‘I’d Like to See an Italian Film or TV Series in Which a Girl Moves Abroad’: Italian Girlhood and Nomadic Experiences

ABSTRACT

This article explores the portrayal of contemporary Italian girlhood in the context of Italian media studies. It critically examines the emergence of a new media depiction of Italian high-school girls in the role of exchange students abroad. Given the widespread prevalence of this trend, which has received limited academic attention, the representations of these young travellers are examined across different media, offering insights into their dynamic agency as cultural intermediaries within Italian society. The inquiry draws from data from the AHRC research project A Girls’ Eye View. It analyses excerpts from project interviews and social media in order to shed light on the emergence of nomadic Italian girlhood as portrayed in TV series and on the TikTok platform. By exploring Italian girls’ nomadic aspirations, the study provides valuable insights into the dynamic relationship between travel, education, and the impact of social media on their lives.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• girlhood
• students
• TikTok
• Netflix
• study abroad

Introduction: The A Girls’ Eye View Project, Global Nomadism, and the Blurred Boundary between Media Representations and the Everyday Life of Italian Girls

The marginalisation of studies about Italian women, particularly Italian girls, and their preferences and tastes, is a longstanding issue within academia and media criticism. The turn of the new millennium marked a resurgence in the exploration of Italian women’s roles, driven by a critical reassessment spearheaded in 2008 by scholar Danielle Hipkins, whose work stresses the importance of conducting academic research on contemporary Italian female celebrities, directors, and audiences.¹ Her work sheds light on the pervasive underrepresentation of Italian women in academic discourse, particularly within the realm of Italian Media Studies, exposing a significant gap in gender studies.² Hipkins attributed this gap to the deeply ingrained patriarchal critical tradition in Italy and the relatively limited engagement with gender studies within Italian-speaking academia.³ This recognition has since catalysed a proliferation of scholarly investigations, broadening the discourse to encompass different feminine perspectives, including celebrity studies and LGBT+ studies. For instance, Charlotte Ross observes that Italian critics have traditionally focused on the representation of heterosexual femininity, adopting an exclusively heteronormative lens, which consequently marginalises cinematic portrayals of other identities.⁴ As noted by Hipkins, Italian media and historical narratives frequently perpetuate the belief that girls should maintain a passive presence.⁵ Such cultural norms may also have significant economic ramifications for the Italian industry.⁶ Nevertheless, since the 1990s Italian popular culture, notably through television programming, has focused on representations of girls for a teen audience. During this period, television shows such as Non è la rai and various American imports (Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s Creek, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Veronica Mars, among others) aired on national private Mediaset channels.⁷ Additionally, the 1990s witnessed the emergence of new magazines that addressed Italian girls’ issues such as Cioè and Top Girls.⁸ Despite the proliferation of cultural products in the new millennium, scholarly investigations of Italian girls’ viewpoints, preferences, and interpretations of the media remain scarce.

The 2021–2024 AHRC research project A Girls’ Eye View: Girlhood on the Italian Screen since the 1950s, led by Professor Hipkins, aims to address this gap in Italian media studies regarding girlhood and its representation in Italian media.⁹ Specifically, it focuses on three levels of analysis: the textual representations of Italian girlhood in Italian media, the identity construction of Italian girls as media consumers, and the generational identity construction of Italian girlhood over time. To achieve this, the project’s initial phase involves conducting interviews with approximately 66 girls from Italian high schools across the country.¹⁰

During these interviews, participants are encouraged to discuss their daily lives as Italian teenagers, with particular emphasis on media consumption, including Italian cinema, TV series, and social media. Through qualitative interviews, researchers foster open and dynamic dialogues, which enable them to identify among some girls an emerging interest in the topics of travel and study abroad, sometimes influenced by the representation of characters in the TV series they discuss. Consequently, through this comprehensive approach, our aim is to address this gap by incorporating into Italian media discourse the significant yet often overlooked demographic of girls’ audiences. In this article, my focus is directed towards examining the phenomenon of Italian girls’ educational nomadism and its representation on TikTok. Throughout the project, it has become evident that the portrayal of girls’ lives extends beyond traditional media such as films and TV series to encompass newer forms of media, notably TikTok. These platforms are used as intricately intertwined channels for both depicting and shaping the experiences of girls in contemporary Italian society.

The concept of nomadism relating to Italian girlhood and study abroad programmes can be understood within the broader context of contemporary lifestyle-driven mobilities and global nomadism. The rapid expansion of diverse forms of mobility, driven by economic and socio-political factors such as globalisation, individualisation, and increased international experiences, has given rise to new social phenomena and opportunities. However, this development has not always yielded positive outcomes. For instance, in Italy, the economic crisis has prompted young professionals to emigrate in search of better job prospects, leading to the ‘brain drain’ phenomenon. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about the emergence of ‘digital nomadism’, where a new generation of workers can work remotely from anywhere without being tied to a conventional office, thus creating a form of neo-nomadism.

In contrast, through a survey involving 34,000 respondents, Greg Richards identified new forms of nomadism which he referred to as ‘global nomads’.¹¹ Richards argued that young travellers belonging to travel niches such as backpacking, volunteer tourism, and educational exchange are the new global nomads, as they seek to integrate into new cultures, in contrast to digital nomads who transfer their individualised lifestyle to a location different from the conventional office.¹² While focusing on backpacking as a new form of nomadism, Richards also highlighted various other forms of travelling, such as student travel, student exchange, and language travel, as emerging manifestations of nomadism. As Richards asserts, for postmodern thinkers, such as Dominique Grisoni, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Jean Baudrillard, and Rosi Braidotti, the nomad has become a symbol of flux, hybridity, and mobility in a globalising world.¹³ Richards argued that the original concept of nomads as a spatially peripheral and endangered group underwent a transformation when, from the late 1960s onwards, the ‘nomad’ label became attached to emerging lifestyles. Notably, there was an aspatial inversion of nomadism, with new groups of nomads being studied in the centres of modern cities. Subsequently, the rise of urban nomadism has been complemented by new forms of nomadism, particularly those related to tourism. In his analysis of global nomads in Ibiza and Goa, Anthony D’Andrea brought together the streams of new age and tourism-related nomadism.¹⁴ In earlier work by the group, Richards and Julie Wilson referred to contemporary youth travellers as ‘tomorrow’s global nomads’, suggesting a trajectory towards increased youth mobility and diversification of youth travel into more long-term forms of dwelling in different countries, such as educational travel and long-term backpacking.¹⁵ In fact, the concept of new nomadism also entails a new relationship with the ‘local’. The local, the ordinary, and the everyday have become sought-after destinations in travel, in a stark departure from the cultural hierarchy established during the Grand Tour and reflected in the development of mass tourism.¹⁶ On this basis, the different types of nomads might be seen as groups that have adopted different mobility strategies.¹⁷

The concept of nomadism delineated by Richards can be adapted to the context of Italian girlhood and study abroad initiatives due to the growing proliferation of various forms of mobility. Consequently, study abroad programmes can be regarded as manifestations of nomadism. While traditional views of nomadism typically involve constant movement and a lifestyle detached from specific geographical locations, the notion of nomadism in relation to Italian girlhood and study abroad programmes is more limited in scope and duration. However, these study programmes offer girls the opportunity to explore and engage with the ‘local’ elements of new societies and cultures, exposing them to a variety of perspectives and ways of life. Despite the limited nature of their experiences, these girls still embody the fundamental aspects of global nomadism, characterised by being open to new encounters, traversing diverse cultural landscapes, and challenging fixed identities.

In this article, I will analyse how contemporary nomadic Italian girls are represented, the media through which their representations are disseminated, and the reasons for their appeal to a teenage audience. Additionally, I will explore how mobility accentuates the role of femininity in shaping novel images of national female identity. Despite more conspicuous instances of global nomadism, such as the aforementioned Italian brain-drain phenomenon, I have chosen to concentrate on young schoolgirl travellers as examples of ‘tomorrow’s global nomads’, as defined by Richards and Wilson.¹⁸

This article aims to examine the increasing empowerment of the Italian female teenage audience.¹⁹ Our observations reveal that the girls we interviewed access audio-visual content and products about nomadic youth through various means, including laptops, TV, and mobile devices, and on different media platforms, such as films, TV series, and social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok. Interestingly, their inclination towards reflecting on transnational experiences is triggered by a variety of audio-visual cues and through different means, access points, and modalities, placing films, TV series on subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms, and social media on an equal footing. Notably, SVOD services have been available in Italy since the 2010s. During our interviews, we observed the direct and formidable competition posed by online platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, with the latter gaining 87 million subscribers in just one year.²⁰

In Europe, there was no noticeable increase in Netflix subscribers during the 2020–2021 period. However, it is important to acknowledge that we ‘cannot take into account the rapid changes, accelerated even further by the pandemic, in the distribution and consumption systems of the last two years’.²¹ Additionally, platforms such as Netflix boast strengths such as original productions, various affordable price ranges, an extensive catalogue, user-friendly interfaces, and easy access to original and dubbed versions with multiple language subtitles.²² Consequently, in our study, we had to consider not only films but also TV series and social media as a cohesive and interconnected library of contemporary girls’ media experience. As Romana Andò points out, we must refrain from applying traditional logic in studying the digital media market, which is now characterised by audience empowerment.²³ I argue that part of this audience empowerment lies in the younger generation’s access to a variety of audio-visual and transnational experiences, compared to previous generations.

Cinematic Nomadic Italian Girlhood in Contemporary TV Series

The ‘girl power’ phenomenon that emerged in the UK in the 1990s, thanks to the success of the Spice Girls, took place in Italy in the early 2000s with the establishment of the television channel MTV Italia.²⁴ MTV Italia was founded in 1997 and targeted teenagers and young adults as its primary audience. What is noteworthy is that MTV Italia gave more airtime to programmes specifically targeted for girls, diverging from previous content on Italian television and offering female role models for adolescents that deviated from traditional showgirl stereotypes. Perhaps the primary achievement of MTV Italia was its ability to ‘internationalise’ and ‘globalise’ the contemporary young Italian audience, which was predominantly made up of so-called Millennials.²⁵ However, attention to girlhood in Italy is still scarce, despite the growing presence of commercial products such as MTV in the 2000s and of magazines such as Cioè. Although these media may have contributed to giving visibility to the experiences of girls, it is important to recognise that their representation often remains superficial and stereotyped, and their views are often unheard.

More recently, teenagers have gained new prominence in media studies, as demonstrated by Fiona Handyside and Kate Taylor-Jones’s collection International Cinema and the Girl: Local Issues, Transnational Contexts.²⁶ Nevertheless, as stated in the introduction, in Italy the concept of girlhood has been neglected for a long time.²⁷ However, in recent years, scholars in Italian studies, such as Romana Andò, Danielle Hipkins, Jessica Harris, Julia Heim and Sole Anatrone, Nicoletta Marini-Maio, and Ellen Nerenberg, among others, have been focusing on girlhood.²⁸ During several meetings and interviews conducted with girls in the context of the project A Girls’ Eye View, it became clear that the realm of media beyond cinema plays a significant role in what we can refer to as the ‘mediatic construction of girlhood’. This observation highlights a research gap that the above-mentioned scholars are striving to fill – an area to which this article seeks to contribute.

In the contemporary age, media attention continues to be directed towards privileged and white Italian girls, but the medium and format in which they are represented have evolved. New SVOD platforms have in fact opened up new possibilities for producing and distributing more inclusive cinematic content. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the representation of Italian girls from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds remains limited. The media representation of girls who travel abroad for study (who are the focus of this article and whom I define as ‘nomadic’) still portrays a partial and stereotypical version of girlhood, in terms of race and social status.

However, as confirmed by the Italian girls interviewed for the project, we observed that the contemporary audience was particularly drawn to characters who left the series to study abroad, such as Eleonora (Benedetta Gargari) in SKAM Italia. From a narrative perspective, it was clear that this plot device was used to write characters out of the story. For instance, in Baby, Camilla (Chabeli Sastre Gonzalez) also goes to study in the United States, to allow Ludovica (Alice Pagani) to take her place as Chiara’s (Benedetta Porcaroli) best friend in the subsequent seasons.²⁹

What is significant in the context of these series is the portrayal of the characters as white, heterosexual, and privileged Italian girls, thus highlighting the role of social class in the screen representation of Italian girls. For instance, in SKAM Italia, Eleonora is the daughter of a well-established researcher living in the North of Italy. She enjoys freedom as she lives alone with her brother in a spacious apartment in Rome and decides to study abroad with her high-school boyfriend Edoardo, who is portrayed as the most popular boy in school. On the other hand, her friend Sana, a second-generation Muslim immigrant, faces different challenges, particularly related to her integration into Italian society. While SKAM Italia succeeds in representing diverse Italian girls’ identities, the representation of class is not diverse.

In the juxtaposition of characters like Camilla and Eleonora, we can see that the representation of nomadic girls still reflects a specific class identity. However, their identities are also shaped by movement and consumer culture, thus contributing to the reimagining of contemporary Italian girlhood. These characters maintain a connection with Italy’s national cinematic heritage in terms of class representation, while simultaneously embodying the emerging desire of Italian girls to venture beyond their comfort zones and domestic spaces by studying abroad. Consequently, a focus on the nomadic lifestyle of girls as international students has the potential to challenge traditional feminine stereotypes associated with their homes and hometowns. The narration of travel through public spaces further disrupts the traditional, male-dominated narratives of nomadism, presenting a more feminine perspective.

In the next section, I will explore the connection between these representations and the TikTok trends of nomadic Italian girls abroad, as well as travel agencies that specialise in supporting them, often demanding exorbitant fees. This evidence highlights how access to certain experiences remains restricted to a particular category of girls, reinforcing a consumer capitalist construction of girlhood that is perpetuated on the Italian screen.

The Phenomenon of Italian School Girls Studying Abroad

The experience of studying abroad has gained prominence in Italy over the last thirty years, primarily due to the well-known European student programme called Erasmus (acronym of European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), which has been in existence since 1986 and involves more than 40,000 institutions.³⁰ The programme offers students the opportunity to study or undertake a traineeship in a European-Union member country for a period ranging from 3 to 12 months. The Erasmus project gained popularity in the early 2000s with the release of the French-Spanish film L’auberge espagnole, which depicts the life of a French student named Xavier (Romain Duris) who embarks on an Erasmus experience in Barcelona.³¹ Here Xavier shares a house and adventures with roommates from all over Europe; they get to know each other’s different cultures and experience freedom outside of their daily routines. In 2014, the Italian high-school version of the programme, known as Erasmus+, was launched.³² Along with this popular international programme, there has been a flourishing of non-profit associations, such as Intercultura Onlus, as well as other popular travel agencies such as EF Italia or StudyAbroad, which were already known for organising summer language stays abroad. These organisations have expanded their support to year-abroad programmes, providing assistance before, during, and after the departure period.

According to a survey by the Osservatorio Nazionale Intercultura Onlus, an association that has been facilitating student mobility since 1955, in 2018 participation in study abroad programmes involved approximately 10,000 students. The preferred destination countries for Italian students were the US, Spain, and the United Kingdom.³³ In fact, Asmata Irfan et al. highlighted that English-speaking countries like the US and the United Kingdom are particularly appealing to international students due to the prominence of the English language. These countries are perceived as highly competitive and prosperous, which significantly influences students’ preference in selecting them as their first choice for studying abroad.³⁴ Certainly, while the appeal of English-speaking countries plays a significant role in attracting international students, the demand for study abroad opportunities depends on various other factors as well. These include the per-capita income of the students’ families, the educational opportunities available in their home countries, the potential benefits of studying abroad, and the tuition fees associated with international programmes. These considerations influence the decision-making process of students and their families when considering the possibility of pursuing their education overseas.³⁵ According to the Osservatorio Nazionale Intercultura Onlus, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the percentage of Italian schools with at least one student studying abroad increased from 44% in 2019 to 46% in 2022. This indicates a continued interest and willingness among Italian students to pursue educational opportunities overseas, even in the face of global uncertainties and disruptions caused by the pandemic.³⁶ Interestingly, the report shows that the majority of students leaving Italy to study abroad are girls, which may explain the emergence of nomadic girl characters, such as Camilla or Eleonora, in Italian TV series. This trend aligns with the data published in 2018 by national newspaper Corriere della Sera, ‘Studiare all’estero? Roba da ragazze!’, which indicates that 62% of girls and 38% of boys choose to study abroad for various reasons. The article mentions that girls are less hesitant to leave their homes or hometowns compared to boys, suggesting a higher inclination among Italian girls to explore international educational opportunities.³⁷ In fact, when considering studying abroad, Italian girls tend to contemplate it in terms of their self-development. They view the experience as a life challenge that allows them to test and develop their autonomy. Moreover, they are not worried about leaving their peers at home, as they believe their relationships can withstand the distance due to having stable connections with them. On the contrary, boys tend to be apprehensive about the possibility of losing their established peer groups, which may contribute to their lower participation rate in study abroad programmes compared to girls. This gender-based disparity in attitudes towards international mobility reflects the evolving dynamics of Italian girlhood and its relationship to educational opportunities and personal growth.³⁸

Despite the numerous benefits of studying abroad, economic access to this experience remains a significant determining factor, closely tied to the financial resources of students’ families.³⁹ As a result, the phenomenon has grown to such an extent that it has garnered the label of edu-tourism, evolving into a distinct economic sector within the tourism industry. Educational marketing plays a pivotal role in promoting and facilitating this type of travel, and various agencies and users on social networks extensively use technology, particularly TikTok, to attract and engage potential international students.⁴⁰ The platform serves as a powerful tool in showcasing the opportunities and experiences offered by studying abroad, making it an instrumental force in the pursuit of educational and personal growth beyond national borders.

Mobile Italian Girls and the New ‘Girlish’ Trend on TikTok

As mentioned at the outset of this article, the examination of contemporary girlhood necessitates the consideration of social media. Presently, social networking platforms containing audio-visual content, such as TikTok, play a pivotal role in shaping popular discourse among teenagers. TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, emerged from the merger and renaming of an earlier social network, Musical.ly.⁴¹ It operates on the basis of a well-known algorithm known as ‘For You’, which enables users to identify target audiences for specific topics and facilitates viral dissemination.⁴² According to a survey conducted by Audiweb, by the end of 2022 there were over 18.3 million TikTok users in Italy.⁴³ Furthermore, small and medium-sized Italian businesses have recognised its potential as a promotional tool. TikTok functions as a space where countless young individuals publicly perform and explore their identities, making it a significant platform for observing the formation of girls’ identities.

During this research project, a significant aspect that emerged from the interviews was the growing interest in edu-tourism among young Italian girls. As the participants spoke about their dreams of studying abroad, there was palpable enthusiasm when showing us videos and content on TikTok related to Italian girls who were already overseas for educational purposes. These videos, created and shared by the girls themselves, provided a more direct and personal perspective on the experience of edu-tourism. This reference to the phenomenon of edu-tourism, which emerged spontaneously during the interviews, has highlighted the need for further exploration of this emerging trend and its impact on the perception of identity and girlhood in contemporary Italy. This phenomenon has proven particularly relevant as it draws attention to the increasing presence of young Italian girls who choose to represent themselves beyond their home spaces. The Italian girls portrayed in these videos explore new cultures, confront the challenges of learning in foreign environments, and share their emotions and discoveries with the online world.

To examine the phenomenon of Italian edu-tourism with a specific focus on girlhood, this study adopts a narrative case-study approach that involves the analysis of four sample individual profiles of girls and three travel agency profiles within the TikTok system. It is essential to note that this research does not aim to introduce generalisations about the entire phenomenon but rather to gain insight into the emerging visibility of nomadic Italian girlhood, taking into account the convergence of diverse audio-visual products. The primary objective of this section is to explore how the creative process of nomadic Italian TikTokers contributes to shaping them as microcelebrity nomadic girls, and the strategies they employ for (in)visible marketing to attract viewers, likes, and potential clients.

This exploration is conducted within the conceptual framework outlined by Andò’s 2017 study of contemporary girlhood identity, which emphasises the construction and formation of identity through different media experiences.⁴⁴ Additionally, it draws upon Andreas Shellewald’s 2021 analysis of short video communications on TikTok.⁴⁵ By employing these interdisciplinary perspectives, this research aims to shed light on the evolving dynamics of nomadic Italian girlhood as mediated and represented through the dynamic world of TikTok. Shellewald’s analysis classifies communicative forms on TikTok into distinct categories, including comedic, documentary, communal, interactive, and meta. These categories help us to understand the different ways in which users engage with and use the platform’s features to communicate their narratives effectively. Furthermore, I also incorporate Vilde Schanke Sundet’s notion of youthification into the discussion, as it proposes the idea of girlification of nomadic Italian student narratives on TikTok. This concept refers to the manner in which TikTok conceptualises these narratives, keeping them relevant and ‘girly’ through innovative storytelling techniques. The platform’s unique features and creative tools allow nomadic Italian students to construct their narratives in a way that resonates with their audience and aligns with the girlification trend observed on TikTok. By integrating Shellewald’s framework and Sundet’s girlification concept, I aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of how short video communications on TikTok, particularly those related to nomadic Italian student narratives, are shaped and conveyed. This approach allows for a nuanced analysis of the ways in which TikTok empowers users to create and share content, while also exploring how certain narratives are strategically crafted to appeal to a specific audience and maintain relevance within the platform’s dynamic environment.⁴⁶

The case study involves a thorough examination of the textual and audio-visual content of selected TikTok videos, which were subsequently correlated with interviews conducted with Italian school girls. The data was collected in the period between February 2021 and February 2022, during which I monitored the daily videos on the chosen profiles and kept research notes based on specific criteria. These criteria encompassed the adherence to topics related to studying abroad and girlhood, the growth metrics in terms of followers and overall likes, the consistent posting of content related to the study abroad experience, and a detailed analysis of hashtags, and communication and marketing strategies used. For the study, I decided to follow four students on TikTok: @vale_s1810, a former college-exchange student who consistently shares information about American high-school experiences; @chiarincali, a former student who had studied abroad in the USA; @lil.ann4, a current Italian exchange student in Ohio (USA); and @flaviabeniniii, who was preparing to embark on a study abroad experience in Wisconsin (USA) beginning in December 2022. The profile data of these students were collected and analysed in February 2023, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Italian exchange students analysed on TikTok.

Students	TikTok username	Profile followers	Overall likes
Anna	@lil.ann4	25.0K	1.9M
Chiara	@chiarincali	4823	177.3K
Flavia	@flaviabeniniii	223.918K	18,8M
Valentina Serri	@vale_s1810	179.9K	6,2M

The first common feature among these Italian exchange students is their comedic and ‘girlish’ approach, characterised by voiceovers reminiscent of romcom teen girls, such as Cher’s voiceover in the film Clueless as she presents her life as a Beverly-Hills teenager.⁴⁷ They adopt this comedic tone to present their exchange experiences in the USA, talking about the places where they are studying with a strong sense of humour. Using their voices, they craft aesthetically appealing shots to illustrate the context of their life abroad, often featuring popular American symbols such as buildings with flags, skyscrapers, and school lockers. However, these representations remain rather anonymous, and do not delve into their private experiences, such as their relationships or romantic encounters.

In terms of communication, their approach leans towards objectivity, aligning with the documentary mode of TikTok, as identified by Schellewald. Similar patterns can be observed in the numerous accounts of Italian girl students abroad, capturing cultural and gender dynamics through the documentary format. Many of these videos showcase typical everyday places, school sports teams in their uniforms, and American school stereotypes to reinforce familiar perceptions in the audience. For instance, @vale_s1810ʹs video features her dressed in a typical American high-school sports jacket, discussing stereotypes related to cheerleaders, grades, and school cliques, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. @vale_s1810 wearing an American high school jacket.

Despite the documentarist way in which they present their experiences, emotional discourses typically attributed to the female gender, particularly to girls, are evident in their documented journeys as nomadic Italian girls. There are numerous videos in which these TikTokers film themselves crying, expressing their emotions about leaving Italy for their study abroad experience, or sharing their joy upon returning to Italy. They also discuss feelings of nostalgia and emotional challenges upon returning after an intense year abroad. For instance, @flaviabeniniii’s video showcases her crying with the caption ‘in 31 days my year abroad begins’, as she prepares to leave for Canada. These emotional narratives offer a glimpse into the personal and heartfelt experiences of these Italian exchange students, reflecting the profound impact of their nomadic journeys on their lives and identities, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. @flaviabeniniii showing herself crying.

The most frequent posts on TikTok appear to be related to the return of Italian exchange students, exemplified by @chiarincali’s video capturing her emotional reunion with family, grandparents, and best friends. The surprise return of @chiarincali to her best friend’s house leads to tears of joy. The emotional aspect of returning to Italy is treated seriously by these girls, who often refer to their emotional development after months of freedom abroad, as observed in @vale_s1810ʹs posts where she expresses how she has turned into a different person after attending a year of school abroad, thus highlighting her personal growth. The narratives of @lil.ann4 show the transformative effects of the study abroad experience, as she mentions overcoming food-related issues and adopting a healthier lifestyle, gaining a better understanding of herself, and focusing on her future as an independent young woman. However, the example of @flaviabeniniii indicates that living abroad for a year, away from one’s family, is not as easy as it may seem, in that it requires strength and cultural adaptability. This confirms that these teen girls, who belong to the middle class, are represented as ideal subjects of resilience, capable of defying obstacles and possessing psychological strength and adaptability, as highlighted by scholars such as Rosalind Gill, Shani Ogard, Peter Dwyer, and Johanna Wyn.⁴⁸ This portrayal of strength and adaptability in nomadic Italian girlhood stresses the significance of the study abroad experience in shaping their identities and personal development, as depicted in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Anna explaining how the year abroad is making her grow up.

What emerges here is how nomadic girls on TikTok contribute to a more profound cultural understanding of girls’ emotions and the construction of their girl selfhood through a confessional storytelling mode.⁴⁹ Sara D. Rocks states that personal narratives play a crucial role in people’s identity construction, with stories told about oneself being integral to this process.⁵⁰ Therefore, the confessionalism seen in TikTok videos by girls studying abroad becomes a significant social, cultural, and emotional practice that warrants critical investigation.

In the case of girls abroad, the confessional mode on TikTok allows them to reveal and share their emotional experiences related to travel, creating virtual connections, and building communities. By telling stories about their personal lives, they intentionally redefine their experiences and emotions, acting as examples for themselves and other girls. TikTok’s confessional mode becomes a new cultural form that shapes contemporary girlhood’s affective structure, forging common identities among girls by sharing stories that make their emotions visible. Participatory girlhood culture, on platforms like TikTok, highlights a significant dimension of nomadic girls’ identities being shared and celebrated. Additionally, other forms of communication, such as communal expressions through memes and transnational dances with foreign classmates, further enhance this sense of shared identity, as in @lil.ann4’s Figure 4, where she utilises small flag emoticons to represent the countries of origin of her classmates. These communal expressions strengthen the sense of belonging and connection among nomadic girls and contribute to a vibrant and dynamic girl culture on TikTok.

Figure 4. Anna with a French friend.

Another observation that is worth making pertains to the use of hashtags. I noticed an emerging audio-visual trend in which girls consistently tagged their videos on the social network with similar hashtags (#). These girl creators on TikTok use common hashtags to share their personal experiences abroad and foster visual engagement.

I analysed the girls’ TikTok hashtags related to their student experience abroad which had millions of views as of February 2023, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Hashtags used on TikTok related to the student experience abroad.

Hashtag	Views
#exchangestudent	7.8 B
#annoallestero	803.8 M
#exchangestudentusa	554.3 M
#exchangeyearusa	292.4 M
#studyingabroad	172.1 M
#yearabroad	156.0 M
#studiareallestero	15.0 M

Even though these hashtags may not explicitly refer to gender and girlhood, upon clicking and scrolling through the videos associated with them, it becomes clear that the majority of the content features girls. Similarly, in the marketing by travel agencies, I observed that the videos predominantly showcased girls’ experiences abroad.

During my research, I followed three travel agencies with a presence on TikTok, and the data recorded in February 2023 is reported in Table 3.

Table 3. Travel agencies analysed on TikTok.

Agency	Profile followers	Overall likes
You Abroad anno all’estero	29.9 K	735.5 K
Intercultura	20.3 K	342.4 K
Astudy anno all’estero	14.0 K	335.4 K

These travel agencies follow a similar pattern as the individual users mentioned above, as they also promote stereotypes related to studying abroad, such as cheerleaders, sports challenges, parties, fun, and sightseeing. They often feature content shared by their clients, showcasing the exciting and adventurous aspects of their experiences abroad.

In fact, these travel agencies predominantly target girls as their audience and strategically capitalise on popular trends related to studying abroad. They often reference American girls’ popular cultural stereotypes to appeal to their target demographic. For instance, a video published by You Abroad in 2020 on its TikTok account showcased images from the movie High School Musical, tapping into the nostalgia and fascination that young girls may have with such cultural references.⁵¹ The agency’s TikTok video skilfully used the post-feminist themes portrayed in the film to entice potential clients. The video highlighted aspects such as fashion and the body as tools for empowerment, individualism, and success, aligning them with the idea of a glamorous and stereotypical teen experience of studying in America. Messages written on the images further reinforced the allure of the American dream, presenting it as a glamorous and empowering opportunity for young girls. By associating the study abroad experience with these post-feminist notions, the travel agency aimed to appeal to girls who may seek empowerment and self-discovery through their overseas journey. In conclusion, as Shellewald states, ‘TikTok creates, so to speak, a representation of reality […] – a representation of reality mediated through the “for you” page, the algorithmic content feed connecting a single user with the broader cultural dynamics unfolding on TikTok’. This dynamic has been effectively used by travel agencies promoting studying abroad to identify girls as the perfect target audience.⁵²

Findings: ‘I’d like to See an Italian Film or TV Series in Which a Girl Moves Abroad’ Methodology of the Semi-Structured Interviews

What has been observed is the substantial impact of TikTok and other social media platforms on the lives of these girls, offering them a platform for self-expression, sharing experiences and forging connections with others. However, girls from less privileged socioeconomic backgrounds may face challenges not only in accessing travel-related content but also in having such experiences firsthand. Consequently, girls from ethnic or immigrant minorities may encounter additional hurdles, including stereotypes or discrimination, in their online interactions. These portrayals highlight the intersection of class with issues of race and cultural identity in contemporary Italian society. In fact, the nomadic Italian TikTok influencers discussed in the previous section predominantly hail from the white Italian middle class, thereby sidelining other representations. Although this aspect was not explicitly emphasised in the interviews, as the majority of girls discussed travel as a distant dream and aspiration rather than an immediate reality, it is clear from the content on TikTok that representation and access are greater among the white middle/high-class population.

The team project A Girls’ Eye View employs individual semi-structured interviews as the initial data collection method. The methodology for the first phase involved qualitative interviews, aiming to explore media consumption through an innovative approach, moving away from traditional quantitative methods. Study participants were selected from public Italian high schools, with each school nominating ten girls of different ages, social backgrounds, ethnicities, and academic performances, ensuring the formation of heterogeneous audience groups within an age range of 14 to 21. Informed consent forms were obtained from the girls’ parents with the help of their respective teachers, ensuring their understanding and voluntary participation in the study. The interviews, lasting between 40 minutes and one hour, were complemented by other research-related activities, including film screenings, focus groups, and video essays, all conducted face-to-face with the research team within the school premises.

All interviews were either video or audio recorded and were subsequently transcribed by the researchers. The data collected underwent a manual coding process by the research team. The transcripts were read multiple times by the entire team to gain a comprehensive understanding of the meanings conveyed in the interviews. Discussions were held within the team to share initial impressions and insights, drawing on various fields of research expertise. During the coding process, thematic codes were agreed upon, and each interview was analysed in light of these predefined codes. Specifically, all mentions of ‘travels’, ‘studying abroad’, and ‘dreaming of living abroad’ that pertained to the discussion of nomadic girlhood were carefully examined. Moreover, special attention was paid to references to characters in film or TV series who had gone abroad for study, as well as the emotional impact these depictions had on the girls being interviewed.

There were no specific interviews conducted solely around the themes of nomadism and travel, since the A Girls’ Eye View project has a broader focus on investigating Italian girls as a media audience. However, it is noteworthy that this topic emerged spontaneously during our conversations with the girl participants and was observed during the initial coding process. The theme of dreaming of travelling, studying or working abroad, or simply desiring to travel more in general, surfaced in approximately 27.27% of the conversations with the girls interviewed so far, as illustrated in Graph 1.

Graph 1. Italian school girls interviewed for the A Girls’ Eye View project.

Table 4 below provides information on the age and the places of origin of the students who expressed an interest in travel.⁵³

Table 4. Participants who spoke about travelling during the interviews.

Participants	Project Codes	Age	Place of origin	Type of school
Participant 1	I_1_15	16	Sant’Agata di Militello (ME)	Istituto tecnico
Participant 2	G_1_17	17	Siderno (RC)	Istituto tecnico
Participant 3	A_2_16	16	Inzago (MI)	Liceo scienze umane
Participant 4	P4	18	Siderno (RC)	Istituto tecnico
Participant 5	G_2_16	16	Siderno (RC)	Istituto tecnico
Participant 6	F_3_17	17	Rome	Liceo scienze umane
Participant 7	B_2_17	17	Trieste	Liceo scientifico
Participant 8	D_4_15	15	Atri (TE)	Liceo linguistico
Participant 9	F_5_16	16	Rome	Liceo scienze umane
Participant 10	I_6_17	17	Sant’Agata di Militello (ME)	Istituto tecnico
Participant 11	G_3_18	14	Roma	Liceo scienze umane
Participant 12	A_5_18	18	Inzago (MI)	Liceo scienze umane
Participant 13	A_13_21	21	Inzago (MI)	Liceo scienze umane
Participant 14	D_7_17	17	Atri (TE)	Liceo linguistico
Participant 15	B_6_17	17	Trieste	Liceo scientifico
Participant 16	D_8_15	16	Atri (TE)	Liceo linguistico
Participant 17	B_5_17	NA	Trieste	Liceo scientifico
Participant 18	A_18_17	18	Inzago (MI)	Liceo scienze umane

Surprisingly, the girls who discussed nomadic topics came from diverse geographical and educational backgrounds. Their origins spanned various regions, encompassing both Northern and Southern Italy, as well as urban areas and rural villages. Additionally, the schools they attended offered different educational courses, with a mix of technical schools in the South and licei (academic high schools) in the Central and Northern regions. These licei teach a significant number of humanities and linguistics subjects compared to the technical schools in the South.⁵⁴ It is noteworthy that the interviews were not conducted in equal numbers for each school, as the girls’ participation was voluntary. The data for the group of students who were interviewed and mentioned that they would love to travel is represented in Graph 2.

Graph 2. Geographic distribution and types of schools attended by the girls who in the interviews spoke about travelling.

When coding the interviews, we noticed that various factors influenced the participants’ attraction towards being a traveller. These findings will be further detailed and illustrated in the complete report published at the end of the project, as the research is still ongoing. However, at this stage, we can state that the themes related to nomadic girlhood that emerged in our interviews primarily focused on the experience of studying and working abroad, according to the following sub-themes:

1. Influence of their current main subjects at school

For example, D_4_15 and D_8_15 come from licei. The interviews showed that their study of foreign languages influenced their choice to travel since they are more familiar with other cultures compared to other students.

Io personalmente, prima vorrei viaggiare […] E mi è sembrata la scelta più giusta quindi preferisco realizzare qualcosa che abbia a che fare con le lingue … [D_4_15]

Ho detto il liceo linguistico perché mi piacciono le lingue probabilmente viaggerò più spesso. [D_8_15]

• (2) Influence of TikTok videos by exchange students abroad

As previously stated, the consumption of films, TV series, and TikTok short videos are interconnected processes. Specifically, the trend of the year abroad on TikTok attracted the students interviewed.

Mi piace un sacco l’America. Sinceramente [the passion towards the USA] mi è nata durante la quarantena perché c’è una app … TikTok la conosce? e mi sono cominciati a spuntare tantissimi video di ragazzi che hanno fatto l’anno all’estero e raccontavano le loro esperienze e quindi mi è cominciato a piacere un sacco. [I_1_15]

Siiii, tantissimo [following TikTok videos of exchange students]. I video mostravano ragazze che avevano la miglior vita in America. Poi ho visto tanti ragazzi sui social pubblicare info riguardo l’exchange year/semester e mi sono appassionata e convinta a partire. [G_1_17]

Seguo più persone che viaggiano e che fanno vedere i luoghi in cui vanno perché l’aspetto culturale a me piace molto. [A_2_16]

[…] seguo anche altre ragazze che hanno fatto ad esempio l’anno all’estero in America e quindi mostravano un po’ come era l’anno; quindi, mi interessava quello […] [seguo] una di Ancona mi pare ed è diventata diciamo famosa conosciuta quando è partita per l’America su TikTok che postava dei video e quindi ha iniziato a seguire più persone. [B_2_17]

Continuo a guardare video delle ragazze all’estero perché mi fanno rivivere quella sensazione di serenità. [P4]

• (3) Influence of American cinema and TV series on the idealisation of the US as a destination

The influence of American products is also clear from our interviews. In fact, the girls grew up dreaming of the USA through the images conveyed by American cinema and TV Series:

Crescendo comunque mi piaceva sempre di più, infatti guardo praticamente solo film e serie tv americane. [P2 G_1_17]

Scelgo per esempio delle serie che appunto parlano di queste ragazze che si trasferiscono all’estero e raccontano la loro vita nei vari college, gli sport che fanno, le amicizie […]. [G_3_18]

Vorrei anche visitare, cioè, non stare soltanto là per imparare la lingua ma anche visitare i posti andando in California potrei vedere il Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, Las Vegas. Comunque, nei film appunto sono sempre stati mostrati […]. [B_6_17]

• (4) Moving abroad experience not represented enough in Italian media

For some of the participants, the experiences of nomadic girls and moving abroad are not sufficiently represented in Italian media:

Diciamo che il cinema italiano lo guardo molto poco anche perché non mi piace, fanno per lo più commedie. Io sono più per il genere romantico, adolescenziale. [G_1_17]

Mi piacciono di più quelle straniere [TV Series]. Perché si fa una vita diversa, oppure appunto queste ragazze che si trasferiscono quindi comunque vanno sempre all’estero, cioè, vivono in Italia e vanno all’estero. E poi vedere per esempio i vari posti che non ho mai visitato, i vari ambienti … Magari nei film italiani … Non trovi tanti film in cui ci sono dei trasferimenti all’estero e magari dovrebbero inserirli perché magari diventa un mix tra italiano e invece un film non italiano. [G_3_18]

• (5) US and Europe as preferred destinations

Però ci ho ragionato tante volte su questo e a me piacerebbe tanto andare a vivere all’estero, mi piace la Spagna o l’America. Mi piacciono questi due posti e ci andrei molto volentieri […] e anche la Cina mi piace molto. [D_4_15]

In tanti posti! Non so, America comunque, nell’Est, in Asia, al nord, magari andare a vedere Londra. [A_13_21]

Mi piacerebbe anche avere l’occasione di studiare all’estero in un periodo […] Mi piacerebbe andare nei Paesi del Nord quindi o in Germania o al Nord. [B_5_17]

Visto che guardo troppe cose mi piacerebbe andare a visitare l’Asia perché magari è una cultura diversa dall’Europa. È una cosa diversa. Ci sto provando [learning an Asian language], tipo il coreano delle serie. [A_18_17]

• (6) Travelling for freedom, happiness, self-realisation, and career prospects; an escape from their hometowns

The idea of happiness is clear in this experience, representing a form of mental pleasure gained from visualising their future. Anita Harris highlights how the act of travelling for girls is directly connected to the emphasis on freedom, challenge, and self-realisation, aligning with capitalist values. This portrayal of contemporary girls coincides with the themes emerging from our interviews.⁵⁵

• The pleasure of discovering

Per conoscere una nuova cultura, i modi di fare altrui, di cucinare, di vivere. [G_1_17]

Vabbè viaggiare in generale anche scoprire nuove culture, nuovi posti. Mi piace molto in generale, infatti, lo immagino anche un po’ così, come un viaggio un po’ diverso. Eh c’è molto. [B_6_17]

• The idea that elsewhere society is less sexist and open-minded

A common factor that emerged is that travelling abroad is generally seen as an escape from gender inequalities. For example, I_1_15 believes that abroad she can encounter a less sexist and more open-minded society.

[…] penso di studiare all’estero […] a me, per esempio, piace molto l’America perché là sono molto menefreghisti da quello che ho visto io, dai video delle ragazze che ho visto. E quindi mi piace molto quella mentalità che comunque pensano tutti a loro stessi, non in modo cattivo … Nel senso, non si basano magari sull’insultare qualcuno, dire “no, è femmina” e cose così. [I_1_15]

Allora penso che in Italia siano abbastanza chiusi come mentalità; infatti, non sono mai andata all’estero quindi non lo so però il mio sogno sarebbe anche andare all’estero. [G_2_16]

• An escape

Some participants view the experience as a sort of escape from the routines of the so-called provincia italiana (small-town life).

E come ho detto prima non so, viaggiare, scoprire cos’è che non hai visto qua in Sicilia, viaggiare e vedere la gente com’è e crescere con loro. [P4]

Se trovo qui qualcosa che mi soddisfa, sì, se no sono pronta anche ad andare all’estero, non mi fa né caldo né freddo. Cioè, vorrei anche uscire da qui. [A_13_21]

Mi sembra di essere abbastanza oppressa […] Voglio proprio andare oltre al mio solito piccolo. [B_6_17]

• Post-feminist ideals without seeking to romanticise them

Among our participants, some cases indicated that the ambition of studying abroad as a post high-school diploma experience was sometimes linked to post-feminist ideals of success and career, aligning with Harris’s theory that emphasises ‘making one’s own opportunities’ and the belief that success is a result of personal effort, which accompanies the new economic order.⁵⁶ Furthermore, we observed that the idea of travelling for romantic adventure did not feature prominently; instead, their dreams were focused on themselves and their construction of a professional female identity.

Allora se io dovessi immaginare il mio futuro ma proprio in grande e in grande, mi vedo in America perché io amo l’America. […] Quindi vorrei avere un futuro lavorativo là [in America], magari in uno studio e immagino studiando in un palazzo altissimo, per pensare in grande … [G_1_17]

Io ho tanti sogni, tantissimi sogni, cioè io vorrei essere da grande non so, un’imprenditrice qualcosa … Studiare diritto … Andare tipo a viaggiare vedere il mondo conoscere lingue nuove. [P4]

Sì. Allora, io da grande, voglio avere successo. Voglio diventare una donna di successo e vorrei diventare un medico […] so che proprio devo fare successo e vorrei studiare a New York. [F_5_16]

Mi piacerebbe viaggiare per un piccolo periodo della mia vita lo stesso e poi in seguito fare un lavoro più serio come la psicologa studiando all’università. [I_6_17]

Io ho, ad esempio, il sogno un giorno di viaggiare per il mondo che probabilmente non è il sogno di tutte le ragazze … ho una mente un po’ avanzata. [D_8_15]

• (7) Emotions

Participants also exhibited an emotional connection with characters who go abroad, as they are seen as strong and independent. The fact that the characters choose to study abroad is viewed positively by the participants, as it highlights the importance of travel for educational purposes. Our research revealed an attraction towards strong girl characters, with one example being Eleonora from SKAM Italia, as mentioned by F_3_17.

E poi è anche ambiziosa, diciamo, perché comunque alla fine va in America a studiare quindi è una buona cosa. Proprio per questo. [F_3_17]

Participants who had already experienced studying abroad spoke about their positive emotional response to the experience, in contrast to the fear of leaving shown in TikTok stories, such as those by @flaviabeniniii, mentioned earlier. This further confirms the adaptation and resilience of nomadic girls, as highlighted by Dwyer and Wyn.⁵⁷

La cosa che mi è piaciuta di più assolutamente era la scuola. Mi alzavo la mattina con la volontà di andarci ed ero contenta di andare a scuola. [G_1_17]

Alla fine, l’Erasmus racchiude tutto quello che è la vita: c’è chi viene e chi se ne va, l’importante è quello che ci hanno lasciato dentro il cuore. [P4]

• (8) Importance of female friendship

The significance of female friendship was a consistent theme that surfaced during our interviews, revealing it as a pivotal means of support for breaking free from their domestic confines. For some participants, the concept of travelling was intertwined with the idea of going on holiday with their group of female friends, aligning with the theme of the travelling friendship group portrayed in films from the 2000s, as previously discussed. As D_8_15 aptly states, the prospect of travelling together with close female friends adds to the allure of the experience.

Io ho, ad esempio, il sogno un giorno di viaggiare per il mondo che probabilmente non è il sogno di tutte le ragazze … Condividiamo anche molti interessi anche molti sogni in realtà ma quanto sarebbe bello andare da qualche parte tutte insieme, fare delle cose insieme … dove andiamo andiamo, l’importante è che stiamo insieme. [D_8_15]

• (9) Covid-19 and economic factors as obstacles for their nomadic educational ambitions

Regrettably, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic constraints posed significant barriers to their nomadic educational ambitions. Participants such as A_5_18 and D_7_17 acknowledged how Covid-19 impacted on their plans, with D_7_17 experiencing disruptions to her intended experience. Moreover, the high costs associated with undergraduate courses in the USA were recognised as a hindrance, highlighting the influence of family economic background and support as discussed earlier in relation to independent nomadic Italian girls. This further emphasises the class privilege that can affect opportunities to study abroad, except for the girls who travelled with funded scholarships, such as those provided by the Erasmus programme.

Allora partiamo dal presupposto che in realtà sarei dovuta partire per un anno all’estero; non sono più partita e quindi in realtà vorrei frequentare l’università lì. La cosa un po’ più difficile sono i costi che sono altissimi in America, veramente tanto. [D_7_17]

Però diciamo che i prezzi sono un po’ alti quindi devo valutare questa cosa. [A_5_18]

The data presented offers a comprehensive insight into the complex factors shaping the travel aspirations of Italian girls. Academic influences, particularly the study of foreign languages, emerge as significant drivers behind their desire to explore other cultures, highlighting the interconnectedness between education and travel aspirations. Additionally, the impact of social media, particularly TikTok, cannot be understated, with exchange student experiences and American media representations playing a pivotal role in shaping participants’ perceptions of travel destinations. However, participants also express a sense of dissatisfaction with the representation of travel experiences in Italian media, indicating a preference for foreign media as it offers more realistic portrayals. Motivations for travel range widely, from a quest for freedom and self-realisation to career prospects and an escape from hometown routines. Female friendship emerges as a crucial factor influencing travel aspirations, thus highlighting the importance of social bonds in shaping travel aspirations. Nevertheless, obstacles such as the Covid-19 pandemic and economic constraints pose significant challenges to participants’ nomadic educational ambitions, stressing the impact of external factors on travel aspirations. Overall, the data shows the multifaceted nature of travel aspirations among Italian girls, influenced by internal and external factors.

Conclusion

This article has investigated the contemporary representation of nomadic Italian girlhood, focusing on young girls who study abroad and their (self)representations. I have argued that this representation is a complex composition of various audio-visual products, and I have sought to analyse this emergent, growing phenomenon. My analysis begins with cinematic representations, particularly examining the turning point in the 2000s, when Italian youth culture embraced the international context offered by MTV Italia. Presently, girl characters gain more independence and autonomy in their representation as nomadic girls, even though their visibility may still be limited by narrative context (for example, Camilla in Baby goes to America as a narrative pretext to leave the series). The influence of new media, particularly SVOD platforms and TikTok, has amplified the phenomenon of edu-tourism, making study abroad experiences more accessible and promoting a culture of exploration and global learning among young Italian girls. However, I have also highlighted that these representations often focus on privileged white heterosexual girls as travellers. These representations are also affected by economic background, since the year abroad is often funded by families, and it has been turned into a product within the edu-tourism sector.

I have conducted a detailed analysis of four individual profiles of girl exchange students on TikTok and found several commonalities, such as the documentarist form, the descriptions of places, and the display of emotions linked to their experiences. These emotional aspects were also clear in the interviews carried out for the project A Girls’ Eye View. In terms of the experience, one of our participants, B_6_17, stated ‘penso che possa soltanto farmi crescere’, referring to the personal growth experienced by girls living abroad while pursuing their ambitions. This aspect is considered significant in this article. While the visibility of nomadic girls in Italian films and TV series may still be limited due to economic reasons, it is gradually increasing, and is moving away from solely romantic dreams and love pursuits towards a focus on personal identity formation and growth as independent travellers stepping out of their comfort zones, aspects which were generally ignored in previous mediatic representations. These representations showcase the active role that these young women play in constructing and portraying their own identities and travel experiences. Their role as cultural agents provides a unique opportunity to explore the evolving dynamics of Italian girlhood, not only from the perspective of traditional media but also from that of digital platforms and social media. This has contributed to shaping the image of the ‘nomadic Italian schoolgirl’, an image that has evolved over the years to become a more dynamic and open representation.

Acknowledgments

This article would not have been possible without the collaboration of the research team of A Girls’ Eye View to which I belong, and which is led by Professor Danielle Hipkins from the University of Exeter, Professor Romana Andò, and Dott. Leonardo Campagna from Rome’s Sapienza University. The demanding work behind this project is only possible thanks to effective teamwork. I am especially indebted to Professor Hipkins who provided me with all the support I needed. I extend my sincere thanks to Dr Clelia Boscolo for her invaluable assistance. Additionally, I express my gratitude to Dr Lauren Jones. I also want to thank the teachers and girls interviewed at the different schools, in particular Professor Francesca Bellantone and the whole Guglielmo Marconi school (Siderno, Reggio Calabria, Italy) for their constant help. Finally, I am grateful to the journal’s editors and anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article has been produced from data extracted from the AHRC-funded project: A Girls’ Eye-View: Girlhood on the Italian Screen Since the 1950s.

Notes

¹ Danielle Hipkins, ‘Why Italian Film Studies Needs a Second Take on Gender’, Italian Studies, 63.2 (2008), 213–34.

² Giovanna Faleschini Lerner and Maria Elena D’Amelio, Italian Motherhood on Screen (New York/London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), p. 8.

³ Maria Elena Alampi, ‘New Italian Cinema of Precarity’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Birmingham, 2022), p. 18.

⁴ Charlotte Ross, ‘Critical Approaches to Gender and Sexuality in Italian Culture and Society’, Italian Studies, 65.2 (2010), 164–77.

⁵ Hipkins, ‘Su di noi’, A Girls’Eye View, 2021 <https://agirlseyeview.exeter.ac.uk/en/about/> [accessed 31 January 2024].

⁶ Hipkins, ‘Why Italian Film Studies Needs a Second Take on Gender’, pp. 213–34.

⁷ Non è la rai, dir. by Gianni Boncompagni (Italia 1 Mediaset, 1991–1995); Beverly Hills 90210, dir. by Darren Star (Torand Productions Inc. and Spelling Television, 1990–2000); Dawson’s Creek, dir. by Kevin Williamson (Outerbank Entertainment, Granville Productions, Columbia TriStar Television, Procter & Gamble Productions, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1998–2003); Sabrina the Teenage Witch, dir. by Nell Scovell (Archie Comics, 1996–2003); Veronica Mars, dir. by Rob Thomas (Silver Pictures Television, Stu Segall Productions Inc. & Warner Bros. Television, 2004–2019).

⁸ The Italian media products for girls will be documented by the publications of the project A Girls’ Eye View: Girlhood on the Italian Screen since the 1950s, expected in 2025.

⁹ Romana Andò, ‘Girls and the Media: Girlhood Studies Agenda and Prospects in Italy’, gender/sexuality/Italy, 4 (2017) <https://www.gendersexualityitaly.com/7-girls-and-the-media-girlhood-studies-agenda-and-prospects-in-italy/> [accessed 20 February 2023].

¹⁰ We conducted interviews during the school year 2021–2022 with a heterogeneous group of 66 girls, encompassing different backgrounds in terms of educational level, socioeconomic status, race and religious beliefs.

¹¹ The term ‘global nomad’ is first used in Greg Richards, ‘The New Global Nomads: Youth Travel in a Globalizing World’, Tourism Recreation Research, 40.3 (2015), 340–52 (p. 340).

¹² Rosi Braidotti, Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in Contemporary Feminist Theory (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994); Jean Baudrillard, America (London: Verso, 1988); Gill Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (London and New York: Continuum, 1980); Dominique Grisoni, Politiques de la philosophie (Paris: Grasset, 1976); Richards, p. 340.

¹³ Richards, p. 341.

¹⁴ Anthony D’Andrea, Global Nomads: Techno and New Age as Transnational Countercultures in Ibiza and Goa (London/New York: Routledge, 2007).

¹⁵ Greg Richards and Julie Wilson, New Horizons in Independent Youth and Student Travel: Summary Report (Amsterdam: International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC), 2003), pp. 1—41, cited in Richards, ‘The New Global Nomads’, p. 343.

¹⁶ Richards, p. 346.

¹⁷ Ibid., pp. 340–41.

¹⁸ Richards and Wilson, New Horizons in Independent Youth and Student Travel, p. 3.

¹⁹ Hipkins, ‘Figlie di papà’?: Adolescent Girls between the Incest Motif and Female Friendship in Contemporary Italian Film Comedy’, The Italianist, 35.2 (2015), 248–71 (p. 249).

²⁰ Alessandro Rossi, ‘Considerazioni sul cinema pandemico’, Il Mulino, 27 May 2021 <https://www.rivistailmulino.it/a/considerazioni-sul-cinema-pandemico> [accessed 3 January 2022].

²¹ Valentina Re, ‘Netflix all’italiana: The Netflix Experience as Narrated by Italian Users’, The Italianist, 42.2 (2022), 289–302 (p. 292).

²² Luca Barra, ‘Media: Oltre le solite storie’, Il Mulino, 8 October 2015 <https://www.rivistailmulino.it/item/2969> [accessed 24 February 2023].

²³ Andò, p. 107.

²⁴ For more information about British ‘girl power’, see Matthew Smith, The Child in British Cinema (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), pp. 109–42.

²⁵ Andrea Vitale, ‘Noi orfani di MTV’, Grado Zero, <https://www.rivistagradozero.com/2022/10/04/noi-orfani-di-mtv/> [accessed 20 July 2023].

²⁶ Fiona Handyside and Kate Taylor-Jones, International Cinema and the Girl: Local Issues, Transnational Contexts (London/New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

²⁷ Andò, p. 104.

²⁸ See, among others, Romana Andò and Danielle Hipkins, ‘Teen Identity, Affect and Sex in Rome. Italian Teen Girl Audiences and the Dissonant Pleasures of Netflix’s Underage Prostitution Drama Baby’, Studi culturali, Rivista quadrimestrale 2 (2022), 207–32; Jessica Harris, ‘Una rivoluzione sul piccolo schermo?: Le donne afroitaliane nelle fiction televisive italiane contemporanee’, Imago. Studi di cinema e media, 19 (2019), 153–64; Julia Heim and Sole Anatrone, Spaghetti Sissies. Queering Italian American Media (London/New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2023).

²⁹ Baby, dir. by Andrea De Sica, Anna Negri and Letizia Lamartire (Netflix Italia, 2018–2020); SKAM Italia, dir. by Ludovico Bassegato (TIMvision, Netflix, Cross Productions, 2018-ongoing).

³⁰ ‘Programma Erasmus, la storia: come, dove, perché è nato’, La Repubblica, 21 July 2018 <https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2018/07/21/programma-erasmus-la-storia-come-dove-perche-e-natoMilano23.html> [accessed 18 February 2023].

³¹ L’auberge espagnole, dir. by Cédric Klapisch (Ce Qui Me Meut, Bac Films, Studio Canal, France 2, Cinéma, Mate Production, Castelao Productions, 2002).

³² ‘Erasmus +’, MIUR <https://www.miur.gov.it/erasmus> [accessed 18 February 2023].

³³ Eugenio Bruno, ‘L’anno all’estero è realtà per 10mila studenti’, Il Sole 24 Ore, 1 October 2019 <https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/l-anno-all-estero-e-realta-10mila-studenti-ACQJmCo> [accessed 20 February 2023]. Brexit has substantially changed the patterns of cooperation within the framework of the EU’s main education programme Erasmus+. In fact, as of 31 December 2020, the UK is out of the Erasmus+ programme. On this see Stefan Zotti, ‘Academic Mobility After Brexit: Erasmus and the UK Post-2020’, European Journal of English Studies, 25.1 (2021), 19–33. The Erasmus programme was replaced by the Touring scheme which presents several issues; see Saroj Kumar Aryal and Adithyan Nair, ‘The Post Brexit Impact on the Students Exchange Program’, Journal of Globalisation Studies, 13.2 (2022), 76–84.

³⁴ Asmara Irfan et al., ‘Role of Social Media in Promoting Education Tourism’, Advanced Science Letters, 23.9 (2017), 8728–31 (p. 8729).

³⁵ Irfan et al., ‘Role of Social Media’, p. 8729; Rico Maggi and Loredana Padurean, ‘Higher Tourism Education in English – Where and Why?’, Tourism Review, 64 (2009), 48–58.

³⁶ ‘XIII rapporto’, Osservatorio Nazionale Intercultura <www.scuoleinternazionali.org/_files/uploads/rapporto_2022_web_1.pdf> [accessed 3 January 2022].

³⁷ Antonella De Gregorio, ‘Studiare all’estero? Roba da ragazze’, Corriere della Sera, 10 October 2018 <https://www.corriere.it/scuola/secondaria/18_ottobre_10/piu-libere-curiose-16-anni-sono-ragazze-far-valigie-studiare-0c5cd246-c880-11e8-81ab-863c582a99f0.shtml> [accessed 18 February 2023].

³⁸ De Gregorio.

³⁹ On the benefits of study abroad and economic access to this experience, see Patricia R. Hetz, Christi L. Dawson, and Theresa A. Cullen, ‘Social Media Use and the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) While Studying Abroad’, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 47.4 (2015), 259–72; Mary E. McMahon, ‘Higher Education in a World Market: A Historical Look at the Global Context of International Study’, Higher Education, 24.4 (1992), 465–82.

⁴⁰ Irfan et al., ‘Role of Social Media’, p. 8730.

⁴¹ Katy Ellen Anderson, ‘.Getting Acquainted with Social Networks and Apps: It is Time to Talk about TikTok’,

⁴² Daniela Jaramillo-Dent, Paloma Contreras-Pulido, and Amor Pérez-Rodríguez, ‘Immigrant Influencers on TikTok: Diverse Microcelebrity Profiles and Algorithmic (In)Visibility’, Media and Communication, 10.1 (2022), 208–21 (p. 209).

⁴³ Pier Luca Santoro ‘Quasi metà degli italiani su internet usa TikTok (che raddoppia gli utenti in un anno)’, La Repubblica, 23 January 2023, <https://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/blog/esplorazioni-digitali/2023/01/23/news/quasi_la_meta_degli_italiani_che_usano_internet_utilizzano_tiktok-384710413/> [accessed 20 February 2023].

⁴⁴ Andò.

⁴⁵ Andreas Schellewald, ‘Communicative Forms on TikTok: Perspectives from Digital Ethnography’, International Journal of Communication, 15 (2021), 1437–57.

⁴⁶ Vilde Schanke Sundet, ‘“Youthification” of Drama Through Real-time Storytelling: A Production Study of Blank and the Legacy of SKAM’, The International Journal of Television Studies, 16.2 (2021), 145–62.

⁴⁷ Clueless, dir. by Amy Heckerling (Paramount Pictures, 1995).

⁴⁸ Rosalind Gill and Shani Ogard, ‘The Amazing Bounce-Backable Woman: Resilience and the Psychological Turn in Neoliberalism’, Sociological Research Online, 23.2 (2018), 477–95 (p. 480); Peter Dwyer and Johanna Wyn, Youth, Education and Risk: Facing the Future, 1st ed. (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 128–29.

⁴⁹ See Sara D. Rocks, ‘Stitched Together: What We Learn from Secret Stories in Public Media’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of South Florida, 2022), p. 5.

⁵⁰ Ibid., p. 5.

⁵¹ High School Musical, dir. by Kenny Ortega (Disney Channel Original Movie, 2006).

⁵² Shellewald, ‘Communicative Forms on TikTok’, p. 1451.

⁵³ Participant 4 (P4) was suggested by the Guglielmo Marconi School; they were assigned a different code as they were interviewed as an external voluntary contributor to the article. Consequently, they are excluded from the data represented in the two graphs extracted from the project’s interview sample in this article.

⁵⁴ The distinction between technical schools and licei could undoubtedly benefit from further examination, particularly from a class-based viewpoint. Future publications of the A Girls’ Eye View project will delve into this matter, as conducting an analysis of the class dynamics within these educational institutions can offer insights into the socio-economic backgrounds of the students enrolled in each type of school in Italy.

⁵⁵ Anita Harris, Future Girls. Young Women in the Twenty-First Century (New York: Routledge, 2004), p. 46.

⁵⁶ Harris, Future Girls, p. 46.

⁵⁷ Dwyer and Wyn, Youth, Education and Risk, pp. 128–29.