Kate Phelps will be in conversation with GCS program director Suzanne Leonard to discuss their debut book, Digital Girlhoods.
In Digital Girlhoods, Phelps explores how tween girls in America are using social media to shape their identities, create content, and build community. Through in-depth interviews and analysis, Phelps highlights the tensions and possibilities of growing up online, taking seriously the question behind every “Am I pretty or ugly?" video: Who am I?
Phelps’s work gives voice to the girls navigating the contradictions of digital life and American girlhoods—shedding light on how they live and experience girlhood in today’s media landscape.
About the Author
Kate Phelps (she/they) holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons University. Since 2017, they’ve been teaching in the Gender and Women's Studies department at UW-Madison, focusing on body politics, digital sociology, girlhood studies, and feminist pedagogies. Digital Girlhoods (2025) is now available from Temple University Press.