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Start Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
As TikTok expands its social media influence in the United States, a productive genre for creators has emerged—the nostalgia video. Similar to Buzzfeed articles that ask which trends you remember, or the many film and television reboots, Tiktok users have gained followers through an endless game of “remember when?”
This nostalgia is not always to reproduce a pleasant memory, though. Intersecting with the videos that showcase users’ modern fashion style are a number of flashback videos that recreate the beauty rituals of the past. Rather than show an idealized depiction of how things were, these videos focus on heavily mocked trends of the 2000s and highlight the idiosyncrasies of primping. Further, commenters show their comfort in being collectively called out, and enjoyment in forming a millennial community, particularly in opposition to the perceived “cool” of younger generations.
In this paper, I use Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber’s idea of “bedroom culture” to consider the pleasures in “getting ready” rituals. Further, I look to Mary Celeste Kearney’s elaboration on bedroom culture as a productive space, to show how women recontextualize their past through the performance of these moments. While narratives that center on retreat have often been positioned as postfeminist, here the retreat to youth both recognizes the limitations in consumer conformity, and the labor involved in feminine production. Ultimately, I argue that in staging these individual moments of “cringe” as common practice, this genre of video allows TikTokers to negotiate the stigma associated with teen girl culture.
“I Feel Attacked”: Cringe, Cool, and Collective Identity on TikTok
As TikTok expands its social media influence in the United States, a productive genre for creators has emerged—the nostalgia video. Similar to Buzzfeed articles that ask which trends you remember, or the many film and television reboots, Tiktok users have gained followers through an endless game of “remember when?”
This nostalgia is not always to reproduce a pleasant memory, though. Intersecting with the videos that showcase users’ modern fashion style are a number of flashback videos that recreate the beauty rituals of the past. Rather than show an idealized depiction of how things were, these videos focus on heavily mocked trends of the 2000s and highlight the idiosyncrasies of primping. Further, commenters show their comfort in being collectively called out, and enjoyment in forming a millennial community, particularly in opposition to the perceived “cool” of younger generations.
In this paper, I use Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber’s idea of “bedroom culture” to consider the pleasures in “getting ready” rituals. Further, I look to Mary Celeste Kearney’s elaboration on bedroom culture as a productive space, to show how women recontextualize their past through the performance of these moments. While narratives that center on retreat have often been positioned as postfeminist, here the retreat to youth both recognizes the limitations in consumer conformity, and the labor involved in feminine production. Ultimately, I argue that in staging these individual moments of “cringe” as common practice, this genre of video allows TikTokers to negotiate the stigma associated with teen girl culture.
Bio
Margaret Rossman is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Bellarmine University. Her research focuses on the intersections of gender, fandom, and new media. In particular, she has explored tween culture and the way texts marketed at young girls have been popularized across generational boundaries. She received her A.B. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University, her M.F.A. in Film Studies from Boston University, and her Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from Indiana University. Her work has appeared in Mediated Girlhoods: New Explorations of Girls Media Culture Vol. 2. (2018) and Fan Phenomena: Batman (2013).