ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book did not come to fruition without the guidance, support, and love of many. It is a true privilege to acknowledge those folks and the members of my community who have helped me along the path of this project.
This work began in 2013 as a question that lingered and grew into a multimethod study titled “Digital Vanguards: Tween Girls’ Online Performances and the Construction of Modern American Girlhoods.” And now it has come to its current form, my first book. I feel as I imagine many do when they come to the end of a writing process . . . It will never land as “complete” because, as with any piece of scholarship, we social scientists contribute to ongoing discussions in small, mighty, and always unfinished ways. I am excited by the thought of the conversations and questions this book might kindle, especially as girls and girlhoods have garnered more attention in recent years. We have so much to learn from them.
I would like to begin by thanking my editor Shaun Vigil, who saw value in the project and has been a steadfast voice and sure hand in guiding me through the process. From our first meeting, you made me feel confident that I could do this. You made it feel like less of a mountain. Thank you to everyone I have worked with at Temple University Press, including Will Forrest and Gary Kramer; thank you for your patience and for answering my many questions. Sincere thanks to the anonymous readers of the manuscript, whose thoughtful recommendations made the work stronger.
Thank you to the scholars who drove this work and framed this project. Though far too numerous to list here, their names and contributions are woven throughout the text, and I am glad to lend my voice to the chorus.
My tremendous gratitude to my doctoral dissertation committee: Dr. Andrea Leverentz, Dr. Leslie Wang, and Dr. Chris Bobel. Thank you for your time, energy, and investment in me as a scholar. I feel especially proud to share this accomplishment with Chris, who also published her first book with Temple University Press. I am certainly in good company.
I also must thank Matthew Gregory, for whom I was a teaching assistant when I started my doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts-Boston back in 2013. You showed me how cool sociology is. You showed me what it means to engage a lecture hall full of students. You shared your expertise, your wisdom, your wit, and whiskey. I imagine that if we had not had those conversations out behind Wheatley Hall looking over the harbor, this book would not have come into existence. You realized there was a thread I needed to follow, and you encouraged me to follow it.
To my Ph.D. cohort, what fun we had on Wheatley fourth and in that far-too-small office. What a genuinely kind, hilarious, hardworking crew of humans. It was a sincere privilege to be in your presence during those years of Very Long Days as we trudged our way toward becoming academics. What an absolute blast in the beauty and the mess of it.
Thank you to the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. My gratitude to Judy Houck for supporting me in this pursuit and for checking in on me during the process. Thank you to Lachrista Greco for moments of respite and laughter. Thank you to Leigh Senderowicz and Sara Chadwick for your kindness and support. To Nina Valeo Cooke, thank you for being such an advocate for me and for your warmth. Jamie Gratrix, thank you for the coffee dates, for your sincere enthusiasm about this book, and for being a breathing space and style inspiration who brought joy on difficult days.
My dear Susan Nelson, though you are no longer just down the hall, you are always near, and that makes me so glad. You are a true balm; I could wander campus with you forever, and we could stop and eat pastries whenever we please and sit and listen to the water. Being in your presence is among my most favorite and simplest joys.
Autumn Miller and Ying Dai, it has been such a pleasure to work with you, learn from you, and watch you grow as scholars. Thank you so much for being champions of this project and for your belief in me.
To Dr. Julianne Siegfriedt and Dr. Whitney Gecker, I am endlessly grateful for our little coven. May our many adventures in academia continue, and may we always take the time to come together for true respite. Thank you for bringing me perspective and peace. I love you both to the moon and stars.
To my Boston family, our connection forged in the classrooms at Simmons, my original responsible birds, Molly, Sarah, and Brenna, you have all been such important touchstones for this project, but more importantly, you have been there through it all. Here is to many more moments of getting to celebrate one another, from the momentous occasions to the mundanity.
To the one and only Sandy Locke, you have been a champion of my choices and heartbeat of my life for the last near twenty years. You are one of the smartest and bravest people I know. What an amazing privilege to grow with you. Now that we have four children between us, three of them daughters, I seek your grit and wisdom daily as we navigate the wild ride that is Parenthood. I am glad we are on it together.
Angela Bonilla, you inspire me always and in all ways. Ian Hall and Sarah Bottjen, you are warmth embodied—thank you for loving our family as we get to love yours. Devyn Brown, you are sunbeams and the sweetness of morning walks. To Mar, gorgeous friend, thank you for bringing your brilliant art to my being and bearing witness to how it blooms. Alex Bildsoe, Bailey Preston, and Mary Neigel, I am thankful the beat goes on in our little foursome. To the Ruth Badder Disc Burns, for being the ultimate (ha!) respite during summer months, and to Madeline Hayes in particular for reminding me what I am capable of.
To my dear friend Mike Kelly: you are one of my favorite humans on the planet. Thank you for understanding this accomplishment and showing me that my work is worthy of celebrating.
To Dr. Frankie Frank, you inspire me. You challenge me. You help me to soar. Thank you for lending your heart and labor to this book. You have added at least a decade to my life from the laughs alone. You have somehow made me appreciate cats, which was no easy feat. You have my heart forever, and there is so much more to come for us.
My students, past and present, have been the energy and sustenance, graciously giving of themselves in our classroom. You are the reason I get excited to come to campus every day and the reason I want to keep asking questions and doing this work. You brilliant, gentle, hilarious humans—thank you.
A brief but spectacular thank you to Chris Pureka for being a central companion in my headphones for many years of my life now. Your music means so much to me.
To my wonderful in-laws, Lynne, Wayne, and Ben, I treasure you. Thank you for all you do. I hit the absolute jackpot when I became a member of the Clark family.
To my siblings, Addie and Ty, what a phenomenal gift to not only love your siblings, but to like them. Any time I get to spend with both of you is the best of times. Thank you for the space you gave me to talk about the book, to share in the journey during the highlights and hard moments. You are both endlessly inspiring to me, and the courage you demonstrate daily in your pursuits—education, the arts, advocacy—is a towering motivation. Having you, Ty, as my big brother, and you, Addie, as my twin, is wondrous comfort.
Helene and Ellsworth, words fail, really. Thank you for being my parents, for being Mom and Dad. Thank you for loving me so well. I would not be who I am without you. I hope you can both feel daily how much you mean to me; the level of gratitude for all you have given me defies language. You have made it possible.
My children Kraemer and Vivian, you teach me something new every day. You remind me to slow down, be present to what is in front of me, take deep breaths, step away. In the years since getting my doctorate and writing this book, I have gotten to watch you grow, learn, and explore. You are both the kindest, coolest, funniest, most creative, dynamic, heart-bursting little humans, and I am so proud to know you. I love being your mom.
Joe Clark: as I write this, you are standing in the kitchen, making dinner, laughing at something on your computer, and my whole being is filled to the brim with peace and love. Jobs, kids, house—through all the must-dos and want-to-dos, you are the constant joy of my days. Two pillars. Bow and stern. A fruitful garden. A full heart. I sure am glad we chose Wisconsin and that we chose each other. Thank you for literally everything you do and for knowing that I could do this and get it done. I love you. Let’s go on a bike ride and a paddle together.
And finally, endless regard for the tween girls who shared their time, experiences, and voices for this project. Thank you, thank you, thank you.