First Monday, Volume 18, Number 2 - 4 February 2013

Two interrelated yet seemingly contradictory discourses framing girlhood studies depict feminine
identities as either restricted by the Ophelia girl in crisis or overwhelmed by the complexity of
feminine norms confronting the Girl power girl. Currently missing from this polarized discussion is
how online social networks provide a unique venue for creating and expressing the subjectivities
of girlhood. In this paper, we study how 25 young women and girls in Hong Kong engage with
Facebook and how this online social space is used to push beyond the linear crisis vs. power
continuum to claim a more multidimensional understanding of feminine identity. We evaluate the
reasons why Facebook is popular among these users and highlight how these young women
expand the rescue versus empowerment debate by claiming new spaces to create, experiment
and express their own unique forms of femininity.
Contents
Introduction
Background
Research design
Results and discussion
Conclusion


Introduction
Due to the considerable interest in female adolescence over the last two decades, contemporary
perceptions of girls and young women are being challenged and deconstructed on many fronts.
The issues surrounding girlhood have been under heavy academic scrutiny as well as
unprecedented news and media attention (Harris, 2004; Mazzarella and Pecora, 2007; McRobbie,
2004, 2000, 1994; Walkerdine and Ringrose, 2006; Currie, et al., 2009). As Aapola, et al. (2005)
have observed, the public is both fascinated by, and fearful of, the many and varied images of
todays girls.
The mixed reaction regarding girlhood largely stems from how the adult world perceives both the
current opportunities and constraints confronting girls as they negotiate adolescent femininity. On
the one hand, modern femininities represent diversity and complexity allowing girls more
flexibility in expanding traditional norms of femininity. However, going beyond normative
boundaries have also heightened public anxiety, as evidenced by increased problems with self
esteem, body image, motivation, aggressiveness and promiscuity, as young women today
pursue conflicting expectations for perfection, popularity, toughness and sexuality (Currie, et al.,
2009). The emergent scholarly interest in girls has resulted in a dialogue and melding of a range
of fields including (but not limited to) education, psychology, communications, sociology, politics
and cultural studies. This has generated new ways of thinking about the complexities and ongoing
process of girl identity, ranging from girlhood as compromised (Brown and Gilligan, 1993;
Gilligan, 1982), girlhood as culture (McRobbie, 1994), girlhood as consumerism (Driscoll, 2002)
and girlhood as problematic (Mazzarella and Pecora, 2007).
Distilled from this multidisciplinary research, two interrelated yet seemingly contradictory
discourses have emerged depicting modern girlhood as either in a state of emergency or offering
unprecedented promise (Gonick, 2006). Currently missing from this polarized perspective of
young femininities is a critical discussion of how online social networks provide a unique venue
for creating and expressing complex and competing subjectivities of girlhood. While the current
crisis versus power continuum of girl studies indicates important formulations of what it means to
grow up female, we offer another dimension, one that takes into account how communication
technology influences the conditions and processes by which young women and girls manage
female identity.
In particular, our aim is to examine how young females engage in online communities and use
these virtual social spaces to access a new kind of visibility, thus providing a unique social lens
on how normative forms of femininity are perceived and articulated by girls today. By exploring
the content and meaning of online interactions, our analysis seeks to answer how the most
popular social networking site (SNS), Facebook, works to inform and broaden the current
discussion and in the process helps to create a middle ground for understanding modern
girlhood.

Background
Female adolescence is typically a highly controlled and managed process, with considerable
social pressure being applied to ensure that girls safely transition into normative womanhood.
This ongoing process occurs in a variety of interactional arenas (i.e., family, school, peer
groups), and is further influenced through old and new forms of media. Since the early 1990s,
gender research has intersected with youth studies, resulting in a growing body of literature
seeking to understand the gendered specificities of female adolescence against the backdrop of
social, economic and generational shifts. Two major discourses have emerged that characterize
young women as either vulnerable and at risk or powerful and capable.
The competing expectations surrounding the current and future state of girlhood have been
linked to what some researchers see as a larger transformation of gendered identities brought on
by the dramatic changes in the economic order and the dismantling of postwar social structures
(Aapola, et al., 2005; Gonick, 2006). Within this neoliberal context, advocates from both sides of
the girlhood debate see girls development linked to these complex social transformations. Girl
Power advocates, for example, view these changes as instrumental in providing expansive forms
of femininity (Budgeon, 1998), giving girls today increased access to unprecedented
independence and power. In this context, girls have the power to create their own identity and
establish who they want to be. In contrast, the Ophelia discourse presents a wholly different
outlook, viewing this expansion of options for girls as overly idealized and unrealistic, further
cultivating a state of anxiety for girls who are unable to measure up (Reay, 2001; Walkerdine, et
al., 2001). Unlike the take charge dynamism of Girl Power, this perspective holds that the
pressures of having it all in a society that has yet to fully dismantle endemic gender disparities,
has had a reverse effect, with girls internalizing social inequalities and expressing them through
depression, eating disorders, and high risk behaviors (Aapola, et al., 2005).
The Ophelia Girl
The girls at risk perspective is rooted in the Ophelia discourse (see Pipher, 1994) where girls
identities are often in conflict with a number of confining social and cultural messages that dictate
correct girl behavior. Under these restrictive views, girls have become fragile, vulnerable and
voiceless. While the transition into adolescence is often challenging, it is particularly difficult for
young girls today because of what some observers view as a girlhostile culture that does not
allow girls the space to freely express themselves (Pipher, 1994; Gillian, 1982).
According to the Ophelia argument, unrealistic and unobtainable media images leave a lasting
impression on adolescent girls, often forcing them to replace their authentic selves with a false
self. Overtime, this leads to confusion and depression for many females (Pipher, 1994). Given
that adolescence is a time for emotional and physical change, this confusion and depression feed
into the demeaning cultural stereotype of the emotional female. Although much of the earlier
research on youth culture is predicated largely on the boy experience, with young females either
absent or an afterthought in the discussion (McRobbie, 1994), later studies on youth have moved
toward a more gender inclusive perspective. Ironically, in the process of this expanded interest
in girls development, a backlash emerged as girls who did not measure up or failed to take
advantage of new opportunities were seen as fragile and vulnerable.
Studies have documented the decline of selfesteem and academic performance during the time
young girls enter adolescence (Brown and Gilligan, 1993; Brumberg, 2000; Sadker and Sadker,
1994) showing how girls have been historically negated, trivialized and marginalized (Brown and
Gilligan, 1993; de Beauvoir, 1953; Gilligan, 1982). Growing concern over girls lower
performance and less competitive academic goals moved to the forefront as research began
linking these girlhood deficiencies to biases found in the classroom and to lower selfesteem
often characterizing typical adolescence (American Association of University Women, 1992;
Sadker and Sadker, 1994). Much of the literature focusing on girlhood began to reflect a
treacherous terrain for girls, with female adolescence taking on a social representation of
disordered development (Gonick, 2006).
Girl Power Girl
Simultaneous to the Ophelia discourse, the Girl Power movement emerged in the early 1990s,
setting up a competing definition of girlhood. Unlike the silenced Ophelia girls who are depicted
as passive, fragile and vulnerable, Girl Power girls are assertive, dynamic and unbounded from
the constraints of normative femininity (Gonick, 2003). Accordingly, these girls are accessing and
expressing new forms of independence and power, and in the process, establishing their own
definitions of girlhood.
The term Girl Power was coined within the young radical feminist movement that situated itself
within this context of modern girlhood being in a state of emergency. One of the first groups to
organize Riot Grrls positioned their message in direct opposition to the traditional patriarchal
structures of status and hierarchies (Hesford, 1999). Linked to the alternative music culture in the
U.S. and the U.K., Riot Grrls used music as the primary tool to organize and drive the movement
forward. With its DYI (Do It Yourself) message of social change, Girl Power became a
catchphrase for the individualized expression of female ambition (Harris, 2004). According to
Gonick (2006) and Garrison (2000), the movement was a response to the exclusionary practices
of the male oriented music scenes where girls were considered less than full members. Instead
of the usual typecasting girls as ornamental and passive consumers of social fads, Riot Grrls
used the Girl Power movement to encourage girls to become active producers and creators
through vocalizing their dissent, and in the process, created a movement by girls and for girls
(Riordan, 2001).
Riot Grrls was instrumental in propelling the Girl Power movement into mainstream media,
promoting cultural identities (i.e., Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Spice Girls) and products (i.e.,
selfstyled zines and Web sites) as well as instigating a number of public debates and policy
initiatives (Gonick, 2006). Some celebrated the movement for bringing feminism into the lives of
young women through accessible and popular venues (Projansky and Vande Berg, 2000), while
others viewed the movement as exemplifying crass Madison Avenue commercialization and
undermining the core values of the feminist ideal (Taft, 2001; Goldman, 1992; Driscoll, 1999;
Riordan, 2001).
The Facebook Girl
While there are ample examples illustrating how girls both resist and accommodate this power
vs. crisis discourse, this dichotomy does not, however, fully reflect the multiple identities girls
occupy in their social environments today. In particular, as social exchanges among young
people today increasingly move to the realm of SNSs, current discussions regarding the state of
modern girlhood need to include how online networks such as Facebook relate to the
reconfiguration of feminine identities. As girls increasingly gravitate toward virtual spaces for
social exchanges, and at the same time use, create and disseminate information, there is a
growing challenge to understand how these public spheres offer new and expanded social worlds
for girls. If, for example, the Ophelia discourse views girls as being silenced because of a lack of
space for them to articulate freely, then examination into how online social communities offer
new avenues for selfexpression is essential. Additionally, if the Girl Power movement sees girls
as reclaiming ownership over their feminine identities, then analysis is needed to better
understand how the dismantling of traditional social barriers in cyberspace presents new avenues
for navigating the pathway to adulthood.
For over two decades, research on the relationship between gender and technology has focused
on a divide in terms of access and use favoring boys and young men. This early research
found that excelling in computers and related technology raised social risks for girls and their
feminine identities (Herring, 2003; Margolis and Fisher, 2002), thus making the realm of
computer technology far from genderneutral. However, more recent research into online
computer use has indicated a narrowing of this gender gap, with the Internet being increasingly
viewed as a critical resource for young women to actively manipulate the borders between public
and private social spaces, often acting like a clubhouse for girls (Takayoshi, 1999). Managing
these spaces is often seen as fluid and openended, where young girls are writing (and rewriting)
their selfpresentations. Such flexibility speaks to young women as they increasingly dominate
SNSs and use these platforms for creating selfstyled social spaces. Today, females spend more
time on social networking sites and outnumber their male counterparts in terms of new Web
users by a small yet growing margin (Pew Research Center, 2010). Such involvement not only
allows young women to actively participate in todays digital mainstream, but also allows them
bidirectional access to both consume and create information about who they are and who they
want to become.
In the following discussion, we show how Facebook provides a virtual twoway mirror, allowing
girls and young women new ways to see themselves and to be seen by others. Within this
context, this research explores how Facebook provides expanded social venues for young girls to
express, experiment and negotiate femininities, while confronting unprecedented challenges and
opportunities in navigating the path to adulthood. Specifically we seek to explore how a group of
young women in Hong Kong (aged between 1622) uses online communities for defining and
expressing youthful feminine identities and examine how virtual communities are structured and
socially shaped with respect to the construction and deconstruction of normative feminine
identities.

Research design
A total of 25 females were interviewed regarding their online experiences, thoughts and
behaviors. A snowball sampling of 25 respondents was included, with all participants living in
Hong Kong. The population was accessed from various school settings and reflected a mix of
Chinese, South Asian, North American and European Facebook users, with the majority of
respondents being Chinese (i.e., Chinese N=19; nonChinese/international N=6). All participants
were enrolled full time in a secondary or tertiary education program, and reported using
Facebook on average five days a week. The age range of participants was 1626 years old. The
necessary ethics approval was obtained in advanced and all respondents signed a consent form
that briefly described the study. All participants were also given a debriefing at the conclusion of
the interview.
Interview questions regarding participants Facebook involvement were structured along three
key themes: (1) general use; (2) social and emotional benefits experienced; and, (3) expression
of self and identity. In order to measure Facebook use, respondents were asked the amount of
time spent using Facebook and asked to differentiate their use by activities (i.e., the amount of
time used for posting information versus reading other online posts). Respondents were also
asked specific questions regarding their motivations for using Facebook and how these social
exchanges differed from socializing in offline spaces. These responses were subsequently coded
and placed into thematic categories. Before the study began, a pilot questionnaire was distributed
to a smaller group of respondents to ensure that the questions were valid and would reliably
extract data relating to the overarching themes of this research. It should also be noted that
while we recognize that the sample is relatively small, our aim here is to initiate a new discussion
on exploring how online spaces provide unique and flexible ways for girls to experiment and
construct contemporary forms of feminine identity.
Hong Kong was selected as a field site for two primary reasons. First, as early adapters to
technology, Hong Kong offers a unique arena for examining how our expanding digital culture
intersects with issues of gender. Second, much of the literature to date examines how technology
has been linked largely to a North American and European perspective, leaving Hong Kong and
other Asian populations unexamined. With Facebook made available to a vast number of young
people, Hong Kong not only provides an excellent population for exploring how technology affects
youth today, but also offers new opportunities for expanding theoretical and social understanding
of girlhood in the new millennium.

Results and discussion
Our aim in this research is to explore the two contrasting portrayals of girlhood as depicted in the
Ophelia and Girl Power debate. In doing so, we seek to show that, with the introduction and
integration of Facebook, girls and young women are neither passive recipients of cultural
messages nor are they rejecting normative femininity. Instead, we suggest that Facebook allows
girls and young women on both sides of the dichotomy to create identities of choice.
Facebook and Ophelia
The Ophelia discourse underscores the important roles media play in conveying unrealistic
messages of the feminine ideal and how striving for these unattainable gendered standards
ultimately causes girls to become anxious and unhappy with their real selves. While the girls and
young women in this study articulate how Facebook can facilitate this normative and idealized
image, they also recognize how it can be used to move beyond these boundaries to create a
flexible and ever changing presentation of self. Cheryl, a 22 yearold Hong Kong Chinese female
explains how Facebook provides the latitude to experiment with alternative selfimages:
You can control what kind of image you want everyone to see. People always
pick the best photos to post I do it too. I will change my profile picture
whenever I have a better picture of myself. Sometimes I even pick a picture
that looks really ugly and different. Just to mix things up. I think that
everyone knows what everyone looks like in real life so when you go to
Facebook and see how someone looks you know that this is just a photo.
Maybe even enhanced by Photoshop. Everyone is guilty of this. Its ok. No
one minds too much. You just know that is the nature of technology and you
dont feel less about how you look.
I like to change my profile picture a lot. I have so many profile pictures.
They are all different but they are also all me. Some of them are of me when
I was little, or when I was wearing something I made or bought something
new.
According to the Ophelia discourse, the media goes beyond constructing unrealistic images of
youthful femininity to problematizing the making of girls. That is, girlhood is the social problem
with the need to fix girls becoming a prevailing theme. Thus, the dialogue framing girlhood has
been relegated from fixing the endemic social structures that create gender inequalities to fixing
the girl herself. Yet our respondents did not perceive themselves as weak and in need of
specialized attention. In fact, most young women reported feeling more in control when
communicating online, saying how they were their own personal mechanics. Dianne and Ella,
both 19 years of age describes it this way:
Dianne (Chinese): I can fix how I feel when I am on Facebook. I dont have
to worry about people overjudging me. I can just be myself. Its like being a
car mechanic but you adjust yourself to run better.
Ella (North American): I can do my own adjustments I know that if I
behaved in a way that I overstepped the boundary with a friend say like in a
facetoface conversation I can go to Facebook and explain myself in a way
that clears things up. The person I am writing to knows I am addressing her
directly even if I post it on my wall and everyone reads it. I would not feel
as easy about doing this facetoface. It just makes me feel more in charge
of my life.
Drawn from these young womens accounts as well as other respondents in this study, Facebook
provides an avenue for liberating oneself from the confines of normative femininity by allowing a
platform for conveying alternative, flexible, and more direct expressions of self.
While various forms of media play a large role in undermining girls selfesteem, Pipher (1994)
also argues that the authentic self of young girls becomes further diminished as girls negotiate
the many selfdoubting messages transmitted through various genderizing social systems like
school, sports, social clubs and health services. Gilligan (1982) has also found that this crisis in
selfesteem may never be fully resolved in adulthood. We found in our study, however, that girls
and young women often use Facebook as a tool to help them transition from the uncertainties of
adolescence. As Christine, a 23 yearold Chinese student recalls:
I remember a few years ago when I was just beginning secondary school I
was so trusting and nave. I could not even talk to a boy. I was so insecure
because I was always told by my parents how to be a good girl and how to
dress and behave. My school was allfemale Catholic and the nuns really
would shame us if we did not behave properly. My friends and I discovered
Xanga and Friendster then Facebook. It was so freeing! We would try all
kinds of things and flirt and do things that were so not what the nuns wanted
from us or our parents neither. I think this experience was so good because I
am able to have so much more confidence. Part of it is just growing up, for
sure, but also we had so much fun being other people on Xanga and
Facebook. It was like I could act like another person and no one could judge.
It has helped me go through some tough times when I was younger.
Early studies on gender and computermediated communication found that the shift from face
toface to text exchanges helps reduce social exclusion and bias (see Herring, 2003). While
exchanges on Facebook do not completely eliminate social exclusion, our respondents indicate
how Facebook offers a more encompassing space for constructing feminine identities which
transcend the more fixed forms found in real life. For example, the majority of young women in
this study reported feeling less restricted on Facebook, thus allowing them more freedom to test
out alternative selves. This was captured in an interview with Anna, a 19 yearold North
American female:
You just dont worry so much about being criticized when you are on
Facebook. You can be more direct and people are not going to judge you.
You ask questions and answer questions in a way you could never do face
toface. You can just test out a way of expressing yourself. If you are in a
mood its ok. You can change the next day. No one thinks youre psycho.
Similarly 20 yearold Beth, another North American, offers:
You can test to see what works. Its just like changing your wardrobe, except
you change a deeper part of yourself.
With girlhood being perceived as a time of vulnerability, parental concern over the wellbeing of
daughters often results in close monitoring to ensure they are safe (Boneva, et al., 2006).
While many of the activities of adolescent girls are regulated by parents, online activities and
conversations are not generally supervised. In this way, Facebook provides an ideal venue for
young women to escape the wellintended but often overpowering control and expectations of
adults. Alice, a 19 yearold Chinese student captures the sentiment of many other respondents,
when she describes how Facebook allows her more freedom from parental oversight:
My mom tried to join my Facebook but she doesnt know too much about how
it works. I usually communicate in English and she only knows Chinese so
this helps me to avoid her stalking me. I know she cares but Facebook is my
time with my friends where I can really be free from expectations. I am just
me.
Similarly Facebook offers young women in this study a means for reflecting and contemplating
how they want to present themselves to others. The time to reflect on what they want to convey
is often viewed as an opportunity to extend their selfexpression. Bonnie, a 23 yearold Chinese
university student states:
When you are in a facetoface conversation, you cannot hesitate ... you
need to carry on the conversation and sometimes you might agree with
something you dont really want or if you blush or something ... the other
person can see you. It interrupts what you really want to say. Online you can
take more time. You can think about what you want to say and this can have
more real meaning.
Likewise sending messages through Facebook also allows for a quick and easy means to
extend facetoface conversations again, providing a way to experiment in defining ones
true self. Cathy, a 24 yearold North American, comments on how communicating through
Facebook helps maintain and deepen social friendships:
When you are on Facebook you can just be with friends and say what you
want and this lets you keep a friendship alive. You might see the person
everyday and still go on Facebook but it is a way of keeping the connection
emotionally. It gives friendships more meaning. Your really understand who
you are when it comes to your friends. Facebook lets you keep really
connected to important friendships. You can look back at different
conversations and remember different parts of yourself.
Facebook and Girl Power
The Girl Power movement has been celebrated for expanding forms of feminine identity, allowing
girls and young women access to more powerful images of what it means to be female in the
modern world. According to Gonick (2006), underlying the neoliberalism ideology reflected in
modern girlhood is the notion that anyone who works hard can get ahead and this is often
represented in the process of individualization that stretches over a young womans multiple
social, work and personal selves. The articulation of identity becomes in contemporary times one
of choice and selfdetermination (Giddens, 1991). This was also reflected in the findings from this
research with the majority of respondents reporting that Facebook allows them to choose and
change who they want to be. Jena, a 22 yearold Chinese, describes how Facebook provides a
flexible space for testing out behaviors:
I do not have to be too concerned with expectations placed on me. I
sometime change my mood on Facebook because I want to see what
reaction I can get and if it is a good one.
Budgeon (1998) also found young woman seek out ways to evaluate the many cultural
representations of ultimate femininity. Likewise, our respondents found Facebook to be the ideal
space for accepting and/or rejecting the social structures defining the ideal girl. Stella, a 16
yearold European living in Hong Kong, states:
I feel that I can be a little more real on Facebook. I mean I still have to be
careful not to offend some one because the whole world is watching. But if I
am IMing someone on Facebook then I can a lot more direct. I do not have
to worry about swearing or doing something unfeminine. I also can use
Facebook and not have to worry about how I look. I can have terrible hair
and no makeup and still be myself. I could never do that facetoface. What
I get judged on in the real world is not the same for Facebook. It is so less
restrictive! Thats why I think it is so popular among my girl friends.
However, as many Girl Power researchers have articulated, maximizing the new found benefits
of modern life (Aapola, et al., 2005) does not come without a catch. Reay (2001) found that the
notion of Girl Power is often contradictory. On the one hand, it gives young girls increased power
to escape gender subordination while at the same time, limits behaviors by administering harsh
social reprimands for any deviations from the norm. On Facebook, however, these two extremes
are not so sharply delineated. Dianne, a young Chinese women aged 20 summaries a major
pattern emerging from the data:
Dianne: On Facebook, you just have to remember to be yourself. Not what
others think you are and what is expected. You can really just express how
youre feeling at that time. You have many moods and so does your
Facebook. Its all you and its okay. No one thinks youre schizophrenic. You
can be sexy, tough and kind as long as you are real.
Similarly, Francis, an 18 yearold European girl and recent graduate of secondary school,
explains:
I know that when I say something totally outrageous on Facebook people are
going to laugh. If I were to the same thing facetoface it would be social
suicide. Its nice I can be free on Facebook.
As a number of researchers have noted, the study of girlhood has been placed in the context of
the modern reflexive individual (Harris, 2004; Walkerdine, et al., 2001). Due to the lessening of
social structures that have historically regulated the gendering of identities, personal biographies
are increasingly under individual control (see Giddens, 1991), with the newly modernized identity
being characterized as individualized, flexible and selfmade (Harris, 2004). While some have
argued that this particularly speaks to privileged white males who have access to the resources
to construct their identity more easily than females and other marginalized populations (Currie,
et al., 2009), this limiting of resources does not seem to be the case in the virtual world of
Facebook. Kate, a 15 yearold Chinese student explains a recurring sentiment among
respondents:
It is easy to have your own personality on Facebook. You change your profile
picture anytime you want. I sometimes post a picture that says how I am
feeling. It lets me express a part of myself that I could not do so easily when
I am offline. You can be a real individual when on Facebook. You can also
be a little fake too but isnt that just being human? It is so flexible in letting
you express how you want others to know you.
Some observers criticize the Girl Power movement for transforming its feminist ideals into crass
consumerism with its bombardment of messages to young women to remake themselves
through purchasing products infused with Girl Power ideology resulting in consuming oneself
into being (Walkerdine, 2003). Girl Power girls are often equated with a heighten interest in
getting the look and in doing so, undermine the fundamental messages of female
empowerment espoused by the Girl Power movement. Respondents in this study found Facebook
communication circumvents some of the disadvantages of binding feminine identity with
consumerism, often citing how online exchanges allow them to dress, look and feel more
naturally. Ivana, another Chinese teen aged 16, states:
No one knows what you are wearing when you post something on your
(Facebook) wall. You can be in pajamas and have no makeup. It makes you
feel more relaxed because you dont have to worry about mascara or what
style of clothes you have. You could never talk facetoface looking the
same way and not be judged in a negative way. In real life you are always
looking in a way that takes a lot of time and costs money and sometimes its
not as real as when you are on your computer.
This authenticity of selfidentity is poignantly summarized by Patty, a 16 yearold South Asian
girl, living in Hong Kong:
On Facebook, you look more real. When you look more like you, you are
more you.

Conclusion
The Ophelia and Girl Power discussions offer opposing and important qualifiers of femininity. By
focusing on the structural and social inequalities confronting young women today, these two
contrasting positions offer a rich context for exploring how young females navigate the shifting
terrain of modern girlhood. As a way of maintaining the focus on girlhood and not on the
current eitheror proposition presented by these two discourses this research examines the
role Facebook plays in bridging those who celebrate girls and those who issue grim predictions.
More specifically, as shown in this research, girls and young women are carving out their own
spaces to selfexpress femininity and in the process, provide an expanded view on how girls and
young women shape and take command of their own unique identities. Thus, as social scientists,
technologists and feminists argue for and against the future of girlhood, young girls in Hong Kong
are flying below the radar of this rescue versus empowerment debate by constructing wholly new
spaces to create, experiment and express unique forms of femininity. In this way, Facebook use
among young women not only expands the discussions framing current literature on girlhood by
offering a window into what is possible but also offers a way for leveraging change in the new
millennium.

About the authors
Dr. Marissa Dean is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Hong Kong. Her area
of research focuses on examining key debates surrounding globalization against the backdrop of
todays digital society. Particular emphasis is placed on newly emerging cybersocieties and their
impact on todays Generation Y. Marissa also explores ways in which technology can be used to
spur social integration among marginalized populations.
Email: mtdean [at] hku [dot] hk
Professor Karen Joe Laidler received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California,
Davis. Currently, she is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong
Kong. Karens research in the U.S. and Hong Kong focuses on gender and marginalization among
young people.

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Editorial history
Received 3 September 2012; accepted 15 January 2013.
Copyright 2013, First Monday.
Copyright 2013, Marissa Dean and Karen Laidler.
A new girl in town: Exploring girlhood identities through Facebook
by Marissa Dean and Karen Laidler
First Monday, Volume 18, Number 2 - 4 February 2013
http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/rt/printerFriendly/4230/3412
doi:10.5210/fm.v18i2.4230