The Commodification of Women in the Entertainment Industry

Female celebrities are commodified by the entertainment industry at every stage of their lives. The industry's expectations of female celebrities reflect society's expectations for women. From girlhood to adulthood, women are expected to follow particular scripts of femininity. These scripts are promoted and perpetuated by the entertainment industry. Women are used as commodities for consumerism by both the industry and the media alike. Female celebrities have higher expectations today than ever. With the modern phenomena of reality television and social media, the public demands a new level of authenticity and transparency from celebrities. In this thesis, I explore three womens' lives and careers: Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, and Demi Lovato. I discuss the ways in which these three women have been commodified by the industry at each stage of their lives, as well as how they have, over the course of their careers, attempted to regain control of their images.