At what price fame: A comparative analysis of how men and women experience fame

This dissertation is an exploratory study of how the experience of a famous role-identity affects men's and women's sense of achievement in their occupations and in their public and private interactions. The study is a comparative analysis of the experiences of thirty male and female stars in performance occupations, located in four cultural industries--radio, TV news, TV acting, and rock music. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, the researcher explored gender differences in male and female performers' aspirations, explanations and understandings of their success, the nature of their frontstage (public) interactions with fans and anonymous others, the nature of their backstage (private) interactions with family and intimate others (Goffman 1959), and characteristics of the experience of fame and stardom that might contribute to the experience of role-person merger (Turner 1978). The most significant gender differences in this study were found in the ways that experiencing a famous role-identity may affect backstage relationships with family and intimate others, particularly in the challenges of balancing high-profile careers and family lives (for women--but not men--with families); the ways in which male performers perceived that their fame affected their children's lives; the negative effects that a famous role-identity may have in relationships with spouses and significant others; and difficulties in finding "suitable" dating partners, particularly for women.