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![]() ![]() In Duff’s case, this included her fear and frustration towards a real-life stalker who was eventually sentenced to four months in jail for the crime. Related | In Bed With Perez Hilton, Per His Request Dignity questions what happens when you get there. This is the girl who memorably screamed “I want a bra!” on Lizzie McGuire, reflecting the eagerness of many a tween to grow into adult bodies and modes of expression. To those who couldn’t relate, she may have come off as more banal than her contemporaries in her tween days, as an idol parents could co-sign. Largely co-written by Duff and frequent collaborator Kara DioGuardi (Google her credits to see a list of generation-shaping hits), Dignity reflects a 20-year-old confused about the difficulties of love, cautious about the risks of vulnerability and a desire to “not be like other girls.” Duff’s brand of apple pie Americana had always been the most geared towards “relatability” among her peers. The fizzy, edgy brand of production deployed on Dignity would become the standard in following years, and you can hear it in everything from mainstream efforts like Lady Gaga’s The Fame to more cult projects like Heidi Montag’s Superficial. ![]() Released just months before Spears’ Blackout in 2007, Dignity similarly defines electro-pop’s revival and the pop stars that would emulate Duff’s path. Her evolution from child star to entertainment industry young adult was smooth, as Duff largely evaded the scandals and vices her successors would bear. Dignity was a dance-pop transition into the mature world of moral complexity, partying and sex, and Duff’s music and public image often began to reflect these themes.ĭignity was arguably the first time we saw a born and bred multimedia Disney star (Spears and Christina Aguilera excluded, given they were not banner stars for the network nor did they pursue their music careers under the Disney umbrella) make the public transition into adulthood. Her pop-rock era signified tweenaged innocence and accessibility (“So Yesterday” or “Why Not”), a side effect of our cultural associations of acoustic guitar sounds with rawness or authenticity. The “good girl gone bad” is a common trope in pop stardom, but Duff put particular sonic borders on the Before and After. Dignity marked yet another often duplicated first: it was the first pop-rock to dance-pop transition by a Disney starlet, which would become a common way to signify said star’s impending adulthood (see: Cyrus’ “Can’t Be Tamed,” Lovato’s “Neon Lights” and subsequent album with HERE YOU GOOOOOOOO! 1 on the Billboard 200, leading the pop-rock charge among the Radio Disney contingent. Her second (first non-Christmas) album, Metamorphosis, went No. ![]() Related | Inside Lindsay Lohan’s Enduring Cult of CelebrityĪ woman of many firsts, Duff was the Disney pop star prototype and the reason Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez exist. Chock-full of robotic arm movements, it’s an accessible dance for the rhythmically challenged (and perhaps a brilliant deconstruction of pop star expectations in the wake of dancing Britney Spears-alikes that flooded the market of the time). “With Love,” a single off her fifth album Dignity, has gone viral on TikTok for the lackluster (or interpretive, depending on who you ask) choreography Duff deployed when performing the song live. ![]()
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