Weirdo Barbie and Punk-Rock Daddy’s Girl - Ambiguity, Gendered Identity and Appearance of Eleven in Stranger Things

Aug 30, 2026

Eleven’s portrayal in Stranger Things begins in Season One as a seemingly blank slate—lacking stable individuality, gender, and identity—then shifts across two seasons through visible transformations. Using gender and beauty theory, the study connects aspirational identity building through appearance (as framed by Paul Valery and Nancy Etcoff) with gendered identity as a performative “effect” (as proposed by Judith Butler). It examines how Eleven’s “looks” communicate identities within the program and how audiences actively reinterpret them through cosplay.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPaper Templates

FormatDOCX

Pages18

Reading Time6 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Characterization of Eleven Through Appearance

Narrative Context in Hawkins

Fan Appropriation and Identity Formation

“Weirdo Barbie and Punk-Rock Daddy’s Girl: Ambiguity, Gendered Identity and Appearance of Eleven in Stranger Things” Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols, Drury University Originally published in Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media, February 26, 2019. Vol. 31. HYPERLINK "https://refractory-journal.com/weirdo-barbie-and-punk-rock-daddys-girl-ambiguity-gendered-identity-and-appearance-of-eleven-in-stranger-things/" https://refractory-journal.com/weirdo-barbie-and-punk-rock-daddys-girl-ambiguity-gendered-identity-and-appearance-of-eleven-in-stranger-things/ Abstract: The character of Jane/El/Eleven in Stranger Things appears to the viewer in Season One as a blank slate, free of individuality, gender or identity. Her transformation, over the course of two seasons, allows us to consider the nature of both aspirational identity building through appearance of the kind described by Paul Valery and Nancy Etcoff, and also the sort of identity as gendered “effect” proposed by Judith Butler. Valery and Etcoff’s theories propose an essential being or “self” inhabited in a body that is then expressed through the considered manipulation of appearance, or beauty work. Butler argues that identity, or self, as gendered constructs only exist as “effects” rather than causes. El in Stranger Things offers a unique opportunity to explore these ideas as they are managed both by the character and the program, but also by consumers of the show, who interact with it actively through the practice of cosplay. This study uses a grounding in both gender and beauty theory to discuss the type(s) of identity(s) communicated by the different “looks” of the character Eleven in Stranger Things, with a focus on how cosplayers appropriate and use those looks in the search to say something about themselves. Introduction Eleven is a living paper doll, a blank slate on which others can create what they want to see. Both viewers of, and characters in, Stranger Things (Netflix 2016-present) use Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) as a template for their own visions, creating identity through her appearance. This paper will use the frame of gender and beauty theory to examine both the way that Eleven is constructed visually within Stranger Things and by its fans. The examination of Eleven’s characterization draws upon textual analysis of the television program itself, published interviews with the creators and actors, and the thoughts of Eleven fans and cosplayers (as communicated in both structured and unstructured interviews). Using the framework of beauty and gender theory as described by Nancy Etcoff, Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu, as well as Henry Jenkins’ work on participatory culture, this study will detail the process of collective identity creation that is effected in the appearance of the character of Eleven/El/Jane. Set in the 1980s in the small, fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, Stranger Things allows creators Matt and Ross Duffer to use their appreciation for the work of directors like Steven Spielberg and authors like Stephen King to create an “elevated” version of “B-movie ideas” (Nicholson and Hulley-Jones). The series follows the story of a young woman, a pre-teen, with psychic abilities, Eleven, who escapes from a government laboratory where she is being used by unscrupulous scientists to spy on other nations. Eleven does this by navigating another plane of reality called the Upside Down, a dangerous analog to our everyday existence. During her forays into this dark reality, she inadvertently opens a portal from the Upside Down to Hawkins and allows a monster to enter the small town and steal away two young people. The residents of Hawkins, a group of young friends, a single mother and the local police chief then work with Eleven to fight the monster and close the portal. Throughout the series, we see Eleven as both vulnerable and strong, damaged and super-powered, androgynous and feminine. All of these characteristics are quite literally embodied

FAQs

How does the paper describe Eleven’s initial identity in Season One?

Eleven is presented as a blank slate, with viewers encountering her as lacking clear individuality, gender, or identity.

Which theories are used to interpret Eleven’s transformations?

The study draws on gender and beauty theory from Nancy Etcoff and Paul Valery, and on Judith Butler’s idea of gender as a performative “effect,” supported by broader participatory culture framing.

How does cosplay affect the identity work around Eleven?

The paper argues that fans actively engage with Eleven’s “looks,” using cosplay as a practice to appropriate and reshape what those appearances communicate about identity.

Aug 30, 2026

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