Postfeminism

Last updated October 07, 2024

Postfeminism (alternatively rendered as post-feminism) is an alleged decrease in popular support for feminism from the 1990s onwards.^[1]^[2]^[3] It can be considered a critical way of understanding the changed relations between feminism, femininity and popular culture. The term is sometimes confused with subsequent feminisms such as fourth-wave feminism, postmodern feminism,^[4] and xenofeminism.

Research conducted at Kent State University in the 2000s 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declined; women began hating feminism and feminists; society had already attained social equality, thus making feminism outdated; and the label "feminist" has a negative stigma.^[1]^[5]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 in New 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 Moi used the term in Sexual/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]

In Lacan and Postfeminism (2000), author Elizabeth Wright identified a "positive reading" of postfeminism that, instead of indicating an overcoming of feminism, refers to post-structuralist critiques of second-wave feminism.^[10] From a similar perspective, Diane Davis affirmed that postfeminism is just a continuation of what first and second wave feminisms want.^[11]

In Feminism: A Beginner’s Guide (2010), Sally Scholz referred to the fourth wave as postfeminism.^[12]

Works

In her 1994 book Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women , Christina Hoff Sommers considers much of modern academic feminist theory and the feminist movement to be gynocentric. 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 as Katha Pollitt or Nadine 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 be sexist rather than feminist.^[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 with second wave feminists.^[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 include The Devil Wears Prada, Xena: Warrior Princess, The Princess Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sex 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 as chick 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 in Pretty 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 in Pretty Little Liars critiques the notion that society has full gender equality, and thus offers a critique of postfeminism.^[21]

Criticism

Susan Faludi argues in Backlash: 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, pointed women's liberation movement as 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 Jones claims 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 McRobbie suggests that adding the prefix post- to feminism undermined 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 as Bridget Jones's Diary, Sex and the City , and Ally McBeal . Female characters like Bridget Jones and Carrie Bradshaw claimed 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 a neoliberal hybrid "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]

Related Research Articles

Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal—they prioritize the male point of view—and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women.

The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality as a natural and healthy part of the human experience and emphasizing the importance of personal sovereignty, safer sex practices, and consensual sex. It covers every aspect of sexual identity including gender expression, orientation, relationship to the body, relationship-style choice, and reproductive rights. Sex-positivity is "an attitude towards human sexuality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally healthy and pleasurable, encouraging sexual pleasure and experimentation." It challenges societal taboos and aims to promote healthy and consensual sexual activities. The sex-positive movement also advocates for comprehensive sex education and safe sex as part of its campaign. The movement generally makes no moral distinctions among types of sexual activities, regarding these choices as matters of personal preference.

Christina Marie Hoff Sommers is an American author and philosopher. Specializing in ethics, she is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Sommers is known for her critique of contemporary feminism. Her work includes the books Who Stole Feminism? (1994) and The War Against Boys (2000). She also hosts a video blog called The Factual Feminist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third-wave feminism</span> Feminist movement, 1990s–2020s

Third-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, Gen X third-wave feminists born in the 1960s and 1970s embraced diversity and individualism in women, and sought to redefine what it meant to be a feminist. The third wave saw the emergence of new feminist currents and theories, such as intersectionality, sex positivity, vegetarian ecofeminism, transfeminism, and postmodern feminism. According to feminist scholar Elizabeth Evans, the "confusion surrounding what constitutes third-wave feminism is in some respects its defining feature."

Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power in 1991. It was then popularized in the mainstream by the British girl group Spice Girls in the mid-1990s. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the Spice Girls' usage of "girl power" was one of the defining cultural touchstones that shaped the Millennial generation, particularly during their childhood in the 1990s.

Victim feminism is a term that has been used by some conservative postfeminist writers such as Katie Roiphe and Naomi Wolf to critique forms of feminist activism which they see as reinforcing the idea that women are weak or lacking in agency.

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Lipstick feminism is a variety of feminism that seeks to embrace traditional concepts of femininity, including the sexual power of women, alongside traditional feminist ideas. The concept emerged within the third-wave as a response to ideals created by previous movements, where women felt that they could not both be feminine and a feminist.

Equity feminism is a form of liberal feminism that advocates the state's equal treatment of women and men without challenging inequalities perpetuated by employers, educational and religious institutions, and other elements of society. The concept has been discussed since the 1980s. Equity feminism has been defined and classified as a kind of classically liberal or libertarian feminism, in contrast with social feminism, difference feminism, gender feminism, and equality feminism.

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<i>Who Stole Feminism?</i> 1994 book by Christina Hoff Sommers

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Rosalind Clair Gill is a British sociologist and feminist cultural theorist. She is currently Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at City, University of London. Gill is author or editor of ten books, and numerous articles and chapters, and her work has been translated into Chinese, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.

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The following is a timeline of the history of feminism.

Fourth-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began around the early 2010s and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women, the use of internet tools, and intersectionality. The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and the marginalization of women in society.

References

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↑ 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.
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↑ 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)) (cloth ISBN 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. Judy 1:1 (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", per id., p. 285 (Abbreviations Used in Notes (Libraries)))).
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↑ 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 from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
↑ 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
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↑ 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.
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↑ 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.
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