The

"Post-feminism", what does it mean?

Post feminism is an emerging idea that has gained attention in the last two decades. According to Chandler and Munday (2016), post feminism is; “A discourse popularized by the mass media in the 1990s reflecting a reaction against the feminist theories of the 1970s and 1980s, often on the basis that the ‘battle of the sexes’ is over. In popular rhetoric, a shift from ‘women’s lib’ to ‘girl power’. It is characterized by an (essentialist) emphasis on femininity as well as on ‘the career woman’. The feminist notion of women as the passive victims of patriarchy is rejected: for instance by the American post-feminists Naomi Wolf (b.1962) and Camille Paglia (b.1947).”

What does it look like?

North America

Post feminism is often represented as the “modern” feminism, and often attempts to move away from blaming men and society, but instead focuses on empowering and praising women as equals to achieve in society. This idea of post feminism, and working to disassociate the ideals of feminism from the stereotypes of “man hating”, was also something that was promoted by the student group WASS. WASS works to raise awareness about the “important issues” today, in a post-feminist world (Houvouras & Carter, 2008). They bring attention to current issues such as anti-sexism and creative an understanding for both men and woman as to why feminism is relevant to their lives. WASS tries to create unique and current ways to engage students, I order to move passed the sometimes negative connotations that feminists are a bunch of “loony raving feminists” (Houvouras & Carter, 2008). One of their campaigns was even called “Feminism Helps Men”, a title that would never have been found when women were fighting for the basic rights such as driving a car, working, or voting. Now that there is more comfort and confidence of woman in society, this something that can be said and is something that both men and woman are expected to pay attention to. It has been said that today, feminism is “trendy” and is something that industries, such as the fashion industry, are leveraging (Fury, 2014).

Other parts of the world

When thinking about this world of post-feminism, we do have to consider the position in society and the world that we sit in. Although we live in a world of these “post-feminism” ideas and opportunities, that is not always the case. For example, in Saudi Arabia, woman are still not granted the privilege to drive. Many reasons have been given for this ban, from it being inappropriate and would lead to promiscuity, or that it “affects the ovaries” (The Economist, 2013). This is something that may sound absurd to people living in a developed country, but it is a reality that these women still face, along with many other things that make them second class citizens.

How did we get here?

This world of “post-feminism” is not something that happened without the hard work and dedication of women for hundreds of years. The Woman’s Rights Movement began in 1848, and we are still working for complete equality (Corbin, 1908). Since the beginning of the Woman’s Rights Movement, steps were slowly made in the right direction. It was in 1921 that all women in Canada (excluding aboriginal and Asian woman) were allowed to vote in the federal election (Purvis & Holton, 1999). This may seem like a small step, but it was a monumental victory in the story of women’s rights, as it helped to classify women’s opinions on who governed their country, to be equally as important as men’s.

Is Post Feminism real? Where do we go now?

Many will argue that we have not yet arrived at a “Post Feminism” world, and will not until there is no more inequalities to be fought for, and no need for the use of any sort of feminism, just humanism. There are still proven disadvantages to being a woman, one of the most highly debated being the still-prevalent wage gap. The wage gap has shrunken considerable (from a relatively stable 60% until the 1980s, to 79% in 2014) (Blau & Kahn, 2917). This can potentially be attributed to a number of factors, including but not limited to, maternity leave, working hours, and childcare needs. In addition to the wage gap, there are things like harassment in the workplace, a particularly hot topic that has recently made headlines. This is one of the many other subjects that self-identifying feminists insist needs to be addressed in order to achieve real equality in society.

References

Corbin, Caroline Elizabeth Fairfield. Woman's Rights in America; A Retrospect of Sixty Years, 1848-1908. 5th ed., n.p., [1908]. Nineteenth Century Collections Online, tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/5bhHq7. Accessed Dec. 2017.

Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, vol 55(3), pages 789-865 FURY, A., & ALEXANDER FURY. (05/26/2014). Independent (london, england : 1986): FEMINIST LABELS, https://global-factiva-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ga/default.aspn

Houvouras, S., & Carter, J. (2008). The F Word: College Students' Definitions of a Feminist. Sociological Forum, 23(2), 234-256. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/20110263

Ovarian issue; saudi arabia's women drivers. (2013, Oct 26). The Economist, 409, 58-n/a. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1445879223?accountid=14656

Purvis, June; Holton, Sandra. (1999). Votes for Women. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved December 2017, from <http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=6668>

Sources: Chandler, D., & Munday, R.post-feminism. In A Dictionary of Media and Communication. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 Nov. 2017, from http://www.oxfordreference.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/view/10.1093/acref/9780191800986.001.0001/acref-9780191800986-e-2091

Wayne, T. K. (Ed.). (2011). Feminist writings from ancient times to the modern world : a global sourcebook and history. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com-