Postfeminism

Postfeminism(alternatively rendered aspost-feminism) is a term popularized by themass mediato describe an alleged decrease in support forfeminismfrom the1990sonwards.^[1]^[2]^[3]It can be considered a critical way of understanding the changed relations between feminism,femininityandpopular culture.The term is sometimes confused with subsequent feminisms such asfourth-wave feminism,postmodern feminism,^[4]andxenofeminism.

Research conducted atKent State Universityin the 2000’s narrowed postfeminism to four main claims: support for feminism declined; women began hating feminism and feminists; society had already attained social equality, thus making feminism outdated; and the label "feminist" was disliked due to negative stigma.^[1]^[5]

History of the term

In 1919, a journal^[which?]was launched in which "female literary radicals" stated"'we're interested in people now—not in men and women'",that" moral, social, economic, and political standards 'should not have anything to do with sex'",that it would" be 'pro-woman without being anti-man'",and that" their stance [is called] 'post-feminist'".^[6]

One of the earliest modern uses of the term was in Susan Bolotin's 1982 article "Voices of the Post-Feminist Generation", published inNew York Times Magazine.This article was based on a number of interviews with women who largely agreed with the goals of feminism, but did not identify as feminists.^[7]

In the 1990s, the term became popular in academia and the media and was used in both complimentary and dismissive ways.^[8]Since then there has been confusion surrounding the intended meaning of "post" in the context of "postfeminism". "Post" offers to situate feminism in history by proclaiming the end of this history. It then confirms feminist history as a thing of the past. However, some claim that it is impossible that feminism could be aligned with "post" when it is unthinkable, as it would be the same as calling the current world a post racist, post-classist, and post-sexist society.^[8]

Contemporarily, the term postfeminist is still used to refer to young women "who are thought to benefit from the women's movement through expanded access to employment and education and new family arrangements but at the same time do not push for further political change", Pamela Aronson, Professor of Sociology, asserts.^[9]

Other uses

Toril Moiused the term inSexual/Textual Politics(1985) to advocate a feminism that would deconstruct the binary between equality-based or liberal feminism and difference-based or radical feminism.^[8]

InLacan and Postfeminism(2000), author Elizabeth Wright identified a "positive reading" of postfeminism that, instead of indicating an overcoming of feminism, refers topost-structuralistcritiques of second-wave feminism.^[10]From a similar perspective,Diane Davisaffirmed that postfeminism is just a continuation of what first and second wave feminisms want.^[11]

InFeminism: A Beginner’s Guide (2010),Sally Scholz referred to thefourth waveas postfeminism.^[12]

Works

In her 1994 bookWho Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women,Christina Hoff Sommersconsiders much of modern academicfeminist theoryand the feminist movement to begynocentric.She labels this "gender feminism"and proposes"equity feminism"—an ideology that aims for full civil and legal equality. She argues that while the feminists she designates as gender feminists advocate preferential treatment and portray women as victims, equity feminism provides a viable alternative form of feminism.^[13]These descriptions and her other work have caused Hoff Sommers to be described as an antifeminist by some other feminists.^[14]^{[self-published source]}^[15]

Some contemporary feminists, such asKatha PollittorNadine Strossen,consider feminism to hold simply that "women are people." Views that separate the sexes rather than unite them are considered by these writers to besexistrather thanfeminist.^[16]^[17]

Relation to pop culture

Postfeminism has been seen in media as a form of feminism that accepts popular culture instead of rejecting it, as was typical withsecond wavefeminists.^[18]Many popular shows from the 1990s and early 2000s are considered to be postfeminist works because they tend to focus on women who are empowered by popular cultural representations of other women. Because of this, postfeminists claimed that such media was more accessible and inclusive than past representations of women in the media; however, some feminists believe that postfeminist works focus too much on white, middle-class women.^[18]Such shows and movies includeThe Devil Wears Prada,Xena: Warrior Princess,The Princess Diaries,Buffy the Vampire SlayerandSex and the City.Many of these works also involve women monitoring their appearance as a form of self-management, be it in the form of dieting, exercise, or—most popularly—makeover scenes.^[19]

Postfeminist literature—also known aschick lit—has been criticized by feminists for similar themes and notions. However, the genre is also praised for being confident, witty, and complicated, bringing in feminist themes, revolving around women, and reinventing standards of fiction.^[20]Examples can also be found inPretty Little Liars.The novels explore the complexity of girlhood in a society that assumes gender equality, which is in line with postfeminism. The constant surveillance and self policing of the series' protagonists depicts the performance of heterosexuality, hyperfemininity, and critical gaze forced upon girls. The materialism and performance from the girls inPretty Little Liarscritiques the notion that society has full gender equality, and thus offers a critique of postfeminism.^[21]

Criticism

Susan Faludiargues inBacklash: The Undeclared War Against American Women(1991) that a backlash against second-wave feminism had successfully re-defined feminism through its terms. It was constructed by the media and, without reliable evidence, pointedwomen's liberation movementas the source of many of the problems alleged to be plaguing women in the late 1980s. According to her, this type of backlash is a historical trend, recurring when it appeared that women had made substantial gains in their efforts to obtain equal rights.^[22]

Similarly,Amelia Jonesclaims that the postfeminist texts which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s portrayed second-wave feminism as a monolithic entity and were overly generalizing in their criticism.^[23]

Angela McRobbiesuggests that adding the prefixpost-tofeminismundermined the strides that feminism made in achieving equality for everyone, including women. In McRobbie's opinion, postfeminism gave the impression that equality has been achieved and feminists could now focus on something else entirely. She believed that postfeminism was most clearly seen on so-called feminist media products, such asBridget Jones's Diary,Sex and the City,andAlly McBeal.Female characters like Bridget Jones andCarrie Bradshawclaimed to be liberated and clearly enjoy their sexuality, but what they were constantly searching for was the one man who would make everything worthwhile.^[24]

In an article on print jewelry advertisements in Singapore, Michelle Lazar analyses how the construction of 'postfeminist' femininity has given rise to aneoliberalhybrid "pronounced sense of self or 'I-dentity'". She states that the increasing number of female wage earners has led to advertisers updating their image of women but that "through this hybrid postfeminist I-dentity, advertisers have found a way to reinstall a new normativity that coexists with the status quo".^[25]Postfeminist ads and fashion have been criticized for using femininity as a commodity veiled as liberation.^[26]

References

^^a ^bHall, Elaine J.; Rodriguez, Marnie Salupo (2003). "The Myth of Postfeminism".Gender and Society.17(6): 878–902.doi:10.1177/0891243203257639.JSTOR 3594675.S2CID 145741088.
^Abbott, Pamela; Tyler, Melissa; Wallace, Claire (2005).An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives(3rd ed.). Routledge. p.xi.ISBN 978-1-134-38245-3.
^Mateo–Gomez, Tatiana (2009). "Feminist Criticism". In Richter, William L. (ed.).Approaches to Political Thought.Rowman & Littlefield. p.279.ISBN 978-1-4616-3656-4.
^Feng, Yang (2009).Studies On Contemporary Chinese Women Development.Renmin Press Beijing, People's Publishing House, PRC.ISBN 978-605-86254-2-6.
^Abbott, Pamela; Tyler, Melissa; Wallace, Claire (2006).An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives.Routledge. p. 52.ISBN 9781134382453.
^Cott, Nancy F.,The Grounding of Modern Feminism(New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, [2d printing?] pbk 1987 (ISBN 0-300-04228-0)) (clothISBN 0-300-03892-5), p. 282 (author prof. American studies & history, Yale Univ.) (book is largely on U.S. feminism in 1910s–1920s) (n. 23 (at end) omitted) (n. 23 (in full): "23.Judy1:1 (Jun. 1919); 2:3 (1919), n.p., SL. "(" SL "in small capitals & abbreviating" The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts ", perid.,p. 285 (Abbreviations Used in Notes (Libraries)))).
^Rosen, Ruth. The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America. New York: Viking, 2000, 275, 337.
^^a ^b ^cKavka, Misha (2002). "Feminism, Ethics, and History, or What is the" Post "in Postfeminism?".Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature.21(1): 29–44.doi:10.2307/4149214.JSTOR 4149214.
^Aronson, Pamela (2003). "Feminists or" Postfeminists "?: Young Women's Attitudes toward Feminism and Gender Relations".Gender and Society.17(6): 903–22.doi:10.1177/0891243203257145.S2CID 146792123.
^Wright, Elizabeth,Lacan and Postfeminism(Icon Books, 2000),ISBN 978-1-84046-182-4
^Davis, Debra Diane,Breaking Up [at] Totality: A Rhetoric of Laughter(Carbondale: Southern Ill. Univ. Press, 2000 (ISBN 0-8093-2228-5)), p. 141 n. 8 (brackets in title so in original) (author asst. prof. rhetoric, Univ. of Iowa).
^Scholz, Sally J. (2010).Feminism: a beginner's guide.Oneworld beginner's guide. Oxford: Oneworld. p. 7.ISBN 978-1-85168-712-1.
^Hoff Sommers, Christina, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1995)
^Flood, Michael (7 July 2004). "Backlash: Angry men's movements", in Stacey Elin Rossi, ed.: The Battle and Backlash Rage On. N.p.: XLibris, 273.ISBN 1-4134-5934-X
^"Uncovering the Right—Female Anti-Feminism for Fame and Profit".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-12-15.Retrieved2007-12-21.
^Pollitt, Katha,Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism(Vintage, 1995)ISBN 978-0-679-76278-2
^Strossen, Nadine,Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights(Prentice Hall & IBD, 1995),ISBN 978-0-684-19749-4
^^a ^bFeasey, Rebecca (7 August 2010). "Charmed: Why Teen Television Appeals to Women".Journal of Popular Film and Television.34(1): 2–9.doi:10.3200/JPFT.34.1.2-9.S2CID 194032693.
^"Post feminism in popular culture: A potential for critical resistance?".Politics and Culture.2009-11-09. Archived fromthe originalon 2021-05-18.Retrieved2018-04-17.
^"What is chick-lit? | Electronic Book Review".electronicbookreview.Archived fromthe originalon 2018-04-15.Retrieved2018-04-17.
^Whitney, Sarah (11 November 2017)."Kisses, Bitches: Pretty Little Liars Frames Postfeminism's Adolescent Girl".Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature.36(2): 353–377.doi:10.1353/tsw.2017.0026.ISSN 1936-1645.S2CID 148901816.
^Faludi, Susan,Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women(Three Rivers Press, 2006)
^Jones, Amelia. "Postfeminism, Feminist Pleasures, and Embodied Theories of Art," New Feminist Criticism: Art, Identity, Action, Eds. Joana Frueh, Cassandra L. Langer and Arlene Raven. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. 16–41, 20.
^McRobbie, Angela(2004). "Post-feminism and popular culture".Feminist Media Studies.4(3): 255–264.doi:10.1080/1468077042000309937.S2CID 56017452.
^Lazar, Michelle (2014). "Recuperating feminism, reclaiming femininity: Hybrid postfeminist I-dentity in consumer advertisements".Gender and Language.8(2): 205–224.doi:10.1558/genl.v8i2.205.
^"AMERICANA:" A Critique of Post-feminism "by Zsófia Kulcsár".americanaejournal.hu.Retrieved2018-04-17.