What is a girl today?

On 4 December 2024 Group member Dr Gaby Harris and Dr Felice McDowell (London College of Fashion) convened The ‘Ordinary Girl’ Symposium.

This Symposium brought together scholars to explore an important yet often underlooked facet of Girlhood, that is to be found in the ‘Ordinary’. Focusing on how girls both fashion and are fashioned by various modes of poetics, politics and power in contemporary and historical contexts, the event focused on the ‘Ordinary Girl’ as a site of both stability and transformation. It provided insights into girls’ roles in shifting in economic, technological, and political landscapes, where social structures are reproduced and challenged.

A keynote was delivered by Professor Angela McRobbie (Goldsmiths) and contributions included presentations from Research Group member Ruth Eaton and co-lead Dr Jo Jenkinson.