Girlhood Isn’t Genuine Anymore
Location
Ponderosa Room B
Presentation Type
Presentation
Presentation Topic
A paper and a Physical toy box
Start Date
6-3-2026 3:35 PM
Event Sort Order
51
Abstract
Woman-Hood Blind Box is a visual rhetoric project that transforms the central argument of my research essay into a physical collectible object. Designed in Adobe Illustrator and assembled as a real blind box, the project critiques how nostalgia marketing commodifies girlhood and targets young women through emotionally driven consumer culture. By mimicking the aesthetics and marketing strategies of popular toy collectibles with using pastel colors, cute characters, brand-style logos, and “rare” item incentives, my diy blind box highlights how girlhood is repackaged and sold back to women as comfort and empowerment. And overall how girlhood isn't genuine anymore. Each of the six figurines on the sides represents a specific pressure faced in womanhood, including financial instability, beauty standards, emotional labor, burnout, and wage inequality. Placed conceptually in a retail setting like a drugstore beauty aisle, the project mirrors real-world marketing environments to emphasize how these pressures are normalized through everyday consumption. Supported by feminist theory and marketing research in the accompanying paper, this project reveals how nostalgia marketing disguises systemic inequalities behind playful, comforting design, demonstrating that contemporary girlhood is no longer genuine but strategically constructed for profit.
Keywords: visual rhetoric, nostalgia marketing, girlhood, consumer culture, feminism, toy collecting, emotional labor, gendered marketing
Girlhood Isn’t Genuine Anymore
Ponderosa Room B
Woman-Hood Blind Box is a visual rhetoric project that transforms the central argument of my research essay into a physical collectible object. Designed in Adobe Illustrator and assembled as a real blind box, the project critiques how nostalgia marketing commodifies girlhood and targets young women through emotionally driven consumer culture. By mimicking the aesthetics and marketing strategies of popular toy collectibles with using pastel colors, cute characters, brand-style logos, and “rare” item incentives, my diy blind box highlights how girlhood is repackaged and sold back to women as comfort and empowerment. And overall how girlhood isn't genuine anymore. Each of the six figurines on the sides represents a specific pressure faced in womanhood, including financial instability, beauty standards, emotional labor, burnout, and wage inequality. Placed conceptually in a retail setting like a drugstore beauty aisle, the project mirrors real-world marketing environments to emphasize how these pressures are normalized through everyday consumption. Supported by feminist theory and marketing research in the accompanying paper, this project reveals how nostalgia marketing disguises systemic inequalities behind playful, comforting design, demonstrating that contemporary girlhood is no longer genuine but strategically constructed for profit.
Keywords: visual rhetoric, nostalgia marketing, girlhood, consumer culture, feminism, toy collecting, emotional labor, gendered marketing
Presenter Bio
Katelyn Jo Nieman,
Current Freshman at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
My major is graphic design and marketing.
I find grand interests in Women Politics, Feminist beliefs and consumer culture.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-mj2fAafjsJpWvRbIGFHz_UU8YmhMgkH-gN8k8Tkhl8/edit?usp=sharing
https://assets.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:5790d3b7-38f9-4b92-8927-86698e600cb2?view=published