To conquer femininity : A narrative analysis of sexuality and identity of selected female characters in the tv-series Euphoria

Euphoria is a popular tv-series that has become a part of popular culture with its dark imagery and strong characters. The characters became a big discussion in social media and mantras that people are taking inspiration from. The series has become a phenomenon in social media where people recreate the characters makeup and outfits. This study looked at how female characters are portrayed in Euphoria from a female stereotypic and gender identity perspective. And we wanted to see if the female characters are challenging heteronormativity that is reflected in our society. We used a narrative analysis and mise-en-scéne to analyze the chosen scenes, the theories we used were gender theory, gender role theory and queer theory. The result showed that three of the characters are shown as the typical female stereotype and two of them are not. The three females that are more like the stereotypes are portrayed in a sexualized way and their bodies are shown for entertainment and selling purposes. Meanwhile the two female characters that challenge heteronormativity are portrayed as norm breaking and they are not sexualized. The gender roles are shining through when some of the feminine women are acting from what is expected of a woman. They are seeking after what the ideals are and how they can be their most beautiful selves based on the stereotypes while some of them do not.