3–5 July 2025
Leibniz University Hannover
About the Graduate Conference
From Sex and the City and Bridget Jones’s Diary to Fleabag and Barbie, popular culture increasingly engages with feminist concerns, rhetoric, and symbols. These developments raise important questions about how feminism is represented, negotiated, and commodified in mainstream media. The graduate conference "Feminism and Popular Culture: Narratives, Practices, Politics" explores these questions through the lens of feminist media and cultural studies, with particular attention to the concept of postfeminism as theorized by scholars such as Rosalind Gill, Angela McRobbie, and Diane Negra.
Held from July 3–5, 2025, at Leibniz University Hannover, the conference brings together students from two parallel seminars on "Postfeminism in Film and Television" taught in Hannover (by Prof. Dr. Kathleen Loock) and at the University of Freiburg (by Prof. Dr. Maria Sulimma). It provides a platform for 60 participants to present and discuss their research on feminist perspectives in contemporary media culture. Students will contribute to the conference in one of three formats: individual conference talks, roundtable discussions on theoretical texts (addressing topics such as race, commodification, celebrity feminism, and postfeminist masculinities), or group close-readings of selected scenes from film and television. The conference thus offers a space for academic exchange, critical engagement, and peer learning.
A highlight of the conference will be the keynote lecture by cultural scholar Annelot Prins (FU Berlin), whose interdisciplinary research examines the intersection of feminist theory, celebrity studies, and American popular culture. Her keynote, entitled "'The old Taylor can’t come to the phone because she’s dead': Paradoxes of Celebrity Victimhood and the Promise of Post-Feminist Self-Reinvention in Popular Music," analyzes how artists such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Kesha navigate tensions between feminist critique and postfeminist ideals through narratives of death, rebirth, and self-transformation.
By exploring how popular culture shapes and reflects ideas about gender, sexuality, and power, the conference fosters critical engagement with the narratives, practices, and politics of contemporary media.
The conference is free and open to the public. To register, send an e-mail to pfconference2025@gmail.com.
Conference Program
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Day 1: Thursday, 3 July 2025
14:15-15:30 Welcome & Keynote
Chair: Makenzie Jacobs
Annelot Prins (FU Berlin), “‘The old Taylor can’t come to the phone because she’s dead’: Paradoxes of Celebrity Victimhood and the Promise of Post-Feminist Self-Reinvention in Popular Music”
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-16:45 Roundtable 1: Celebrity Feminism
Moderator: Christine Poljanskij (Hannover)
- Alexa Joline Horn (Freiburg)
- Ayleen Morina (Freiburg)
- Mahdis Zarghami (Hannover)
- Till Kretzschmar (Hannover)
16:45-17:10 Close Reading 1: Legally Blonde (Robert Luketic, 2001)
- Ariane Dietrich (Freiburg)
- Hero Kaviani (Hannover)
- Ioana Pantelici (Hannover)
- Shirin Kühn (Freiburg)
17:10-17:30 Close Reading 2: Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023)
- Dilara Ersen (Hannover)
- Olivia Scheel (Freiburg)
- Suchittra Roy (Hannover)
- Dilan Beritan Kilic (Hannover)
17:30-18:00 Coffee break
18:00-19:00 Panel 1 (Presentations)
Chair: Nina Wilhelm (Hannover)
- Tolou Fareghzadeh (Hannover), “Empowerment through Fashion: Demonstrated through Elle Woods in the 2001 Film Legally Blonde”
- Zeynep Çağla Paksoy (Hannover), “Desperately Seeking Susan as a Postfeminist Text: Identity, Empowerment, and Femininity”
- Kristina Matthias (Hannover), “Sexualized Bodies and the Illusion of Empowerment: Postfeminism in the Charlie’s Angels Movies (2000 and 2019)”
- Makenzie Jacobs (Hannover), “The One with the Neoliberalism: Examples of Postfeminism in Friends”
19:00 Reception
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Day 2: Friday, 4 July 2025
9:30-9:45 Arrival and Coffee
9:45-10:30 Roundtable 2: Postfeminist Masculinities
Moderator: Daje Oldewurtel
- Lisa Born (Hannover)
- Mia Altenburger (Freiburg)
- Duygu Başak Ceylan (Freiburg)
- Zeynep Ahsen Mortas (Hannover)
10:30-10:55 Close Reading 3: Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
- Claire Steffen (Freiburg)
- Ömür Sel (Hannover)
- Raphael Anselm (Freiburg)
- Christina Schindler (Freiburg)
10:55-11:25 Coffee break
11:25-12:25 Panel 2 (Presentations)
Chair: Niklas Zabe (Hannover)
- Daaje Oldewurtel (Hannover), “Early 2000s Barbie Movies: Post-Feminist or Postfeminist?”
- Celina Hebel (Hannover), “The Happy Makeover? Postfeminist Visions of Happiness in Barbie (2023)”
- Philipp Kemeter (Hannover), “Screening Postfeminist Masculinities and Neoliberal Happiness in Legally Blonde (2001)”
- Farima Fallah (Hannover), “Sexy or Sexist?: Postfeminist Femininity, Empowerment, and the Aesthetics of Branding in Emily in Paris”
12:25-12:30 Group Photo
12:30-14:00 Lunch break
14:00-14:45 Roundtable 3: Race
Moderator: Fatima Asayed Khalil (Hannover)
- Kieu Jenny Vi (Freiburg)
- Sina Driller (Hannover)
- Sreyasi Karan (Freiburg)
- Emilia Kraus (Freiburg)
14:45-15:10 Close Reading 4: Fleabag (BBC, 2016–2019)
- Alexander Trissia (Freiburg)
- Amelie Marie Barmeier (Hannover)
- Fadila-Elin Iraki (Hannover)
- Magdalena Bertel (Freiburg)
- Grayson Garner (Freiburg)
15:10-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-16:30 Panel 3 (Presentations)
Chair: Elaheh Ghasemi (Hannover)
- Nina Wilhelm (Hannover), “‘I Want Someone to Tell Me How to Live My Life’: Affective Nonconformity and Postfeminist Complexities in Fleabag”
- Marie Vogt (Freiburg), “Female Rage in Fleabag: The Commodification of Feminism and the Role of Agency in Female Self-Discovery”
- Annabel Grothstück (Hannover), “Exploitation of Sexualization and Agency in Euphoria”
- Antonia Hornig (Freiburg), “‘Do yourself a favor and get your tubes tied’: HBO’s Hacks and the Fragility of Mother-and-Daughter-Relationships in a Postfeminist World”
16:30-17:00 Coffee break
17:00-18:00 Panel 4 (Presentations)
Chair: Makenzie Jacobs (Hannover)
- Dominik Solymosi (Freiburg), “The Evolution of Postfeminist Masculinity in James Bond Movies: From GoldenEye to Skyfall”
- Smilla Sprattek (Freiburg), “Postfeminist Masculinities, Victimhood, Female Rage, and Race: Claudia’s Role in Interview with the Vampire”
- Victoria Schünke (Hannover), “Femininity, Class, and ‘Angry Feminism’: Postfeminism in 10 Things I Hate About You”
- Julia Gabriel (Freiburg), “Post-Feminism and Female Rage in Legally Blonde”
18:30 Conference Dinner
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Day 3: Saturday, 5 July 2025
9:00-9:30 Arrival and coffee
9:30-10:15 Roundtable 4: Commodification
Moderator: Philipp Kemeter (Hannover)
- Lucy Deiwald (Freiburg)
- Marlene Emilius (Hannover)
- Mia Keller (Freiburg)
- Zoë Lecht (Hannover)
10:15-10:40 Close Reading 5: Gilmore Girls (The WB/The CW, 2000–2007)
- Fotis Glastras (Freiburg)
- Giulio Oks (Hannover)
- Melisa Dilek (Hannover)
10:40-11:05 Close Reading 6: The Last Showgirl (Gia Coppola, 2024)
- Amelie Kubatta (Hannover)
- Nina Rasche (Hannover)
- Theresa Donath (Hannover)
11:05-11:30 Coffee break
11:30-12:30 Panel 5 (Presentations)
Chair: Celina Hebel (Hannover)
- Xenia Theresa de la Munoza Lauber (Freiburg), “Retreatism in Sweet Magnolias”
- Amelie Blank (Freiburg), “The Proposal: An Exploration of Femininity in Leading Roles and the Relation Men Play in It”
- Alexandra von Einem (Hannover), “Selling Empowerment? Postfeminist Contradictions in the Performance of Femininity in Selling Sunset”
- Stephanie Schwer (Freiburg), “From Liberation to Lifestyle: The Postfeminist Framework of Sex and the City and Gossip Girl”
12:30 Farewell
Download the conference program here (PDF).
Keynote Speaker: Annelot Prins (FU Berlin)
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Keynote Title and Abstract
Annelot Prins, "'The old Taylor can’t come to the phone because she's dead': Paradoxes of Celebrity Victimhood and the Promise of Post-Feminist Self-Reinvention in Popular Music"
Abstract:
The celebrity feminist musician sings about experiences with sexism, misogyny and other forms of discrimination to connect her life to the lives of her audience, acknowledging the unequal power structures shaping our shared social realities. She nonetheless is forced to refuse a position of victimhood by virtue of her celebrity status: to be aspirational to their audience, superstars in popular music must convincingly present themselves as in full control of their voice and art alike. This presents the celebrity feminist with a paradox. She has to be feminist and post-feminist at once. Although she sings about gendered, racialized and sexualized violence as a structural problem in society, she simultaneously must present herself as freed of the social ills she recognizes.
I argue that the tension this creates for celebrity feminist pop stars like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Kesha is resolved through narratives of self-reinvention framed as deaths and rebirths. Beyoncé, making an album about her husband’s infidelity, repeatedly commits suicide in Lemonade (2016). Taylor Swift, who had made a career out of songs discussing the ways in which she and other women had been hurt by men, declares herself dead in “Look What You Made Me Do” (2017). The music video for Kesha’s “Praying” (2017) starts with the singer in a casket, with a voice-over asking, “am I dead?” In each of these case studies, the declarations of death are followed by rebirths. These new versions rely strongly on neoliberal imperatives of self-improvement: victoriously overcoming their own mortality, they now present themselves as more resilient, strong, free and authentic than their old iterations. In this manner, the celebrity feminist in popular music disentangles herself from victimhood and instead embeds herself in a discourse of post-feminist overcoming and survivorship organized around neoliberal virtues of autonomy, control and freedom.
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Speaker CV
Annelot Prins is a Dutch cultural scholar. Her interdisciplinary research lies at the intersection of feminist theory, celebrity studies, and American popular culture. Her work contributes to the understanding of how celebrity culture intersects with social issues, providing critical insights into the dynamics of identity, power, and representation in contemporary society. She holds a Research Master’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Amsterdam, where she completed her thesis on representations of female sexuality in popular music. She also earned a Master’s degree in Comparative Cultural Analysis from the same institution, for which she wrote a thesis on minority superstardom. At the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies (Freie Universität Berlin), she completed a dissertation on the social function of celebrity, using the rise of celebrity feminism in US popular music as a lens. She has taught undergraduate courses titled “Celebrity Feminism in Popular Music” and “The Art of Monstrous Men.” Her research has been published in journals such as Feminist Media Studies, Celebrity Studies, Cultural Sociology, and The European Journal of Cultural Studies.
Conference Venue
This conference will take place on the 14th floor of the Conti-Hochhaus.
Königsworther Platz 1, 30671 Hannover
Contact
To register or if you have any questions about this event, contact the organizing team via e-mail: pfconference2025@gmail.com