ABSTRACT
Girlboss feminism, a form of neoliberal feminism, was popularly espoused throughout 2010s and remains prevalent in the present day. Yet memes that parody and satirize the figure of the girlboss have recently been virally circulated across TikTok. Generally created by girls and young women, we argue that these highly satirical and sometimes unintelligible memes reveal the contested feminist and generational politics that circulate within these youthful digital (sub)cultures. At a time when feminism and feminist identification have become increasingly acceptable from, if not expected of girls and young women, this chapter considers the shifting norms of popular feminism, showing how feminism itself is absorbed into regimes of contemporary girlhood and femininity. Throughout our analysis, we argue that the feminist and anti-capitalist connotations of girlboss memes intertwine with the regulatory regimes of femininity, girlhood, and participatory digital cultures in insidious ways – culminating in an environment in which sincerity is limited and precarious. Rather, we suggest that a sense of political and generational identity is established through the pushing away of imagined others. Ultimately, we frame engagement with girlboss memes as an identity practice through which the compounding impossibilities of feminism, femininity, and girlhood are negotiated.
