Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman

Media studies scholar Petersen (BuzzFeed News) offers a trenchant and intersectional analysis of the celebrity narratives we create around famous women who, in some way, defy the cultural scripts of classed and raced femininity. Across ten thematic chapters, Petersen considers what it means to be too strong (Serena Williams), too fat (Melissa McCarthy), too gross (Abbi Jacobsen and Ilana Glazer), too slutty (Nicki Minaj), too old (Madonna), too pregnant (Kim Kardashian), too shrill (Hillary Clinton), too queer (Caitlyn Jenner), too loud (Jennifer Weiner), and too naked (Lena Dunham). Each chapter interrogates the sexism and other structural biases shaping media narratives around high-profile women and considers how we collectively punish those who are judged defiantly ungovernable. Throughout, Petersen also considers the limits of personal unruliness. For example, Broad City (Jacobsen and Glazer) celebrates a particular twentysomething freedom that may only come with privilege; Madonna's insistence on her own continued sexual potency has done little to combat systemic ageism.