Goals, Goals, Goals!
A critical discourse analysis of female empowerment
in Bianca Ingrosso’s YouTube Vlogs
Vera Mohlin
Word Count (excluding references): 17693
Masters in Media and Communication Studies
One year master’s thesis
15 credits
VT/2021
Supervisor: Temi Odumosu
Examiner: Tina Askanius
Abstract
This qualitative study investigates the incorporation of female empowerment discourses
in Swedish lifestyle influencer Bianca Ingrosso’s YouTube vlogs. The aim of the study
is to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a feminist in the current Swedish
media moment, where the influencer industry is a commonly found subject for debates
concerning the tensions between feminism and postfeminism. By critically analyzing the
postfeminist expressions of female empowerment in influencers’ social media presence,
the study problematizes the neoliberal feminism embraced by influencers like Ingrosso,
whose feminist alignment mainly appears in promotional content for beauty and fashion
products. A critical discourse analysis is performed, utilizing Norman Fairclough’s threedimensional model, in order to examine the ways in which Ingrosso utilizes and reinforces
postfeminist discourses in her role as influencer. The study is performed through a
feminist perspective, supported by feminist and postfeminist literature, using feminist
media theory and field theory complemented by theory on gender and erotic capitals to
examine the material.
The analysis show that Ingrosso, through the social and financial capital that she holds as
an influencer in a feminized space, is empowered. The postfeminist discourse allows her
to maintain an influential position, as her physical attributes and encouragement of
hegemonic femininity through consumption align with the neoliberal gender norms and
expectations that structure the advertisement field in which influencers function.
However, as it is the capitalist structures that allow influencer like Ingrosso to commodify
their social media presence, the female empowerment that she promotes is in no way
contributing to the efforts of the feminist movement.
Key terms:
female empowerment, postfeminism, influencers, femvertising, media
visibility, YouTube.
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Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................. 2
1.
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5
2.
Background .................................................................................................... 6
2.1.
Context .................................................................................................... 6
2.1.1.
3.
4.
2.2.
Bianca Ingrosso ...................................................................................... 9
2.3.
YouTube as a promotional platform ..................................................... 10
2.4.
Research purpose & question .............................................................. 11
Literature Review ......................................................................................... 12
3.1.
Commercialization of female empowerment........................................ 13
3.2.
Self-surveillance.................................................................................... 14
3.3.
Individualism ......................................................................................... 15
3.4.
Research overview and relevance ....................................................... 16
Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 17
4.1.
Feminist media theory .......................................................................... 17
4.1.1.
Gender as social construct............................................................ 18
4.1.2.
Media visibility ............................................................................... 19
4.1.3.
Male gaze and self-presentation ................................................... 20
4.2.
5.
Feminism in Sweden ....................................................................... 7
Field theory and gender capital ............................................................ 21
4.2.1.
Bourdieu’s field theory ................................................................... 22
4.2.2.
Gender capital ............................................................................... 23
Research Method ......................................................................................... 24
5.1.
Critical discourse analysis .................................................................... 24
5.1.1.
5.2.
Fairclough’s three-dimensional model .......................................... 25
Analytical tools ...................................................................................... 27
5.2.1.
Modality ......................................................................................... 27
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6.
7.
5.2.2.
Intertextuality and interdiscursivity ................................................ 28
5.2.3.
Interpellation and subject positions............................................... 28
5.3.
Application of critical discourse analysis .............................................. 29
5.4.
Research paradigm .............................................................................. 30
5.5.
Sample .................................................................................................. 31
5.6.
Ethics..................................................................................................... 32
5.7.
Limitations ............................................................................................. 32
Analysis of results ........................................................................................ 33
6.1.
Female empowerment sells ................................................................. 33
6.2.
Empowerment through femininity ......................................................... 38
6.3.
Sisterhood of consumption ................................................................... 46
6.4.
Summary of analysis ............................................................................ 51
Discussion and conclusion .......................................................................... 53
7.1.
Further research ................................................................................... 54
References........................................................................................................... 56
Appendix .............................................................................................................. 60
Appendix 1 – YouTube vlogs .......................................................................... 60
Appendix 2 – Empirical data references ......................................................... 61
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1. Introduction
Words like “female empowerment” and “girl power” have been used frequently in various
forms of advertising over the past years. Messages of female empowerment are
increasingly seen in parts of our everyday lives and are no longer limited to strictly
feminist discourses. With slogans such as “What girls are made of” and “Now is her
time”, fitness brands like Nike, Adidas and Reebok have all used messages of female
empowerment to market themselves toward female customers over the last years
(Trendhunter, 2021). Another industry that often apply feminist rhetoric in their ad
campaigns is the beauty- and wellness industry, in which we frequently encounter powerslogans such as “Embrace your inner light” and “Wear your confidence out” (Sephora,
2020). While using feminism for commercial winnings is not an entirely new concept –
for instance Virginia Slims’ used the feminist movement of the late 60’s to market their
cigarettes at women with their slogan “You’ve come a long way, baby” (4As, 2017) – the
last few years have seen an increase of feminist messages in commercial settings (Windels
et al., 2019). Marketers have clearly understood that by involving feminist ideals of
women’s empowerment into their brand, they could benefit from the positive association,
all while spreading positive messages for their female customers (Windels et al., 2019).
However, while these types of pro-feminist messages challenge the beauty norms and
standards that have oppressed women historically, they tend to utilize postfeminist
discourses (Petersson McIntyre, 2021). Postfeminism is rooted in the practices of
neoliberal feminism, and focuses on discourses of freedom, independence, and choice,
which are often incorporated in media and culture that surrounds consumer culture (Gill,
2007; McRobbie, 2009). Unlike feminism, postfeminism rejects the structural societal
challenges and inequalities that concerns gender and race, and highlights women’s bodies
as sites of liberation (Gill, 2007).
In their role as promoters of brands, products, services, as well as their own personal
brand, social media ‘lifestyle influencers’ are at the center of many debates concerning
the tension between feminism and postfeminism in media. Lifestyle influencers on social
media tend to embrace language and narratives around female empowerment in their
work, as the influencer industry is dominated by women who are building extremely
successful careers around their personal brands. Their personal brands, which are their
source of revenue, are built on the enormous influence they have developed over time
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with followers, who in turn spend money based on their recommendations and featured
products. These types of influencers tend to exhibit their (usually very privileged) lives
while promoting beauty and wellbeing as an expression of female empowerment
(Marwick, 2015; Petersson McIntyre, 2021). As the influencer industry embraces an
entrepreneurial model that erase boundaries between work, personal life, consumption,
and the market, influencers are encouraged to capitalize on their daily life experiences
(Petersson McIntyre, 2021). Therefore, many scholars point to influencers’ use of
feminist ideals as aligning with postfeminist discourses, as the goal for influencers’ use
of female empowerment language ultimately is driven by attracting followers and making
money.
This study investigates the ways in which discourses of postfeminism and female
empowerment are incorporated by Bianca Ingrosso, one of Sweden’s most successful
influencers. The study draws on feminist literature and theory to build an understanding
of how female empowerment is constructed in content produced by her and used to
develop an overall brand identity. The research is performed through a critical discourse
analysis of a sample of vlogs posted on the video platform YouTube, and points to the
specific areas of Ingrosso’s content in which female empowerment discourses are most
apparent, and how these discourses are utilized by the influencer.
2. Background
2.1. Context
The context of this study is in Sweden, a country which has seen a change in recent
decades from a welfare state deeply connected to social-democratic practices, to a country
that prides itself on its neoliberal and market-oriented governance (Petersson McIntyre,
2021). In terms of gender-equality and feminism, Sweden has had a very good reputation
for a long period of time. However, as pointed out by researchers of feminism in Sweden,
in the aftermath of the #metoo movement, the internal understanding of this has changed
and new discussions of feminist activism have emerged, especially on social media
platforms (Nilsson & Lundgren, 2020; Petersson McIntyre, 2021). Positioning oneself as
feminist on social media has thus become standard practice for many social media users,
which has created a context where feminist messages are embedded in everyday
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representations (Caldeira et al., 2020). To understand the context in which the reputation
has developed, and the postfeminist discourses that are currently challenging it, this
section provides a summary of the historical evolution of feminism in Sweden.
2.1.1.
Feminism in Sweden
Just like the broader Western feminist movement in Europe and America, the feminist
movement in Sweden is commonly divided into at least three waves that show the
progress of the ideology from the early efforts by women to gain the right to vote, to the
individualized and postfeminist notions that many use to express feminism today.
The first wave of feminism is signified by women’s fight to gain independence, as their
lives had previously been dependent on men. The main goal of this movement was for all
women to receive the right to vote (Kroløkke & Sørensen, 2005). In Sweden, feminism
was pioneered by ideologists such as Ellen Key, who emphasized motherhood as an
aspect of womanhood that would allow women greater influence in the society. While
women in Sweden gained the right to vote in 1919, the efforts of the feminist movement
were less intense in the following decade as the financial depression that followed the
first world war in Europe affected too many areas of people’s lives (Haraldsson, 2017).
The second wave of feminism started during the second world war, when many women
started working to fill the labor shortage created as the result of thousands of men being
drafted to war. This movement went deeper into the structures of the society and criticized
the patriarchal and capitalist ideals and practices that were oppressing women. During
this movement, feminists challenged gender roles and expectations, whilst pushing even
further for the sexual liberation of women and reproductive choice (Kroløkke & Sørensen,
2005). In Sweden, feminists were able to push for reforms concerning work hours, equal
division of labor at home, and state contributions to childcare through methods of
collective actions on political levels (Ljungberg et al., 2017).
In the 1990s, a third wave of feminism took off. Rather than viewing women as a
collective group, third wave feminists incorporate intersectionality, sex-positivity, and
pluralism, into the movement (Kroløkke & Sørensen, 2005). In contrast to the ideals and
efforts of the second wave, Western third wave feminism is less focused on the collective
struggle and challenges the assumption of women as one category to include issues of
race, religion, and sexuality (Petersson McIntyre, 2021). In 1996, Swedish feminist and
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author Nina Björk published the book Under the Pink Duvet, which is considered
representative of third wave feminism in Sweden. The main ideas of the book build on
American feminist Judith Butler’s explanation of gender as a social construct, rather than
a biological construct (Björk, 2015). Björk’s contribution to the feminist debate in
Sweden established third wave feminism as a feminism that sought to libertate people
from fixed gender identities and allowing for individual interpretations of what is means
to be a woman, rather than focusing on women’s reproductive capabilities and other
traditional female attributes as the basis for equal rights and influence in society (Björk,
2015).
Third wave feminism is, to a certain degree, viewed as a product of popular culture and
media, as it has shaped feminism to become more centered around consumerism, and this
is where postfeminism starts taking shape (Kroløkke & Sørensen, 2005). Postfeminism is
described by scholars as a feminism embedded in neoliberal and capitalist contexts (Gill,
2007; McRobbie, 2009). Further debates suggest that third-wave feminism and the
current spread of postfeminist notions are developing into a fourth wave of feminism,
which is characterized by digitalization and increasing use of female empowerment
rhetoric (Cochrane, 2013). Postfeminism seeks to incorporate feminism into daily
practices of self-presentation and identity creation. As such, consumerism is viewed as a
tool of liberation for modern women and a way to express their political standpoints, and
companies are encouraged to promote consumption as a political act (Cochrane, 2013).
Today, as feminism has become a recurrent theme in many women’s, and many
influencers’, promoted images of themselves, debates of what feminism means have
become common topics for research. In an effort to understand whether a lip
augmentation done on an influencer can be viewed as a feminist act, Magdalena Petersson
McIntyre (2021) has studied how questions of feminism, choice and entrepreneurship are
understood in the Swedish context. Through texts analysis, observations and in-depth
interviews with both lifestyle influencers and gender consultants, situating their
reflections and explanations in the postfeminist media culture, Petersson McIntyre
analyzes what feminism currently signifies for different Swedish entrepreneurs who ‘sell’
feminism (Petersson McIntyre, 2021, p. 1064). Petersson McIntyre found that many of
the influencers that had done various beauty enhancements described them as a feminist
act as it corresponds to freedom of choice. The feminism that we see on social media,
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Petersson McIntyre states, is an individualized form of feminism that talks about the
success of the individual woman rather than the collective efforts and struggles for
equality (Petersson McIntyre, 2021). While this understanding of feminism promotes
actions under “freedom of choice,” we need to also recognize that it repeats the ideals of
patriarchal gender expectations, especially when promoted by an influencer who receives
compensation for influencing their followers to do the same thing (Petersson McIntyre,
2021).
2.2. Bianca Ingrosso
Bianca Ingrosso is a Swedish influencer and entrepreneur who, as of July 2021, has over
one million followers on the social media photo platform Instagram and 380 000
subscribers on the video platform YouTube. With these numbers, Ingrosso is one of the
biggest influencers in Sweden and her reach is larger than many traditional media
channels. Her large reach is partly due to her background as the daughter of the wellknown singer and musical performer Pernilla Wahlgren, and as the granddaughter of
celebrated actress Christina Schollin. Together with her mother, Ingrosso is the lead of
the Swedish reality show Wahlgrens Värld, a show which has been running since 2016
and which follows Ingrosso and her celebrity family in their everyday lives in Stockholm
(Karlsson & Fredriksson, 2020). The show has played a crucial role in increasing
Ingrosso’s presence in Swedish media and her privileged background is important to
consider in this study, as postfeminist discourses dismiss the structural challenges that
many women experience and emphasize individual success as an expression of
empowerment (Gill, 2007).
Due to her position as an extremely successful influencer and entrepreneur, narratives
around Ingrosso and her work often involve rhetoric of female empowerment. One of the
largest Swedish newspapers recently called her “the voice of a generation,” (Johansson,
2019) and in 2020 she was awarded as one of EY’s Entrepreneurs of the Year, along with
four male entrepreneurs (Esterling, 2020). EY is the acronym referring to Ernst and
Young Global Limited and its subsidiaries. Ingrosso is commonly referenced in Swedish
media as a powerful authority, opinion leader and role model, especially for the girls and
young women that mainly constitute her audience (Nyström, 2020; Johansson, 2019), and
is therefore an interesting public figure to examine through a feminist perspective.
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Ingrosso frequently incorporates messages and rhetoric of female empowerment into her
work. In 2018, following the launch of her make-up brand CAIA, a video was published
on Ingrosso’s social media channels that sought to communicate the background and
purpose of the new company. The video shows Ingrosso and other women in different
professional settings, whilst her voice over states “Ever since I was a young girl, I have
been curious about the art of beauty […] I grew up looking at all these strong women
around me, supporting each other. They showed me what real sisterhood is all about:
being spontaneous and edgy, but at the same time, loyal […] be true to your family and
friends, but also true to yourself […] I had this dream about creating something that
celebrates female, beauty, and sisterhood. Something that enhance and empower girls”
(CAIA Cosmetics, 2018). The entire video is a celebration of strong women and
sisterhood, and while it is packed with beautiful messages of female empowerment, it is
still a promotional video for her new makeup brand.
Since Ingrosso launched her makeup brand, both her and the company have been frequent
topics for feminist debates in Swedish media. For instance, in November 2019, Ingrosso
and CAIA were convicted for using sexist ads in their marketing campaign on Facebook.
In the ad, a young woman in lingerie is photographed from below to market a lipstick,
which the Swedish Advertising Regulations (Reklamombudsmannen) deemed
unacceptable. Ingrosso defended the ad stating that its purpose was to showcase their
products and their results, and to create a campaign that expresses what she and the
company stand for, namely strong, independent women who encourage and support other
women, women who care about each other and who are inclusive (Ek, 2019). Even though
the brand has been convicted for sexist ads three times, Ingrosso is continuously using
messages of female empowerment to promote products and her personal image. Most
recently, a promotional video for CAIA’s liquid highlighters was released, which
promises to give you “a gorgeous goddess glow” (CAIA Cosmetics, 2021) and before
that they promoted a perfume which was “created for a modern woman who is strong,
feminine and sophisticated” (CAIA Cosmetics, 2020).
2.3. YouTube as a promotional platform
This study analyzes a sample of Ingrosso’s YouTube videos, which consist of everyday
content filmed and published by Ingrosso herself.
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YouTube is a social media platform owned by Google that allows users to post and watch
videos (Burns, 2019). Once content is published on YouTube it is available for anyone to
watch without paying or logging into the site. The platform allows users to subscribe to
channels and like and comment on videos.
Many influencers use YouTube to post content in video format, which allows their
followers to get insight into their daily lives. These types of videos are often referred to
as vlogs. In addition, influencers use YouTube to post sponsored content, frequently in
form of clothing hauls in which the influencer shows and talks about newly purchased
items in order to promote the company that sells these items (Burns, 2019).
Since its launch in 2005, research on the function of YouTube in relation to influencers
has partly focused on the new dynamics that it has brought to the modern celebrity culture.
Studies show how over the last decades there has been a shift in celebrity status from
achieved to attributed fame. The main difference between these statuses is that celebrities
used to become famous through accomplishments, but as social media sites emerged,
today many people can receive celebrity status through media exposure only (Wheeler,
2014). Thus, social media sites such as YouTube have made it easier for ‘ordinary’ people
to become famous (Wheeler, 2014). Mingyi Hou (2019) recognizes this, and claims that
as a result, celebrity status may be received “in a DYI manner, bypassing the gatekeeper
role of media and entertainment industries” (Hou, 2019, p. 535).
However, through her analysis, Hou finds that as ordinary people are gaining celebrity
status through social media, the social media platforms have started to undergo a “process
of institutionalization” (Hou, 2019, p. 535). Even though YouTube vloggers have
managed to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of media, the self-branding qualities of
social media sites such as YouTube create a monetized commodification of the self and
reinforces the neoliberal culture’s focus on self-improvement through consumption (Hou,
2019).
2.4. Research purpose & question
In recent years, Bianca Ingrosso’s content has been favored as the topic of thesis projects
by bachelor and master’s students writing in Swedish, but she is largely absent from
media and communications studies scholarship on social media. Furthermore, the
dynamics of her role as an ambassador of postfeminist values, is still emerging, mostly
11
within postgraduate thesis work. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to emerging
research by investigating how themes and messages of female empowerment are
constructed and utilized in the influencer industry in Sweden. I attempt to show this by
performing a critical discourse analysis of the use of themes related to postfeminism in
Bianca Ingrosso’s YouTube videos.
Research Question: How is Bianca Ingrosso incorporating discourses of female
empowerment into her role as influencer?
3. Literature Review
Research on the use of female empowerment in relation to popular culture and
commercial media, such as the influencer industry, tend to be rooted in postfeminist
themes. In their study Windels et al. (2019) break down the tension that exists between
feminism and postfeminism, where feminism is both considered and attacked. While
postfeminism pushes for aspects of feminism such as increasing women’s confidence and
empowerment in society, it is still depoliticizing these and other aspects, such as
intersectionality, which ultimately dismisses the feminist struggle for equality as
insignificant (Windels et al., 2019). Postfeminism is therefore not feminism as defined by
women’s struggle and subordination to men and the efforts to challenge this through
political action. Rather, postfeminism functions as a response to feminism that co-opts it
by incorporating, assuming, and naturalizing aspects of feminism, and works “to
commodify feminism via the figure of woman as the empowered consumer” (Tasker &
Negra, 2007, p. 2). Therefore, postfeminism influences how we interact with feminism
and how we think about the changes that are taking place in relation to women’s place in
our culture and society.
To understand how the use of female empowerment messages are appropriated by
postfeminism and how these are directly related to structures of the influencer industry, a
literature review of postfeminism and its presence in the influencer industry was
conducted. The following subsections summarizes the relevant themes and studies
identified in the review and which emphasize the components of postfeminism that are of
particular interest to this thesis.
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3.1. Commercialization of female empowerment
For the purpose of this thesis, it is important to understand the origins of female
empowerment rhetoric, in order to make a distinction between the meaning of female
empowerment as used in women’s movements and how it is used in the current neoliberal
market economy. The use of female empowerment and girl power-rhetoric became
common in the 1990s. Before the arrival of social media platforms, the grassroot
movement Riot Grrrl challenged the male dominance that existed in the music industry
by promoting all-female bands who, as Paul Hodkinson (2017) puts it, “angrily repudiated
traditional gender roles, flaunting an aggressive and uncompromising sexuality through
music, imagery and on-stage performance” (Hodkinson, 2017, p. 254). Riot Grrrl sought
to encourage women to make their own music and spread female expressions of art.
Today, empowerment-culture has a much wider application, and actions such a makeup
purchase can be viewed as an act of empowerment and independence (Gill, 2007). It can
thus be argued that empowerment-culture is a new form of feminism, in which everyone
can participate, not just politically involved feminists.
However, there are concerns that the commercialization of female empowerment rhetoric
has turned women’s self-esteem and liberation into a product for the marketplace to
exploit (Windels et al., 2019). Rather than a movement concerned with societal issues,
feminism and the language that surrounds it become an individualized lifestyle. Political
statements are communicated through individualized actions of consumption, which
allows us to question if empowerment culture really supports feminism’s efforts of
criticizing societal, economical, and political oppressions (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
‘Femvertising’ is a term frequently used by scholars to discuss the type of ads that claim
to sell ‘empowerment’ to women. As the word suggests, femvertising uses feminist
messages of empowerment and pro-female imagery to sell brands to women. It is simply
short for female empowerment advertising (Windels et al., 2019). In their analysis of
different femvertisements, Windels et al., (2019) brings up the partnership between nail
polish company OPI and American actress Kerry Washington as an example. In 2016,
OPI and Washington teamed up and launched a series of nail polishes that were given
empowering names such as “Madam President”, “Pale to the Chief”, and “We the
Female” (Windels et al., 2019). By applying feminist discourse of empowerment to nail
13
polishes, this collaboration suggests that feminism is a set of colorful attitudes that can
be worn as accessories (Windels et al., 2019).
Overall, Windels et al. (2019) find that the entanglement between feminism and
postfeminism is exemplified through femvertisement, as women’s lack of confidence is
highlighted as a selling point. If advertisers were truthful to the feminist ideology, they
would make efforts to challenge the “existing structural inequalities and societal
injustices” and “call out patriarchal culture” (Windels et al., 2019, p. 31). Instead, by
commodifying feminism, empowerment culture neutralizes the political power of the
feminist messages.
However, looking at the impact that femvertising can have on women’s perceptions of
themselves, Åkestam et al. (2017) have performed a study on the reactance, i.e., the
feelings of having alternatives, of femvertising in the Swedish context. They perform two
quantitative studies to investigate whether advertisement campaigns with female
empowering messages have a stronger reactance among its audience than more traditional
portrayals of women in advertising have. The first study draws on femvertising ads
specifically created for the study. The second study involved both YouTube ads with
female empowerment messages and ads that portray more traditional female
representations. The women who participated in the study filled out questionnaires on
how they perceived stereotypes in the campaigns. The results from both studies showed
that by avoiding stereotypes, femvertising strengthens the feeling of reactance. Åkestam
et al. (2017) relate the results of the study to the societal changes that are happening in
Sweden. The changing experience and attitudes to female portrayals in advertisement,
they argue, could be seen as a reaction to the changes that are taking place in the society.
This does, however, not mean that feminism is a dominant societal concern in the Swedish
society, rather Åkestam et al. (2017) point to a trend in Sweden where new types of
messages concerning women and feminism are more encouraged than before.
3.2. Self-surveillance
As a study rooted in postfeminist aspects of the influencer industry, a theme that was
found relevant for this study is self-surveillance. Alora Elizabeth Paulsen Mulvey (2019)
has performed a critical discourse analysis of femininity and feminism in a successful
lifestyle influencer in the UK’s Instagram posts and aligns her study with feminist scholar
14
Rosalind Gill in understanding postfeminism as a lens through which we can understand
different media phenomena. Paulsen Mulvey (2019) finds that a key aspect of
postfeminism in relation to the influencer industry is its focus on women’s bodies as a
source of power, requiring women to constantly monitor, surveil and discipline
themselves. Gill (2017) argues that postfeminism views women’s bodies as objects that
can be branded and mobilized for social and economic profits within the neoliberal
economy. Because of the emphasis put on women’s bodies as the defining feature of
femininity, women are constantly at risk of failing to perform the desired femininity if
they are not able to adjust to the hegemonically accepted body (Gill, 2017). Thus, Paulsen
Mulvey (2019) finds that processes such as undesired weight gain or loss, ageing, and
other natural aspects of life that challenge the hegemonic beauty ideals are met with
resistance among beauty influencers. Extensive beauty regimes are encouraged to reach
or maintain the homogenized version of beauty, which implies that there is a limited
acceptance in terms of what is considered attractive and by disciplining their bodies and
appearance, women can achieve the discursively shaped ideal of themselves (Gill, 2017).
As social media influencers exhibit their personal lives to their many followers, scholars
argue that they play a crucial role in the current postfeminist culture of self-surveillance
(Gill, 2017; Paulsen Mulvey, 2019). In the influencer culture, the essential maintenance
of the acceptable body is for instance presented through YouTube videos that show what
and how much the influencer eats in a day, what their fitness routine looks like, or what
beauty products they use (Paulsen Mulvey, 2019). Because influencers tend to embody
and embrace hegemonic beauty ideals, these videos encourage young women to surveil
and discipline themselves through the same practices of dieting, exercising, and
consuming the same beauty products (Paulsen Mulvey, 2019).
3.3. Individualism
Individualism is a key concept within postfeminism which is highly relevant for studies
related to the influencer industry. Angela McRobbie (2004) outlines the origins of
individualism in relation to feminism and points to efforts in late 1980s after the second
wave of feminism to label feminists as angry and humorless women who hate men. This,
McRobbie explains, resulted in a new trend where women in the early 1990s sought to
detach themselves from feminism (McRobbie, 2004). This dualism, Windels et al. (2019)
state, of enjoying the new opportunities in the workplace that the old generation had
15
fought for while also distancing themselves from that same feminism resulted in a new
discourse in media around women’s success, namely that of individualism (Windels et
al., 2019). Media portrayals of women’s accomplishments became increasingly
associated with high-achieving, success-seeking “glamorous career women” (Hodkinson,
2017) who had reached their goals of successful careers based on their own merits
(McRobbie, 2004). Individualism thus puts focus on the individual merits of women
themselves as the main reason for a woman’s success, or failure (McRobbie, 2004). By
emphasizing the individual choice and merit, postfeminism thus suggests that equality
between men and women has been achieved, and as a result feminism is no longer a
necessary political movement (McRobbie, 2004). Individualism also tends to suggest that
today women can actually “have it all” (Windels et al., 2019, p. 19). This discourse is
commonly found in debates of the influencer industry, an industry which is dominated by
women who are making very financially successful careers for themselves.
In true postfeminist spirit, individualism does incorporate feminist progress in the
attitudes of what it meant to be a working woman, but scholars show that this way of
thinking still reinforces patriarchal structures. Hodkinson (2017) points to the powerful
influence that individualism had in the 1990s and early 2000s on the representation of
women in media. With the presence of single, financially independent, and sexually free
women, the understanding of how women should live their lives changed. However,
McRobbie argues, because of its heavy focus on individual achievements, individualism
ignores the existence of gender and racial inequalities in our society and proposes that
women’s experiences are free from constraints from social structures in the society
(McRobbie, 2004).
3.4. Research overview and relevance
Scholars in this field of study acknowledge that the debates around individualism and
feminism, as well as the tensions around feminism and postfeminism, are complicated
and they do not underestimate the power of individualism, femvertising and other
postfeminist themes in changing attitudes around womanhood as well as in inspiring
women to express and seek out opportunities (Hodkinson, 2017; Petersson McIntyre,
2021; Windels et al., 2019). Rather, many point to the importance of continuing
investigating what feminism constitutes in different settings, especially as language
16
around feminism is getting increasingly common in both commercial content and in
people’s self-presentations.
Specifically, Petersson McIntyre (2021) point to the Swedish context as an interesting
case for these types of studies, as it is a country deeply connected to questions of gender
equality that is currently seeing individuals who would not previously link themselves
to the feminist movement do so all while the perception of what it means to be a
feminist in Sweden is changing. Feminism in Sweden, she argues, is becoming a tool
for individuals to promote their entrepreneurial self, rather than something that people
are. Thus, there is a fear among feminists in Sweden that feminism is becoming a
“commodified concept” that pushes for women’s right to look beautiful and sexy, and
their choice to depend on men in the neoliberal market economy (Petersson McIntyre,
2021, p. 1060). Getting a deeper understanding of how and why influencers like
Ingrosso embrace certain aspects of feminism can help us understand where feminism in
Sweden is heading.
Given the increasing presence of postfeminist discourse in commercial settings, this thesis
contributes to previous research by 1) identifying the postfeminist elements of female
empowerment that are frequently used by successful influencers, and 2) showing how
these elements are used for commercial purposes, and 3) showing how postfeminist
discourses allow influencers to promote themselves as empowered feminist role models.
4. Theoretical Framework
The following section presents the theories that function as tools for answering the
research questions. The theoretical framework for this study is structured around feminist
media theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory.
4.1. Feminist media theory
Today, scholars argue, much of the controversies that surround feminism are specifically
related to media (Steiner, 2014). For instance, we have over the past decades, seen
apparent changes in the representation of women in media encouraged by the feminist
movement. However, these representations have resulted in debates of what is actually
17
considered a support to the feminist movement, and what may be “disguised versions of
conventional sexism, or even actively anti-feminist” (Steiner, 2014, p. 360).
Overall, feminist media theory explores the relationship between a society saturated in
media, and a society that is divided into socially constructed categories of gender and
sexuality based on unequal power and influence (Gill, 2009). The following sub-sections
outline the themes within feminist media theory which were applied in the analysis of
Ingrosso’s YouTube vlogs.
4.1.1.
Gender as social construct
As suggested by many scholars, the influencer industry is intrinsically linked to
reinforcing neoliberal values of consumerism (McIntyre, 2021) and while it has furthered
a way for women to gain and build monetary assets through the promotion of their
personal brand, it does not necessarily align with the values and aspirations of feminism.
Feminism, as defined by feminist media theorist Linda Steiner, is “an emancipatory,
transformational movement aimed at undoing domination and oppression” (Steiner, 2014,
p. 359). Modern feminism recognizes that gender and sex are socially constructed. Gender
can be understood as performances based on the cultural and societal understandings of
what it means to be male and female. It is something we do rather than something we are
(Hodkinson, 2017). Similarly, sexuality is based on a constructed set of understandings
that are centered around heterosexuality. These dominant constructions of gender and
sexuality tend to marginalize other forms of identities and reinforce the patriarchal system
which favors male domination and female subordination (Hodkinson, 2017).
As it builds on feminist theory’s notions of sex and gender as social constructs, feminist
media theory is explicitly political and always addressing power (Steiner, 2014). Gender,
as a construct that influences our identities and experiences, intersects with other
influential factors of identity such as class, race, sexual orientation, and ability. These
factors, gender included, are categorized in relation to subordination or domination and
these all play into how we experience the world (Steiner, 2014).
Feminist media theory suggests that femininity can be understood as an identifier that is
subject to change (Gill, 2009). It is conceptualized by scholars as an identity that can be
performed according to its social and historical context. Judith Butler (1988) has defined
gender as “an identity tenuously constituted in time” (p. 519). Butler argues that since
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gender is constituted, it can appear differently through different performances. Thus,
gender is not only performative but also constructive, which explains how gender
function as the cultural and societal means by which sexual differences are shaped
(Butler, 1999). Therefore, the femininity portrayed by influencers such as Ingrosso is an
instance of femininity that is directed and encouraged by the hegemonic understanding
of what it entails to be a young woman in Sweden within the current digital media
moment. Additionally, the femininity that Ingrosso discursively constructs is reproduced
and spread through her large social media reach, as feminist media scholars argue that
masculinity and femininity are not fixed or predetermined categories, rather they are
actively produced and defined by media (Gill, 2009).
4.1.2.
Media visibility
A dimension of feminist media theory which is crucial to the understanding of
postfeminist discourses in media and communication studies is postfeminism’s
appreciation of media visibility. Unlike second wave feminists, postfeminists view media
as a resource for self-reinforcement (Banet-Weiser, 2007). While second wave feminists
argue that the increased commercialization of media, and especially its relation to the
beauty industry, works to reinforce the patriarchal oppression, postfeminism views
commercial media and the beauty industry as tools for achieving independence and
femininity. Through a postfeminist lens, consumption encourages women to express
themselves and take control of their own lives (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
Sarah Banet-Weiser (2015) views women’s media visibility as a market that is operated
by supply and demand. The demand for girls’ visibility is constant, as media incessantly
encourages us to look at girls. The supply for visibility takes many shapes but is
strengthened through social media where selfies and other forms of visibility have
become popular forms of expressions (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
Banet-Weiser (2015) has outlined the themes of media visibility and representation in
relation to feminism, which she refers to as the ‘gendered economy of visibility’ (BanetWeiser, 2015). She uses the notion of empowerment-feminism and women’s selfsurveillance to explain why women choose to participate “in the circuits of media
visibility” (Banet-Weiser, 2015, p. 57). She locates two dominating themes in the current
understanding of womanhood in media: it can be understood either through possibility or
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through challenge (Banet-Weiser, 2015). As these two understandings are constantly
being applied to girls in order to define which path they are heading, it creates a “context
of intense surveillance around girls” that encourages women to engage in postfeminist
activities of self-improvement and consumerism (Banet-Weiser, 2015, p. 57).
Feminist media theory suggests that postfeminist media is intersectional and that it cannot
be examined without the consideration of race (Steiner, 2014). In Banet-Weiser’s
‘gendered economy of visibility’ two visible female consumers are identified, which
correspond to the two understandings of womanhood defined above: the “Can-Do-Girls”
and the “At-Risk Girls”. The Can-Do-Girls are typically “white, middle class, and
entrepreneurial” women whose media visibility is associated with possibilities and are
put in opposition to the At-Risk-Girls, who are typically girls of color of the working
class, represented through challenges (Banet-Weiser, 2015, p. 57). As with all economies,
there are consumers which are more valuable than others, and in the gendered economy
of visibility, the former is favored as a consumer of ‘empowerment feminism’ (BanetWeiser, 2015).
4.1.3.
Male gaze and self-presentation
Another aspect of feminist media theory that is useful for this study is Laura Mulvey’s
concept of the male gaze, which argues that women in media are depicted through the
lens of a male, heterosexual audience (Hodkinson, 2017). Through the male gaze, women
are set up as objects while men hold the controlling, sexually objectifying gaze. When
Mulvey outlined the male gaze in the 1970s, and in the context of film, she argued that
cinema depicts idealized images of humans for the audiences to idolize and aspire to. As
the audience in this argument is centered on the heterosexual male, Mulvey showed that
male characters are subjects of identification and aspiration, while female characters’
main purpose was as sexual objects for the ‘male gaze’ (Hodkinson, 2017). Even though
representations of women in media have broadened, Mulvey’s idea of the male gaze is
still a highly useful concept for investigating postfeminist notions of female
empowerment in commercialized content, as these tend to encourage a certain type of
femininity that can be compared to and analyzed through Banet-Weiser’s (2015) “CanDo-Girl”.
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Richard Kedzior and Doulas E. Allen (2016) point to the prevalence of the male gaze in
the influencer’s self-presentations on social media. On social media, a person’s success
is determined by their ability to catch the audience’s attention. In her study on Instagram
selfies, Marwick (2015) show that “those successful at gaining attention often reproduce
conventional status hierarchies of luxury, celebrity, and popularity that depend on the
ability to emulate the visual iconography of mainstream celebrity culture” (p. 138), which
makes them susceptible to the expectations and norms of traditional mass media. While
social media has provided a platform for women to express themselves and capitalize on
their appearance, they are often reinforcing and capitalizing on the aesthetics of the male
gaze which results in an industry less concerned with female reclamation of
objectification of women but more of a contribution to it. As a result, influencers provide
their young female audiences with the same limited ideas of femininity as traditional
media has done, but in the name of empowerment.
It is relevant to ground this thesis in postfeminist notions of female empowerment as these
dimensions allows us to understand current trends of feminism and postfeminism in the
influencer industry. As a culture embedded in consumption and individualism, messages
of female empowerment relate directly to women’s financial independence and individual
achievements. At the same time, feminist media theory works as a basis from which we
can interpret and analyze the degrees of feminism that are involved in the image and selfpresentation efforts of famous influencers. By studying postfeminist articulations of
female empowerment in commercial content, feminist media theory allows us to locate
feminist signifiers used to promote brands and shape personal identities and investigate
whether these signifiers are in line with feminism or, as suggested by many scholars,
stripped of their power (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
4.2. Field theory and gender capital
As this study is rooted in the cultural and social structures that shape gender identities in
the neoliberal market economy, Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of field and capital has been
applied. In addition, theory of gender and erotic capitals are applied to complement
Bourdieu’s theory, as it allows me to exhibit how reasoning concerning women’s role in
the society depends on different social and financial situations, as well as how these are
mirrored in influencers’ self-presentation and popularity on social media.
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4.2.1.
Bourdieu’s field theory
Field theory assumes that systems are constructed within different parts of the society,
and the actors within the society hold different positions valued on how high their
symbolic capital is. Donald Broady (1988) has outlined and summarized major parts of
Bourdieu’s theory, explaining that the most meaningful forms of capital that people can
have in the society are cultural, financial, and social capital (Broady, 1988). The different
capitals are connected and are dependent on each other. Bourdieu found financial capital
decisive in where an individual stands in the social hierarchy and it works as a foundation
through which other capitals can be reached (Broady, 1988). The different capitals all
produce a symbolic capital, and this is what Bourdieu argues controls who has power,
influence, and status in the different fields of the society (Broady, 1988).
Power and status are dictated according to a hierarchy, which allows those who hold the
most capital within each field to be the most influential. This structure is what Bourdieu
calls doxa, and this structure is constantly challenged in the society. The elite that has the
most influence belong to the orthodoxy as they work to maintain the power structures
within their field and those who hold little capital within a field seek to change the
structures of the hierarchy, and are referred to as heterodoxy (Broady, 1988).
In recent years, scholars have applied Bourdieu’s field theory to social media, and found
various suggestions on how it translates to the context of social media influence. One of
these suggestions is through parasocial interactions, which refers to the relationship that
exists between consumers and mass media, where consumers tend to engage in
relationships with media personas even though they have never directly communicated
with them (Labrecque, 2014). Lauren Labrecque (2014) explains the concept of
parasocial interactions as having to do with how media personas communicate with their
audiences, carefully constructing verbal and nonverbal mechanisms that are experienced
by the audience as directed communication and through this process generate social
capital between individuals through a non-existent bond that is experienced as real.
While the concept took shape already in the 1950’s when scholars noted the way that
people talk about actors or television characters as personal friends, scholars such as
Labrecque (2014) and Andrew Tolson (2010) argue that social media networks have
allowed for new ways of developing these types of interactions. Through membership in
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fields such as communities and online spaces, influencers are able to access niche markets
and receive perceived notoriety within the field (Tolson, 2010). Once they establish this
status, they begin taking on the same role as media personas and are able to project their
social capital to their audience, without addressing the audience individually. For
instance, with her 380 000 YouTube subscribers, Ingrosso is in her vlogs speaking on a
one-to-many level, never attempting to speak to every viewer individually. Therefore, she
instead relies on parasocial interaction to form and maintain her community and
influence.
4.2.2.
Gender capital
Bourdieu’s field theory has been criticized for dismissing gender as a factor that
influences capital. Thus, feminist theorists such as Leslie McCall (1992) have developed
a complement to field theory that is referred to as gender capital, which seeks to explain
the embodied cultural capital, the habitus, that plays an important part in the power
relations that exist between men and women’s symbolic capital. The theory refers to how
women can utilize their embodied femininity in order to increase their symbolic capital
and thus gain more power and influence in the society.
Further, feminist theorists have suggested that there is a difference between the capital
attached to being female and male and the capital attached to femininity and masculinity.
Kate Huppatz (2009) states that female and male capital creates conditions based on the
physical differences between men and women, while the feminine and masculine capital
is based on the norms and expectations that are connected to the feminine and masculine
behaviors. By analyzing the ways in which Ingrosso utilizes structures around the female
and feminine capital in her role as influencer, this study can provide a deeper
understanding for her success in the field as well as a reflection on how postfeminist
discourses allows influencers to utilize female empowerment in their promotion of
neoliberal activities such as consumption.
In relation to the current media landscape in Sweden as studied through a successful
influencer, Elana Levine (2015) explains that as media has expanded into digital realms,
users of media have been divided into specialized niches, which include feminine popular
spaces. These fields are often rejected by the wider culture as silly or girly, as that is the
overall attitude towards popular culture directed at girls and women (Levine, 2015).
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Ingrosso and other lifestyle influencers are often viewed as “young women who take
pictures for a living” (Paulsen Mulvey, 2019). However, scholars argue that this
assumption should be dismissed as influencers these days carry high financial and social
capital thanks to their large reach and influence in the society (Duffy, 2017). By taking
feminine popular spaces such as the influencers seriously and analyzing the spaces and
texts that they produce, we can get a better understanding of how these texts and fields
discursively construct femininity (Paulsen Mulvey, 2019). I use this theoretical aspect to
understand how Ingrosso engage in both feminist and postfeminist activities, and how
these help her in establishing herself as a powerful and influential figure in the Swedish
media landscape.
Another layer of gender capital refers to that of erotic capital, which Catherine Hakim
(2011) defines as physical attraction that has the capacity to increase one’s power within
specific fields. Physical attraction, Hakim (2011) states, includes beauty, sex appeal,
style, and charm. Thus, if a person is considered attractive in accordance with the societal
norms of what is attractive, he or she holds a higher symbolic capital than those who are
not. While erotic capital affects most people in the society, Hakim (2011) finds that
women are much more affected by it than men are, since women are judged by their
appearance to a much higher degree. Hakim (2011) explains that women’s appearance is
judged by sexual ideal which is sustained through a hegemony that specifically
encourages women to adjust to the ideal. Thus, I have included erotic capital as a layer of
gender capital in the analysis of Ingrosso’s YouTube videos as this can explain how
Ingrosso portrays herself according to the norms of female attractiveness and sexual
ideals, which has allowed her to gain higher status in the neoliberal context.
5. Research Method
The following section describes the function of critical discourse analysis in research and
how it has been designed and applied in this study.
5.1. Critical discourse analysis
Jørgensen and Phillips (2002) refer to discourse as a multifaceted concept with many
definitions, but always assuming language as essential for analyzing phenomena in
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society. Discourse analysis questions everything that is considered a media text and
recognizes that they are not neutral reflections of the world. Rather, discourse analysis
assumes that media texts are both products and creators of socially constructed realities,
which are shaped by the use of language (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
The overall purpose of critical discourse analysis is to investigate connections between
discourses and the social structures of society to understand how language relates to its
surroundings. Discourses are both constituting our social settings and are affected by
other social practices (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). While discourses can shape social
relations, structures, and identities, they are also prone to change through influence of
other social practices and discourses. While discourses shape identities, relations, and
constitutes the knowledge that dictate how we act and respond to things, social practices
are present both in society at large but also in smaller scales in specific spheres or
institutions and they structure how we relate to each other, as well as how we act in certain
situations and contexts (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
Critical discourse analysis thus suggest that discursive practices have the power to
maintain, shape and change power relations and injustices in society, and the critical
approach aims to both make visible how these discursive and social practices maintain
the structures of society as well as how they challenge them (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
In this study, critical discourse analysis functions to make visible how Ingrosso, and by
extension the influencer industry, contribute to maintaining or challenging the dominant
ideology and power structures of the society. Jørgensen and Phillips (2002) point to the
creation of everyday discursive practices, such as influencer content on social media
channels like YouTube, as possible tools for both social and cultural changes, as well as
possible practices of reinforcing societal power structures.
5.1.1.
Fairclough’s three-dimensional model
This study is based on Norman Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis, in which
discourses are viewed as parts of a social practice (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
Fairclough’s model for critical discourse analysis consists of three dimensions, which are:
1) text, 2) discursive practice, and 3) social practice (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
The first dimension of the analytical model focuses on the principal text and the
characteristics of the language. By analyzing the content and shape of text, we get a better
25
understanding of the discourses that are manifested in the text. The second dimension
analyses the discursive practice that concerns the production and consumption of the
texts. Through this dimension, we get a better picture of how discourses occur and how
they are exercised by both the producer and consumer of the text. In the third dimension
of the model, the text is analyzed through the larger social context, to see how it relates
to other discourses and social practices (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). By analyzing how
a text relates its larger context, conclusions can be made of whether the text reinforce or
challenge dominant societal structures (Fairclough, 1995).
Fairclough’s suggests that language is situated in social and historical behaviors that were
developed and affected by other social practices (Fairclough, 1995). According to
Fairclough’s model, emphasis is put on “the communicative event” and how it relates to
“the order of discourse” (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002, p. 72). In this study, the
communicative event is the messages and content verbally communicated by Ingrosso in
her YouTube vlogs. In Fairclough’s model, the communicative event, the principal text
of analysis, cannot be understood or analyzed by itself, it can only be understood in
relation to the social context in which normative use of language is structured by an order
of discourse. The order of discourse is the composition of all the discourse types that are
available in certain social domains which indicate how these are normally used
(Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). It can be viewed as a guide for how to speak in certain
contexts, including which perspectives are commonly used in the specific fields. Every
social domain has different orders of discourse, so discourse types are used in specific
ways depending on the contexts (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
Fairclough argues that discourse analysis alone is not sufficient for analyzing how a text
relates to wider social practices. Rather, critical discourse analysis needs to be integrated
with social and cultural theory to create a unique theoretical and methodological
framework from which the research material can be approached (Jørgensen & Phillips,
2002). In this thesis, critical discourse analysis is complemented by feminist media
theory, which investigates the alignment between the research material and feminist
efforts. Additionally, Bourdieu’s field theory and theory on gender and erotic capitals
have been integrated to address how the wider social practices enable certain influencers
to coopt discourses of female empowerment.
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However, what needs to be addressed here is the discrepancy that exists between
Fairclough’s order of discourse and Bourdieu’s concept of field. As outlined in section
4.2, Bourdieu refers to ‘field’ as a practically autonomous social domain directed by a
certain social logic, in which actors struggle to achieve power and influence through
increased symbolic capital (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). Fairclough criticizes Bourdieu
for underestimating the role of discourse in actors’ struggles within and between fields
and suggests that the order of discourse should be viewed as the “discursive aspect of a
field” (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002, p. 73). Therefore, he argues that discourse analysis is
a necessary complement to Bourdieu’s theory. Additionally, Bourdieu’s field theory is
beneficial for critical discourse analysis as it can “anchor the order of discourse in an
order of social practice” (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002, p. 73). Thus, through the integration
of Bourdieu’s field theory in critical discourse analysis, this thesis can investigate both
how postfeminist discourses are reinforced and maintained through Ingrosso’s vlogs and
how these discourses empower Ingrosso in her role as influencer.
5.2. Analytical tools
5.2.1.
Modality
Modality is a key function within critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995). It can be
summarized as a system for the words and linguistic tendencies that indicate how we
relate to what is said (Fairclough, 1995). If the text has high modality, it means that what
is presented is done so with high levels of confidence and assurance that it is correct
(Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). Low modality then is present in statements that uses words
that make them appear less sure (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
Modality comes in various forms which connote how strong and convincing a statement
is. One way to use modality as an analytical tool is to look for words such as likely,
probably, maybe, naturally, obviously, and of course, which all provide different levels
of strength to a phrase (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). Another way to express modality is
through subjective and objective modality (Fairclough, 1992). Subjective modality
explicitly expresses what the person thinks of the content of the phrase. Objective
modality appears more as a general truth, as it does not explicitly indicate whose opinion
is in question (Fairclough, 1992). According to Fairclough, objective modality tends to
involve power and persuasion (Fairclough, 1992).
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Studies on modality show that they are useful tools for studies aiming to exhibit the
speaker’s identity, self-presentation, and the influence they may have over other people
and fields (Ademilokun, 2019). By speaking and using language in certain ways,
producers of texts tend to position themselves above the consumers of them. By
examining modalities in the material, this study breaks down what is presented as
generalized ‘truths’ and what is presented as opinions in Ingrosso’s videos.
5.2.2.
Intertextuality and interdiscursivity
Intertextuality and interdiscursivity are other key concepts used in critical discourse
analysis. Intertextuality refers to the process where texts are influenced by other, previous
texts and thus contributes to developments and changes within the field (Jørgensen &
Phillips, 2002). Interdiscursivity is a form of intertextuality that occurs when different
discourses and genres are expressed in the same communicative event (Jørgensen &
Phillips, 2002). Language is used through different discourses and genres that belong to
different fields or institutions of society. If a text presents high degrees of
interdiscursivity, it means that discourses and genres are combined in ways that don’t
follow the norms and guidelines within the specific fields. Low levels of interdiscursivity
indicates that the text reinforces the societal structures, as traditional discourses and
genres are used. Depending on the ways these are combined, either in new and creative
ways or as a mix of conventional ways, the discursive practices can work either to
reinforce the dominant order of discourse and thus reproduce dominant structures of
society, or to promote change (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). In the analysis of Ingrosso’s
YouTube vlogs, reading for high or low interdiscursivity can indicate whether
postfeminist ideals are reinforced or challenged.
5.2.3.
Interpellation and subject positions
Interpellation refers to the process of putting someone in a specific position by means of
speaking (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). These positions come with expectations, which
function as frameworks for how to act and speak in certain situations and can thus
promote both possibilities and challenges (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). Subject positions
vary and can be interpellations of many different discourses, something that happens
when many discourses are present in the same context or sphere (Bergström & Boréus,
2012). By acting according to the expectations of the sphere, the position reinforces the
28
dominant discourse. Through the examinations of discourses present in Bianca Ingrosso’s
vlogs and how she positions her audience, we can identify what type of actions are
promoted and expected from them.
5.3. Application of critical discourse analysis
The method and key elements of critical discourse analysis have been outlined in the
sections above. What follows below is a description of how critical discourse analysis
have been applied to the research problem, and how it has guided the analysis of
Ingrosso’s vlogs through the theoretical perspective discussed in the previous section.
To align with the first dimension of Fairclough’s model, I analyze the communicative
event as a media text. I perform a close reading of the text to locate the linguistic structures
and characteristics that allows a better understanding of the perspective presented in the
text. At this step, modality markers were identified to see how Ingrosso is positioning
herself to the statements and messages of postfeminism and female empowerment, and
how her linguistic tendencies reinforce postfeminist discourses through modality markers
such as naturally and of course.
Through the second dimension of the model, I investigate the material as discursive
practice from both the production and consumption side. In this step of the analysis, I
applied tools of intertextuality and interdiscursivity and analyzed the ways in which the
material is built on other texts, discourses, and genres. I located which discourses, word
choices, and genres are brought up in the material, and combined and contrasted these
with societal discussions on feminism and postfeminism, especially in terms of female
empowerment. For instance, I noted that Ingrosso combines reasoning of being pretty and
remaining attractive with discourses of female empowerment by employing rhetoric of
self-love and confidence in her efforts to promote various beauty and fashion items.
In the second dimension, consideration in terms of consumption of the text is included.
As my study is not concerned with the reception of Ingrosso’s videos, I have limited this
part to investigating how commercial content is constructed and promoted, and how this
affects the discursive practice.
On the last and third dimension of the model I have analyzed how the text relates to the
wider social practice of postfeminism. To understand how the material connects to the
29
larger social and cultural context, I have analyzed it in combination with the perspective
of feminist media theory and field theory outlined earlier in this study. Critical discourse
analysis functioned as a starting point from which I noted how the discursive practice is
related to the larger network of discourses and orders or discourse. Further, feminist
media theory and field theory were applied. Specifically, Bourdieu’s field theory
provided a theoretical anchoring to the social structuring of the text, i.e., the order of
discourse as discussed in previous sections. In this part of the analysis, I wanted to
understand how discourses of postfeminism and female empowerment are used to
encourage a certain type of femininity that aligns with the expectations and norms of
women in the patriarchal structures of the neoliberal market economy, and how these
work to empower women that discursively reinforce them.
5.4. Research paradigm
This study is based on a process of interpretation and is performed through a critical
discourse analysis which is a qualitative research method. The qualitative research
method is rooted in an inductive approach of research. In inductive research, patterns
from observations are developed and explained throughout the research process. The
approach seeks to generate meaning from the research material, to identify connections
and relations in order to reach conclusions (Mitchell, 2018). In this type of research, the
goal is never to reach one truthful definition of the world, rather it seeks to understand
how the world is interpreted (Mitchell, 2018). Thus, an interpretivist paradigm was
applied in the study to focus it on how people experience the world rather than basing it
on how the world actually is. Interpretive analysis is contextual and focuses on language
and meanings from the perspective of the research subject involved in the social
phenomena. Interpretivism, as summarized by Collins (2010), does not aim to “report on
an objective reality, but rather to understand the world as it is experienced and made
meaningful by human beings (Collins, 2010, p. 39). In interpretive research, social reality
is not understood as objective or singular, rather it is formed by human experiences and
their social and cultural contexts, which make up the ontology of the research method.
The human experiences and social contexts are best understood within their socio-historic
contexts, through an integration of the subjective interpretations of the people involved
in the study, which is the epistemology of the study (Pelz, 2012). Thus, as the
interpretivist paradigm highlights social constructs as highly influential in how we
30
experience the world that we live in, it is a relevant lens to use in examining issues related
to sex and gender, as these are powerful social constructions that dictate our experiences
in society (Hodkinson, 2017).
5.5. Sample
Unlike positivist research paradigms, interpretive research employs a sampling strategy
based on theoretical considerations. Theoretical sampling includes whether the sample
fits the phenomena that is being researched and whether they show characteristics that
are suited for the study (Pelz, 2012). In this study, that means that the sample of videos
that make up the research material are chosen due to their incorporation of postfeminist
themes and female empowerment messages.
In line with interpretive research practices, data collection and analysis were done
simultaneously in this study. Once the first video was located, it was thoroughly analyzed
for themes and patterns of postfeminism and female empowerment rhetoric before the
following videos that eventually made up the sample were identified (Pelz, 2012). This
process helped me as a researcher to identify potential flaws of the research plan and
question, and to further adjust these to better capture the essence of the research subject.
Pelz (2012) consider this a valuable benefit of interpretive research, as positivist research
does not allow for modifications once the data collecting has begun.
The material for this study consists of videos published on Ingrosso’s YouTube channel
since the release of her make-up brand CAIA in 2018, as the narratives around Ingrosso
as an empowered woman and role model intensified after this moment. Eight videos were
chosen based on the following criteria: 1) does it contain promotional content, 2) does it
include an activity frequently found in Ingrosso’s vlog (ex. clothing haul, CAIA
promotion, or monologue while getting ready), and 3) is female empowerment directly
addressed OR a postfeminist aspect of self-surveillance and/or individualism highly
present?
The videos were initially narrowed down to a sample of ten videos in which postfeminist
aspects were highly present. Further, a process of analyzation narrowed the material down
further and eight videos were identified to provide sufficient material for the relevance of
the study. The chosen videos were analyzed carefully and selected sequences that
correspond to the research area were transcribed. Other parts have been transcribed
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through an AI program, to provide context for the sequences. Lastly, the chosen
sequences were translated from Swedish to English by the researcher, as Ingrosso
communicates in Swedish in her vlogs. The eight YouTube videos that constitute the
research sample are listed and summarized with links to the full videos in Appendix 1.
5.6. Ethics
Blaikie and Priest (2017) summarize the main principles of the interpretivist research
paradigm and highlight the understanding of social reality within this paradigm as
“already interpreted before researchers arrive on the scene” (Blaikie & Priest, 2017, p.
101). Thus, the role and involvement of the researcher is especially highlighted in
interpretive research. Pelz (2012) points to the importance of taking on a neutral and
unbiased position in both the process of collecting data and in the analysis of this data,
and to ensure that any personal biases previously constructed conceptions of the research
topic do not “taint the nature of subjective inferences derived from interpretive research”
(Pelz, 2012).
The data collected in this study is based on internet research. As outlined by Markham
and Buchanan (2012), ethical considerations of internet research are guided by access to
material, sometimes requiring authorization to view certain data. In this research process,
I analyze material that has already been published on the social media platform YouTube,
to ensure that any sensitive or personal information that may come out of the material has
already been published by Ingrosso herself.
5.7. Limitations
This study can only make conclusions based on the theoretical and analytical frameworks
presented. Therefore, while this study adds to the research field of understanding and
exhibiting how female empowerment is constructed and utilized in the influencer
industry, the results of the study cannot be generalized and directly applied to other
material. Jørgensen & Phillips (2002) state that this is a common limitation of critical
discourse analysis since the research material tends to be limited and therefore not fully
representative for a field or subject. In the sample of eight videos that constitute my
research material I have tried to present a truthful representation of Ingrosso’s YouTube
vlogs, however there is still a risk that these videos are exceptions rather than the rule.
Thus, there is no assurance that the material is representative for her YouTube channel.
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In addition, since the research material does not cover audience reflections of the vlogs,
the study cannot provide insights on how the material is consumed by Ingrosso’s fans and
followers. Nonetheless, what the study can provide in terms of consumers of the videos
is an understanding of the subject position, instructions, and suggestions that Ingrosso
promotes in her way of speaking. However, whether or not these positions or suggestions
are actually mirrored in the audience cannot be answered by this study.
6. Analysis of results
The main research question that this thesis attempts to answer is: How is Bianca Ingrosso
incorporating discourses of female empowerment into her role as influencer? This
section presents the results of the critical discourse analysis of Ingrosso’s vlogs. The
analysis is structured according to three themes which were identified throughout the
analysis, and which represent Ingrosso’s incorporation of postfeminist aspects of female
empowerment in her role as influencer. The following sections analyze the themes located
and conclude with a summary of the results in relation to the main research question.
Quotes from the videos are used to exemplify the themes and connect them to the
theoretical frameworks used in the study. As the study is rooted in the understanding of
language as constituent, what is said in the research material is considered as contributing
to how the world is perceived. Thus, what is stated by Bianca Ingrosso in the material has
the power to influence the social relations, practices, and structures of our society.
6.1. Female empowerment sells
This section shows how Ingrosso aligns herself with modern feminist ideals and values,
mainly through different promotional segments where collaborations are presented.
However, while Ingrosso frequently collaborates and promotes brands that are concerned
with feminist issues, this section also problematizes the neoliberal feminism that Ingrosso
employs, as the empowered feminist identity that she engages in is intrinsically connected
to an entrepreneurial femininity that focuses on women’s ability to “have it all”, i.e.,
financial success and the ability to consume (Windels et al., 2019, p. 19).
As previously discussed, in the current neoliberal culture and postfeminist moment, it is
common for lifestyle influencers to assume a feminist identity (McIntyre, 2021). This is
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exemplified through Ingrosso’s frequent incorporation of female empowerment rhetoric
and themes, which are generally attached to various consumer goods. A reoccurring topic
in Ingrosso’s vlogs is her support for other female influencers and entrepreneurs. She
often collaborates with companies founded and run by women, and highlights this in
various ways in her vlogs. For instance, in a vlog partially produced in collaboration with
Swedish sports brand AMIN, Ingrosso states:
This is an example of the many instances where Ingrosso expresses her love for
collaborating with female entrepreneurs. In this statement, subjective modality is used to
align the statement with Ingrosso’s own values and opinions as a female entrepreneur and
supporter. Further on, the vlog contains a lengthy promotional segment for AMIN, as
Ingrosso is the face of their new collection called Boss Babe. For context, AMIN is a
Swedish company that makes women’s sportswear. In the following example, female
empowerment rhetoric is directly employed and reflected on by Ingrosso:
This example shows clearly how words and linguistic tendencies function as modality
markers that indicate how Ingrosso relates to what is said (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).
There is no doubt that Ingrosso feels positively for the brand and their products.
Specifically, she loves the company’s use of female empowerment messages in their
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campaign, which translate onto her as an influencer. Again, the statements are said with
high subjective modality as the expressed feelings and experiences are subjective and
personal, and emphasize how she thinks and how this is experienced by her. By attaching
language of strength and self-confidence to the promotion of a brand that sells clothes to
women, Ingrosso encourages the postfeminist discourse that women’s independence and
liberation can be reached through consumption of specific items (Gill, 2007).
Additionally, Ingrosso emphasizes that because she makes decisions by herself, according
to her wants, experiences, and thoughts, she feels like a boss babe, which reinforces the
postfeminist discourse of female empowerment through individual choice and merit, as
discussed by both Gill (2017) and Banet-Weiser (2015). She further looks in the mirror
while posing with a sports bra and work out tights, stating:
In this last segment of her AMIN collaboration, being a boss babe is presented as
something achievable by wearing the right outfit. It can thus be argued that Ingrosso
constructs female empowerment primarily by how she looks, rather than how she feels.
As the face and founder of the make-up brand CAIA, Ingrosso often speaks about the
vision of the brand and the process of developing their products through personal
situations. An example of this is when Ingrosso, in a segment where she answers
questions from her followers, explicitly describes what CAIA means to her:
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In this section, Ingrosso mentions the many parts that, for her, constitutes womanhood
and female empowerment as represented by her make-up brand CAIA, which clearly links
her statements to postfeminist promotions of female empowerment through consumption
of beauty products. Firstly, she directly employs female empowerment rhetoric such as
boss lady and superwoman when she describes the meaning of CAIA, which allows CAIA
to function as an expression of feminism (Windels et al., 2019). Secondly, by suggesting
that her ideal woman is someone who takes on many roles and tasks, she promotes herself
through the postfeminist discourse of the “glamorous careerwoman” (Hodkinson, 2017,
p. 247) who can work her ass off all day and who is also a team-player and takes care of
children. The interpretation of womanhood is thus aligned with what Banet-Weiser
(2015) refers to as the “Can-Do-Girl”, who is generally the favored consumer of female
empowerment marketing. As the interpretation of womanhood is stated with high
subjective modality, for instance It is the woman I always want to be, that is what CAIA
means to me Ingrosso aligns her own thoughts on womanhood with norms and
expectations that are connected to an understanding of womanhood as a position full of
possibilities.
While this aligns with the current trend of postfeminist discourse, it does not necessarily
support feminist ideals, as Ingrosso’s primary job is as an influencer who profits on
collaborations with different companies. While CAIA is Ingrosso’s own company, the
majority of her collaborations are with companies that pay her to promote their products.
The vlogs that constitute the research material sample contain sponsored collaborations
with many different companies, including fashion companies NAKD and Nelly, and selftanning company Tan-Revel, which are not founded or run exclusively by female
entrepreneurs. However, these companies benefit from Ingrosso’s incorporation of
female empowerment, as she frequently employs female empowerment rhetoric when
describing and promoting their products. For instance, in a collection designed by
Ingrosso together with Nelly she highlights the clothes flattering fit, stating:
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Ingrosso states with high objective modality that her audience is going to be buying her
collection, as they will be wearing her clothes and when they do wear them, they will feel
confident. By allowing the clothing collection to give women confidence, the company
and Ingrosso position themselves with the feminist movement, but again in very nonthreatening way as the collection of clothes in no way contributes to any political
progression for women’s situation. In the segment, Ingrosso also mention that one of the
shirts are titled “the statement shirt” (Ingrosso, 2020a), which is part of a modern fashion
trend that is supposed to “convey identity, truth and meaning of an attitude or belief
towards a current political matter” (Evans, 2017). Companies that engage in these types
of collaborations with influencers are profiting on influencers’ alignment with the
feminist trend, and Ingrosso is able strengthen her personal brand as an ally of the feminist
movement.
While Ingrosso never explicitly positions herself as feminist in the research material,
through various collaborations and promotions she suggests that both her personal and
professional values align with the feminist movement, and she tends to openly embrace
feminist ideals. However, there is a dichotomic sense in Ingrosso’s vlogs, where feminist
issues are frequently highlighted but rarely discussed in relation to political actions and
they are often attached to a neoliberal discourse of individual success and consumption.
The feminism that is encouraged in the vlogs is thus a consumable, neoliberal feminism
that is primarily concerned with individual acts of empowerment that are recognized
through participation in the consumer culture (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
While promotion of female empowerment rhetoric and messages can support the feminist
movement, when influencers’ appearance-centered content is highlighted as feminist
representation in media, we risk developing feminist ideals that are no longer as
progressive as they may seem. Ingrosso’s entrepreneurship has given her enough financial
and social capital to position herself as a feminist role model, as she has successfully built
a personal brand as an influencer which has allowed her a higher position of social
influence and power. Her feminine attributes and her interest and engagement in the
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female dominated beauty industry that is almost exclusively concerned with women’s
physical appearance can thus be viewed as an argument that women, in the postfeminist
discourse, do not have to distance themselves from traditional femininity in order to gain
power and influence in the society, unlike second wave feminists who viewed
commercialization of the beauty industry as a reinforcement of patriarchal oppressions
(Banet-Weiser, 2015).
In many ways, Ingrosso is empowered. She is the founder and CEO of a successful
cosmetics brand, her large social media reach allows her to maintain a powerful and
influential status position in the neoliberal society that promotes postfeminist activities of
individualism and consumption as part of the feminist movement (Huppatz, 2009).
However, the only instances when she is actually touching upon feminist topics is when
she is promoting products. Additionally, the products attached to the female
empowerment rhetoric is exclusively linked to boosting women through their physical
appearances, i.e., through purchasing clothes and makeup products. Thus, it appears as
though her empowerment identity is primarily related to discourses of the neoliberal
market society, rather than dealing with female empowerment as understood by the
feminist movement. By employing femvertising strategies in her personal brand and
choosing to collaborate with brands that promote female empowerment, the postfeminist
discourses of the empowered woman thus become a way for Ingrosso to gain social and
financial capital, as she aligns her brand with the current feminist trends of the digital
field. It can thus be argued that Ingrosso’s incorporation of empowerment rhetoric and
messages is part of a strategy to gain and maintain a powerful position, rather than using
her influence to actually empower women to challenge the patriarchal structures that
challenge women’s influence in the society.
6.2. Empowerment through femininity
While the last section highlights the ways in which Ingrosso embraces neoliberal notions
of feminism, this section exhibits how Ingrosso constructs femininity by promoting
hegemonic beauty ideals and femininity, and how these work to both encourage and
challenge her position as an empowered woman in the current social media landscape.
Within the neoliberal discourse, women’s bodies are viewed as a primary source of power
and crucial to their identities. Women’s appearance is under constant surveillance through
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a culturally circumscribed lens (Gill, 2007). For female lifestyle influencers like Ingrosso,
the body is considered both a source of power and a source of income. Therefore,
maintaining their appearance becomes crucial in their strive for success. As discussed by
Banet-Weiser (2015), postfeminist notions of female empowerment are often applied to
encourage a certain type of femininity, which promotes postfeminist activities of selfimprovement and consumerism. Self-improvement and consumption are themes present
in more or less all of Ingrosso’s vlogs and are promoted as requirements for achieving the
femininity that she represents.
While the vlogs contain bits and pieces of Ingrosso’s everyday life, the most recurring
activity is Ingrosso’s promotion of different fashion brands through clothing hauls. The
hauls are mainly focused on Ingrosso’s ability to look sexy and attractive, and this is
promoted as a highly desirable thing to be. ‘Sexy’ is presented in the vlogs in accordance
with the current Western understanding of female sexiness as represented in media, i.e.,
through female curves, youth, long legs, feminine clothes, and showing a lot of skin. In a
haul for Nelly, Ingrosso repeatedly describes how sexy the clothes make her look:
Here, Ingrosso is selling a beauty ideal, which according to her is achievable through
consumption of the right things. The clothes and accessories are promoted as items that
increase her sexiness, by for instance lifting her breasts so that no bra is needed,
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prolonging her legs, and providing a Kim Kardashian vibe, which refers to an emphasis
on the female curves (Veitch, 2021). We know that she is being paid for her ability to
present the beauty ideals since she states that this is a sponsored segment, which is a
requirement for content that influencers are paid for (Konsumentverket, 2019). She is
being compensated both for her own physical appearance, but also for encouraging her
audience to perform the same type of femininity by promoting beauty as something
attainable through fashion products. In relation to the neoliberal postfeminist discourse,
this reinforces the gender expectations of women to “continue the work of femininity”
(Gill, 2007, p. 155) as it is attainable through enough self-presentation and improvement
efforts.
Another way in which Ingrosso reinforces the hegemonic understanding of femininity is
by stating what, in terms of physical appearance, is not acceptable. For instance, she is
often using apologetic language when she ‘fails’ to live up to the beauty standard that she
normally exemplifies:
These quotes are from segments in the vlogs where Ingrosso is not wearing make-up. The
first example shows how Ingrosso explicitly apologies for being pale, for failing to exhibit
the perfectly tanned body that she normally has. In both examples, Ingrosso provides her
audience with an explanation that justifies this unacceptable appearance. While it is
refreshing to see a woman on social media without perfectly done makeup, by constantly
apologizing for it and justifying it through various explanations, Ingrosso reinforces the
current hegemonic understanding of femininity that requires women to constantly surveil
their appearance to perfection (Gill, 2007) Additionally, as feminist media theorists argue,
Ingrosso’s large social media reach is actively producing and defining what it entails to
be a woman (Butler, 1999). Therefore, these types of comments work to discursively
construct femininity in the wider societal setting as well. Similarly, Ingrosso often speaks
badly about her own appearance when she has not done any work on it:
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These statements are said with high objective modality, using “we” instead of “I”,
indicating that it is simply not acceptable to be pale or to have messy hair. It is not her
subjective opinion, but truthful statement about how things are. She reinforces the
importance of women’s self-surveillance, to maintain a perfect look, which Banet-Weiser
(2015) recognizes as a crucial component in defining womanhood in the current media
landscape of visibility. Ingrosso also uses the word problem to explain why she needs
different beauty products, something that was commonly found throughout the analysis.
Messages of postfeminist themes are often incorporated in Ingrosso’s reflections of
consumption, as Ingrosso tends to promote consumption as a solution to women’s
problems. Female empowerment is thus presented through Ingrosso’s different
interpretations of problematic situations in her life which can all be solved through
consumption of various beauty or fashion products, as well as through different desirable
scenarios that are rooted in postfeminist notions of individualism and self-surveillance.
A prominently described problem presented in Ingrosso’s videos is that of being ugly.
What is desirable is being pretty, and this can be achieved by buying the correct products.
This is distinctly expressed when Ingrosso explicitly explains how a clothing item
simplifies her life:
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In this segment, Ingrosso presents being ugly as a problem that we have in our lives. The
statement is said with high objective modality, as the clothing item makes life easier and
that we by having the item don’t have to do anything else to look pretty as the piece of
clothing does the job for us. There is no word that indicates a subjective interpretation
which gives the statement high modality and thus appears as a truth (Jørgensen & Phillips,
2002).
In terms of self-surveillance and improvement, Ingrosso frequently speaks about clothing
or cosmetics products as something that her, and her followers, need. For instance, in a
haul where Ingrosso is presenting clothes from her campaign with Nelly she states:
Again, this is an example of objective modality. Ingrosso speaks about clothing items as
necessities, and by using we she indicates that this is not only true for her, but for her
audience as well. By using words such as need in her statements, Ingrosso suggest that
these fashion items are basic necessities that all women should have. While it appears
obvious that we need these items, why we need them seems to be implicit. Ingrosso
commonly puts focus on needing things. With the same obviousness she states in a
different video “I mean wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, we all need this jacket, I can see
that” (Ingrosso, 2019d). Why we need this jacket can be traced to what tends to motivate
most purchases in the postfeminist empowerment culture, to reach a specific, idealized
type of feminine appearance (Banet-Weiser, 2015). Furthermore, Ingrosso repeatedly
expresses her thoughts on the act of shopping and consuming fashion and beauty items
by describing it as goals, which adds to the postfeminist understanding of beauty and
fashion products as tools for women to achieve their dreams, as their physical appearance
is their most important and powerful attribute (Hakim, 2011). Further, Ingrosso often
emphasizes different beauty and fashion products as goals:
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All of these examples are strengthened by the modality marker naturally, which gives the
statements an objective and truthful meaning. As femininity is portrayed as “requiring
constant anxious attention […] from touching up your make-up to packing the perfect
capsule wardrobe” (Gill, 2007, p. 155), beauty and fashion products become tools for
achieving the acceptable femininity, which we know is highly desirable as it is described
as goals. In another clothing haul, this time for the fashion brand NAKD, Ingrosso tells
her audience with high modality how certain types of clothing are must-haves that
everyone needs in their closets:
Ingrosso suggests that these must-haves are crucial things to own, otherwise we will
experience problems in the future when we don’t have the ‘right’ things to wear. She
reinforces the patriarchal notions of the society by putting pressure on her female
audience to consume clothes to meet the expectations and norms around being a woman
(Hodkinson, 2017). The way that Ingrosso tells her audience what will happen if they do
not buy these key pieces, shows high modality that indicates that this is the truthful future.
In addition, by referring to clothing items as key pieces, Ingrosso communicates that
owning these items open doors of possibilities in society. Different types of clothing can
give people different types of possibilities. Similar to Banet-Weiser’s “Can-Do-Girl”, this
type of reasoning appeals to the postfeminist empowerment culture where consumption
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of beauty and fashion products is a discursive practice of achieving femininity and
independence (Gill 2007). Ingrosso puts emphasis on buying and owning certain fashion
items as a requirement for the “Can-Do-Girl”, in order for her visibility to stay on the
path of possibilities, rather than that of challenges (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
The discourse of the ”Can-Do-Girl” is additionally reinforced in the statement as the
audience is addressed as having the same problems as Ingrosso. By stating things like
“you know, which makes the everyday life a little easier”, “eventually you will stand
there”, and “we all need this jacket” (Ingrosso, 2019d), Ingrosso indicates that the
audience are familiar with the problems she proposes. The discourse assumes that the
audience follows the same postfeminist norms that Ingrosso appears to exemplify. In
another video, Ingrosso promotes consumption as a resource to achieve love, by appealing
to the discourses that dictate the gender norms and expectations of women to appear sexy.
In this haul, Ingrosso speaks about her boyfriend’s thoughts and comments about her
clothes, stating:
In this excerpt, consumption of fashion items is encouraged as a tool to achieve love from
a male partner, which reflects the existence of Mulvey’s male gaze in the content.
Ingrosso presents this information with high modality, as she states that this is how it is,
her boyfriend loves when she wears this type of clothes. Not only does Ingrosso reinforce
the traditional perception of women as sexual objects for the male audience, here she
utilizes it to promote consumption of a certain type of clothes. From the perspective of
discourse analysis, it can be suggested that in statements like these, Ingrosso is
interpellated into a subjective position of an object whose purpose is to appear attractive
through a male gaze. The action encouraged is for Ingrosso, and her audience, to wear
specific types of clothes, in order to receive love and attention from the heterosexual,
male audiences.
According to theory of erotic capital, Hakim (2011) argues that there are already
established structures in society which have allowed women to use their femininity and
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attractiveness to improve their social standings. While it used to be by marrying men with
power, money and influence, influencers today have much more freedom and influence
over their own situations. By promoting a femininity that aligns with the current societal
pressures of womanhood, Ingrosso manages to commodify the male gaze in a way that
empowers her as an influencer.
Overall, Ingrosso’s postfeminist performance of femininity shows how women in the
current digital media landscape are able to capitalize from showing a lifestyle that
conforms and reproduces aspects of what Butler (1999) argues is a constructive and
performative gender role. The femininity that Ingrosso performs on her social media
channels is, due to her large reach, not only directed by the hegemonic understanding of
what constitutes womanhood in Sweden within the current digital media situation, but
also actively producing it.
As pointed out by feminist media theorists, postfeminist media is intersectional and
cannot be examined without the consideration of race (Steiner, 2014). Gender, as a social
construct that intersects with factors such as class, race, and sexual orientation determined
by either subordination or domination, plays a crucial role in how we experience the
world. As pointed out by Paulsen Mulvey (2019), the influencer industry is highly
feminized, and presents an overwhelmingly white representation of girls and women who
have made successful careers performing hegemonic femininity online, which indicates
that social media is inherently directed by class, race, and gender. Social media has
allowed for a higher degree of women’s visibility which has resulted in higher degrees of
self-surveillance and self-improvement activities among women, in order to define their
womanhood according to the “Can-do girl” that influencers tend to promote (BanetWeiser, 2015). Ingrosso’s hypervisibility, which is achieved by her large reach, reinforces
whiteness as a dominant cultural and racial standard (Duffy, 2017). Therefore, while
Ingrosso already embody hegemonic beauty with her white skin, slim and fit body, and
clear complexion, by engaging in practices of self-surveillance and dictating requirements
for women’s physical appearance, she reproduces the narrative of womanhood and
femininity as defined by the possibilities of the “Can-do girl” that is marked by her norm
abiding beauty.
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6.3. Sisterhood of consumption
In order to fully exhibit how Ingrosso utilizes postfeminist discourses of female
empowerment in her role as influencer, the analysis incorporated the identification of
patterns and themes that indicate how Ingrosso communicates with her audience. The
most prominent pattern located was that Ingrosso speaks to her audience as friends who
love to consume. The audience are interpellated into consumers as Ingrosso promotes
various products and brands, but these interpellations are combined with a way of
speaking that is interpreted as loving and empathic. Alongside the previously discussed
indications of necessary consumption of beauty and fashion products, Ingrosso’s word
choices and phrasing indicate that the audience is her friends. The analysis show that
Ingrosso creates a sense of sisterhood and belonging around consumption, that allows her
to create an authentic and intimate feeling around her promotions.
All the vlogs in the research material present a sense of friendship between Ingrosso and
her audience, as Ingrosso frequently expresses love and empathy for her followers. For
instance, she says things such as I love you guys! (Ingrosso, 2020e), happy Friday from
your dear friend Bianca (Ingrosso, 2021b), and Come along, girls! (Ingrosso, 2020a).
Furthermore, Ingrosso frequently describes what the audience is feeling and thinking
about certain things, and she takes on a position from where she defines the audience and
her relationship to them. By saying things such as Everything can be found in links in the
description, I got your back (Ingrosso, 2021h) at the end of a clothing haul, Ingrosso
indicates that the audience want to take part in the consumption-related content that she
shares. In this example, Ingrosso also puts herself in the position of the friend who
provides for her audience, who got their backs. This is something that Ingrosso frequently
does. In the same clothing haul for Nelly, Ingrosso states:
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By telling her audience that they get to come backstage because they usually find that
super fun Ingrosso indicates that there is power division between her and her followers.
She indicates with modality what the audience thinks about her content and the audience
is positioned as interested in her life and her clothes. In addition, by stating I want to bring
you along for that, she suggests that she has access to something that her followers don’t
have, but since she is so friendly, she wants to give them insight into this exclusive
situation. In another segment, Ingrosso promotes CAIA’s Instagram page and their next
product release by stating:
Here Ingrosso says with high modality that her followers need to follow her brand’s
Instagram page, otherwise they are going to miss products that they, according to
Ingrosso, have been craving for. Through objective modality, Ingrosso emphasizes that
this is what the audience wants, and she again puts herself in a position where she can
provide what they are desiring. Ingrosso is combining the role of an empathic and loving
friend who provides and helps her audience receive what they want with an authority role
that tells the audience what they want. The position that Ingrosso puts herself in, in
relation to her audience, allows her to promote consumption of her products as something
that is done with the audience’s best interest in mind, as they are part of her community.
Another example that follows the same pattern is when Ingrosso, in a clothing haul for
Nelly, shows her audience a pair of sneakers:
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Again, Ingrosso decides what we want to wear the sneakers with, strengthened by the
modality marker naturally which indicates that is it obvious to want to wear these items
together. The high modality in statements such as this suggests that that they are true and
leave little space for alternative perspectives. Again, Ingrosso emphasizes her friendliness
by providing a code that will make it easier for the audience, her community, to achieve
the desired look by purchasing the sneakers. Despite the overbearing focus on the
followers’ position as consumers, Ingrosso recurringly uses words and language that
indicate that her followers are her close girlfriends. For instance, she indicates her
closeness to her followers by frequently reminding them that they know what type of
clothes she likes:
Again, the statements are said with high objective modality, using the modality marker
of course, indicating that these choices are obvious to her audience since they know her
so well. Another way in which Ingrosso interpellates her audience into friends who
consume is by justifying consumption through the act of ‘treating oneself’. At the end of
her promotion of AMIN’s boss babe collection, she states:
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Here, consumption is promoted as an act of self-love and care. The frequently used
modality marker of course strengthens the statement about being a boss babe as an
individually understood concept. The audience are interpellated into consumers, as
Ingrosso invites them to visit the website through the conveniently supplied link and treat
themselves by buying AMIN’s products. The action is strengthened as Ingrosso promises
that the audience will be using the clothes in different future scenarios. She is also
expressing her love for the company that has provided her with these clothes, by really
emphasizing her love for the clothes, clearly stating the important role that these items
play in her life.
As discussed throughout this section, Ingrosso frequently positions her audience as both
friends and consumers, which allows her to promote products in an authentic and friendly
way. Another way in which Ingrosso does this, is by appealing to the current postfeminist
trend, which favors consumption and female entrepreneurship as expressions of
feminism. As discussed at length in the first section of the analysis, postfeminism, as
described by Windels et al. (2019) is a feminism that aligns with the neoliberal structures
of the society, where ‘feminist’ is an acceptable label to hold but doesn’t really inspire or
engage in the politics of the feminist movement. In relation to this, the analysis of how
Ingrosso communicates with her audience showed an interdiscursivity between messages
of sisterhood and support, female empowerment and entrepreneurship, and consumption.
The young women that constitute the majority of Ingrosso’s audience are often
encouraged to participate in various forms of neoliberal feminism by supporting other
female influencers, female entrepreneurs, and companies that engage in femvertisement
campaigns, through the consumption of their commercial products. For instance, Ingrosso
recurringly mentions her influencer colleague Alice Stenlöf’s brand A-DSGN:
Here, the postfeminist connection between female empowerment and consumption is
explicitly stated. Ingrosso offers her followers a chance to engage in a form of female
49
entrepreneurial support, which they can participate in if they choose to purchase Stenlöf’s
designs. While the segment presents some levels of interdiscursivity, the combination of
these discourses and genres reinforces traditional societal discourses of female
empowerment and consumption, as the postfeminist discourse often employ messages of
sisterhood and female empowerment in relation to consumption of fashion and beauty
items. By promoting consumption as a feminist act, for instance through purchases of
clothes from fellow female entrepreneurs, Ingrosso’s young female followers are
expected to engage in a form of feminism that is acceptable in the neoliberal society,
mainly as it promotes the consumption of commercial goods (Banet-Weiser, 2015). As
consumers, her young followers are compelled to purchase specific fashion items that not
only increase their erotic capital through a hot appearance (Hakim, 2011), but also
demonstrate their support for female entrepreneurship. In addition, by promoting beauty
and fashion products to her female audience through the narrative of empowerment,
Ingrosso emphasizes their importance to the aesthetic performance expected of women in
the current moment, to wear jeans that make you look hot, and by extension validates the
hegemonic beauty ideal and understanding of what it entails to be a woman today (Gill,
2009). In the last part of the statement, Ingrosso also emphasizes her and her friend’s
success as owning their own brands, which solidifies the postfeminist understanding of
feminism as connected to entrepreneurship (Banet-Weiser, 2015).
Overall, by positioning her audience as her friends, using loving and empathic language,
and repeatedly providing her audience with rewards in form of promotional codes,
Ingrosso is able to strengthen the feeling of community and sisterhood that exists between
her and her followers. The sisterhood that she is building is, however, dependent on
Ingrosso’s immense popularity among her audience, as it builds on the audience’s wish
to be part of it and to live a life that resembles hers. This, I argue can be explained through
Labrecque (2014) and Tolson (2010)’s applications of Bourdieu’s field theory on social
media influence.
The previous sections of the analysis showed how Ingrosso, by embodying hegemonic
beauty ideals and utilizing her femininity, has achieved a powerful and influential
position in the digital field of social media. In addition, by frequently reflecting on and
aligning herself with postfeminist discourses of what it means to be a woman, Ingrosso is
able to naturally incorporate rhetoric and themes of female empowerment into both her
50
own brand as well as in collaborations with different clients, whether or not they are
actually associated with female empowerment.
The empowered position that she holds is also what allows her to sell a lifestyle,
visualized through YouTube and strengthened by her physical attributes. The
visualization of her lifestyle and emphasized hegemonic beauty have thus become
resources that she sells to her followers as goods in the digital field.
As shown in the examples that constitute this section, Ingrosso skillfully maintain a strong
and friendly relationship with her followers by using loving and empathic language and
reaffirming their closeness by frequently mentioning how well they know her, while often
positioning herself above the audience by taking on an authoritarian role that dictate what
the audience thinks about, for instance, certain fashion items and styles. While there is no
direct or physical connection between Ingrosso and the audience, the illusionary
relationship that she has established is strong enough to produce a connection that allows
her to share and maintain the social capital that she already holds as an empowered
influencer. Social media thus allows her to gain and maintain a form of celebrity status,
which is facilitated through the direct connection that YouTube allows with her audience.
It thus appears that a key aspect of influencers’ maintenance of social capital is their
ability to appeal to their audience through a sense of both authenticity and friendship, as
well as an authoritarian role in the field. As seen in the last example of this section,
Ingrosso utilizes sisterhood and female empowerment to encourage her audience to
engage in her community. For instance, by encouraging consumption through sisterly
engagement, Ingrosso can utilize the engagement to gain further capital through the
financial profits that she makes from collaborations and campaigns for different brands.
6.4. Summary of analysis
Overall, the findings suggest that even though female empowerment rhetoric and themes
are frequently incorporated into Ingrosso’s YouTube vlogs, she nonetheless perpetuates
aspects of traditional femininity and consumption, which reinforce existing gender norms
and expectations.
The neo-liberal era in which we live today is characterized by individualism and selfrealization. It is within this context that postfeminist empowerment culture has grown to
51
represent a more individualized form of feminism that frequently promotes consumption
as a form of feminist expression (McRobbie, 2007). The analysis shows how the
postfeminist discourse of individualism and consumption allows influencers to utilize
discourse of female empowerment to present themselves as feminist role models, even
though they engage in activities of self-surveillance objectification that do not align with
feminist values.
As influencers such as Ingrosso rely on capitalist structures of consumerism and selfsurveillance to gain financial success, they tend to reinforce stereotypes of femininity
which do not challenge any of the structural oppressions that the feminist movement is
trying to change. However, through their large platforms and reach, influencers like
Ingrosso become role models for women, and their financial success thus become
representational for female empowerment. It could therefore be argued that influencers
function as a product of the current political climate of neoliberalism and postfeminism
which also work to reinforce the current neoliberal trends.
As the research material shows, Ingrosso is concerned with presenting herself through a
physically perfected image that embodies both feminine gender capital and erotic capital.
For instance, by constantly presenting herself as perfect, and apologizing when this is not
achieved, Ingrosso meets the expectations that exist for women, which will likely result
in a reproduction of perfectionism in women’s media visibility and representation. In
Ingrosso’s vlogs, gender and erotic capital are both utilized as tools for strengthening
Ingrosso’s image and brand as an influencer. They reproduce the desirable ideal which is
transmitted to and confirmed by the audience through Ingrosso’s wide reach and
popularity.
However, while the gender and erotic capital in the material reproduces the hegemonic
understanding of femininity, it still provides Ingrosso with a sense of empowerment. To
a certain degree, it is the erotic capital that has allowed Ingrosso to capitalize on her
appearance and can thus be viewed as a form of liberation and empowerment for women
like her. Commodifying the male gaze can be viewed as incorporating both financial and
erotic capital, as it involves reproducing the existing ideal of femininity and the ability to
do so through a form of entrepreneurial and feminist image. Because of her image and
alignment with postfeminist ideals of female empowerment, Ingrosso remains an
entrepreneur even when she promotes products and brands that have no connection or
52
impact on the larger feminist movement. Rather, it is beneficial for Ingrosso to confirm
hegemonic image of femininity and womanhood, as it allows her to profit on it and thus
reach a higher and more influential position in the capitalist society.
My interpretation of the analysis is that while influencers on social media platforms such
as YouTube do not challenge the existing norms and expectations that exist around
womanhood and femininity, social media and the neoliberal postfeminist discourse
provide women an opportunity to profit on their visibility through the concept of
influencers. As their financial and social success aligns with the neoliberal market’s
current embrace of feminism to promote brands and sell products, Ingrosso’s
identification with and promotion of female empowerment is justified, even if they don’t
necessarily align with feminist ideals.
The analysis did provide a sense that influencers like Ingrosso, because of their large
reach and immense popularity within their community, could be able to challenge the
norms and expectations of what it means to be a woman in the current media moment.
However, because of the capitalist functions that dictate the neoliberal and postfeminist
discourse, influencers adjust their content in accordance with hegemonic understandings
of femininity as this allows them to increase both social and financial capital.
7. Discussion and conclusion
The purpose of this thesis was to gain a better understanding of how influencers engage
with postfeminist messages of female empowerment, in order to touch upon the
dissonance that exists in the Swedish society around what it means to be a woman and
feminist in the current media moment. The goal of this study was not to discount or
diminish the work that Bianca Ingrosso specifically performs. Rather, I wanted to
problematize the neoliberal feminist sentiment that has been embraced by lifestyle
influencers who mainly engage in the beauty and fashion industries.
Through critical textual analysis of selected vlogs from Ingrosso’s YouTube channel, I
found that she promotes a type of feminism that is mainly encouraged through various
acts of consumption, thus aligning her values with postfeminist media culture (Gill,
2007). For the analysis, feminist media theory was applied to the material to investigate
how Ingrosso’s social media visibility can be viewed as both a representation of female
empowerment but also a reinforcement of traditional gender norms. Additionally,
53
Bourdieu’s field theory, complemented by theory on gender and erotic capital, was
employed to show the social capital that Ingrosso has in the digital beauty and fashion
field, and to explain the ways in which Ingrosso both embodies and embraces hegemonic
features of femininity, which allows her to capitalize on her social media presence.
The study show how influencers like Ingrosso can be viewed as feminist role models, as
they have managed to, on an individual level, receive both financial and social success
through their presence on the social media platform YouTube. Since empowerment is, in
the neoliberal ideology, directly linked to individual merit and financial success,
influencers can, through their entrepreneurial activities on social media, be considered
symbols of female empowerment and thus be considered as feminist role models in the
current moment.
However, there are aspects of the media in which Ingrosso work which allows us to
question the argument of the influencer industry as empowering women. The financial
success that influencers such as Ingrosso have depends on their ability to sell brands and
products to their followers. In Ingrosso’s case, this means selling makeup, clothes and
other beauty products to girls and young women. The feminist aspects of influencers
content are therefore controlled by the interest of the capitalist market, which favors
hegemonic femininity and norm abiding beauty.
7.1. Further research
As the study shows, there is a current trend of aligning oneself with the feminist
movement through social media platforms such as YouTube, specifically through the use
of female empowerment rhetoric. I argue that we need a deeper understanding for how
messages of female empowerment are being used in a societal structure that
simultaneously oppresses women, and how these affect our cultural understanding.
Building on the results presented in this study, I identify several areas where further
research would be interesting. First, I believe that it would be useful to explore the
postfeminist understandings of female empowerment as experienced subjectively by
influencers who engage in these practices. As this study is critical of the incorporation of
feminist values and empowerment into an industry that is mainly concerned with
advertisements directed at young women, it would be interesting to add the influencer’s
54
perspective to the debate. This could be reached through for instance qualitative
interviews with lifestyle influencers whose brand revolves around female empowerment.
As mentioned, this study problematizes the influencer industry’s incorporation of female
empowerment as it tends to align with the neoliberal postfeminist discourse that doesn’t
challenge the patriarchal structures of the capitalist society. While it was useful to
critically analyze what Ingrosso in her role as influencer says and reflects upon when it
comes to female empowerment, after performing the analysis I believe a visual analysis
of influencers’ content that incorporates feminist ideals and values would be add an
interesting layer to the research. As the hegemonic beauty ideals were frequently
perpetuated in the analysis, a visual analysis could investigate how for instance the
influencers’ poses reinforce or challenge the feminist messages they claim to promote.
Additionally, as the study concerns the tension that exists between Ingrosso’s perceived
female empowerment and her, as a powerful lifestyle influencer, alignment with feminist
values, further research concerning the tension that may arise between different types of
influencers could provide further insights into the debate. For instance, by critically
analyzing the motivations of market-oriented influencers who are empowered by
monetary success, such as Ingrosso, and politically active influencers who directly
promote feminist values, for instance by challenging the beauty ideals and gender norms
ascribed to women in our society, a new debate concerning female empowerment in the
digital space could emerge.
55
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59
Appendix
Appendix 1 – YouTube vlogs
- ”SUCCÉ SUCCÉ SUCCÉ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEjlS0cUGFE&t=1s&ab_channel=BiancaIngrosso
Date: July 2, 2019
Duration: 18:34 min
Clothing haul in collaboration with fashion brand NAKD
- ”JA JAG HAR HYBRIS NU”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK_dpmMCWJI&ab_channel=BiancaIngrosso
Date: October 11, 2019
Duration: 13:47 min
Clothing haul in collaboration with NAKD
- ”Q&A vlogg – Vissa influensers är falska…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQOm6fHPEvM&ab_channel=BiancaIngrosso
13 September 2020
Date: September 13, 2020
Duration: 29:38 min
Q&A about CAIA
- ”Behind the scenes VLOGG – 1års arbete. HÄNG MED!!!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1YDohxN46Y&t=575s&ab_channel=BiancaIngro
sso
Date: September 20, 2020
Duration: 14:14 min
Presentation of Ingrosso’s clothing collection in collaboration with fashion brand Nelly
- ”VLOGG – Fan jag får inte hålla på såhär”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpslMw5kAkk&t=22s&ab_channel=BiancaIngross
o
Date: April 5, 2021
Duration: 16:30 min
Clothing haul in collaboration with Nelly
- ”VAD HÄNDER HÄR”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i98mgmC1NAM&t=90s&ab_channel=BiancaIngro
sso
Date: April 11, 2021
Duration: 21:05 min
Collaboration with self-tan company Tanrevel
- ”En härlig VLOGG blandat med massa gött”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EExFwG2qqPE&ab_channel=BiancaIngrosso
Date: May 15, 2021
Duration: 24:33 min
Collaboration with sports brand AMIN for their ‘Boss Babe’-campaign
60
- ”Första riktiga sommardagen + middag med mammas nya kille..”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq74BeiW3uM&ab_channel=BiancaIngrosso
Date: June 24, 2021
Duration: 25:50 min
Clothing haul in collaboration with Nelly
Appendix 2 – Empirical data references
Ingrosso, B. (2020a, September 20). Behind the scenes VLOGG - 1 års arbete. HÄNG
MED!!! [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1YDohxN46Y
Ingrosso, B. (2021b, May 15). En härlig VLOGG blandat med massa gött [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EExFwG2qqPE
Ingrosso, B. (2021c, June 24). Första riktiga sommardagen + middag med mammas nya
kille.. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq74BeiW3uM
Ingrosso, B. (2019d, October 11). JA JAG HAR HYBRIS NU [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK_dpmMCWJI
Ingrosso, B. (2020e, September 13). Q&A vlogg - Vissa influensers är falska. . .
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQOm6fHPEvM
Ingrosso. (2019f, July 2). SUCCÉ SUCCÉ SUCCÉ [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEjlS0cUGFE
Ingrosso, B. (2021g, April 11). VAD HÄNDER HÄR [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i98mgmC1NAM
Ingrosso, B. (2021h, April 5). VLOGG - Fan jag får inte hålla på såhär. . .. . . [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpslMw5kAkk
61