ABSTRACT
Celebrity is ubiquitous, a central part of the global media-scape and cultural fabric of everyday life: from music to politics, from education to social media. The growth of the internet has increased the public’s capacity to participate in celebrity culture: we can comment on celebrities’ behaviour online or post videos on YouTube in the hope of becoming celebrities ourselves. The dramatic rise of celebrity has provoked debates about its influence. Young people occupy a prominent position in these, a continuation of their place at the centre of concerns around consumption and mass media. Politicians, teaching professionals, media commentators and even some academics in the UK and beyond frequently denounce celebrity as having a damaging impact on young people – from harmful effects on body image to eroding young people’s aspirations. Throughout this chapter we argue for the power of taking young people’s engagements with celebrity seriously rather than dismissing them as trivial or dangerous. First, we outline key youth studies approaches that contribute to understanding how celebrity is implicated in young people’s lives. We then present data from original research exploring the role of celebrity in young people’s classed and gendered aspirations.1 This study was conducted between 2012 and 2014 and involved group and individual interviews with 148 young people in England (aged 14-17) and case studies of the public mediation of 12 celebrities.
