In Chapters 7 and 8, Gilbert examines the work of women artists to explore Feminism’s Push for Diverse and Authentic Representations of Women. Throughout Chapter 7, Gilbert lays out the ways that “the most popular pastime across culture and entertainment was watching and looking at women: on reality television, in pornography, in music videos, in magazines, in movies—all genres that were melding and merging and borrowing from one another with unnerving ease” (175). Instead of being free to make the art they wanted, Gilbert argues, women were the dehumanized subjects of it. Gilbert’s allusions to reality television series and gossip magazines ground her argument in concrete examples. Her references to female recording artists like Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, and Amy Winehouse give her overarching commentary human faces. Spears and Winehouse in particular were widely criticized for wasting their talent with vices and hedonism, yet the abuse they suffered at the hands of the media was rarely taken into account.

Gilbert’s empathetic authorial tone acts as a direct counter to “the cruelty and disdain expressed toward women during the aughts” (179). In Chapter 8, Gilbert frames the work of women artists as a rebellious force and an essential way for women to reclaim distorted media representations of their experience. She cites the work of filmmaker and comedian Lena Dunham and writer Sheila Heti as examples of artists who used their work to expose mainstream culture’s treatment of women. These multimedia references challenge the reader to see female artists and characters in a new light. 

In Girl on Girl, Gilbert intentionally presents women as complex human individuals, rather than figures of scorn “available for critique and public dissection, from teenagers suffering mental health crises to the first female candidate for president” (180). She creates room for each woman’s dichotomies and contradictions and carefully attends to the scope of their artistic works and cultural contributions. This journalistic approach represents Gilbert’s own form of feminism. For example, Dunham has received notable criticism for her work and for her self-exposure within it. Instead of adding to this negativity, Gilbert analyzes Dunham’s projects with the same respectful care that her male counterparts’ work has been guaranteed. She treats Dunham and her art with dignity, formally enacting her belief that women must support other women. Creating a culture of positive female relationships offers organic opportunities for diverse and authentic representation across the media.

Gilbert compares Dunham and Heti’s work to highlight the ways these artists have been fighting for more accurate explorations of womanhood in the media. Gilbert acknowledges all the dissent Dunham and Heti have met, and affirms the ways they’ve each attempted to change the culture for the better. Their writing, she holds, is “contouring reality to try to make space for something else and to imagine all the ways in which things could be, somehow, different” (230). Despite the criticism they’ve received, both Dunham and Heti have continued making their art. They have continued to use their voices, mediums, and platforms to offer alternate versions of the female experience amidst a culture that actively disparages and disadvantages their sex.