The Work of Being Normal for Women in the 21st Century

In my dissertation, I introduce a theoretical concept called, “the work of being normal,” which is a form of unpaid labor that is done primarily done by women, and operates in the guise of benefitting women and making them “better” or more “fit” yet it benefits neoliberal culture and the U.S. nation, writ large. My dissertation examines how neoliberal culture exacerbates the work of being normal for women, especially lesbians, women of color, poor, fat, single, and unmarried women and women with disabilities, whom do not always signal “normality” within Western culture like white, heterosexual, able-bodied, middle-class, tall, thin women do. My dissertation is informed by the notions of neoliberal culture and republican motherhood. Specifically, I argue that reproducing the nation has changed in emphasis, from republican motherhood, where women were solely imagined to be serving the nation from the confines of their home, to a process by which women’s civic duty has merely been modified to adjust to neoliberal culture. I use discourse analysis and close readings as methods to theorize how the work of being normal calls for both embodiment and consumption. In chapter one, I do close readings of three TLC reality shows to illustrate how the bodies of women of color and women with disabilities work to meet the demands of “normality.” In the second chapter, I use discourse analysis to look at how women can consume the techniques of normality through consuming information and purchasing commodities via social media influencer “how to” tutorials. In the third chapter, I consider the work of being normal against the back drop of the myth of the American Dream and celebrity culture. I examine the figure of the celebrity mom as a text as embodied by Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and Kim Kardashian West to further exemplify how the principles set forth in republican motherhood have shifted in a culture that celebrates women and specifically mothers who “do it all” through entrepreneurship, self-sufficiency, and physical fitness.Washington State University, American Studie