailor Moon as part of the girl-power discourse works to separate the negative post-feminist components of the text in order to situate the girl-power in the show within a feminist framework. How Sailor Moon and her friends use their bodies, play with gender constructions, bond with each other, and privilege their female-only space demonstrates the value of such texts within the scope of other American girl-power narratives in the 90s. This project examines representations of girls' bodies, girls' power, and girls' relationships within the text. The reclamation of the girlish seeks to claim the feminine as valuable in itself, and recognizes the power embedded within the transitive space of childhood. By rearticulating a site

FAQs

What does the thesis identify as the typical criticism of girl-power in 1990s popular culture?

It argues that girl-power and girlish bodies were criticized for offering negative empowerment by valuing a shallow, pleasure-seeking, self-involved model of strength.

How does the thesis reframe Sailor Moon’s “girl-power” in relation to post-feminism?

It contends that girl-power is unfairly lumped under post-feminism, and that analyzing Sailor Moon can separate negative post-feminist components and situate girl-power within a feminist framework.

What aspects of Sailor Moon does the study use to demonstrate the value of these texts?

It examines how Sailor Moon and her friends use their bodies, play with gender constructions, bond with each other, and privilege female-only space.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Ivy