Post Feminism
Post feminism is a term used to describe a wide spectrum of stances in reaction to feminism since the 1980s. Post feminism has no fixed definition or meaning; it can be rather contradictory sometimes. Post feminism is a newest recycled form of female empowerment. Root values of post feminism include: independence, individual choice, sexual pleasure, and the renewed focus on the female body. Post feminism has also played a critical role in our understanding of the changed relations between feminism, popular culture and femininity. From an academic perspective, post feminism sits between post modernism and post colonialism, a commonality made clear as both paradigms are concerned with breaking away from binary thinking. Post feminism celebrates ‘difference’, which becomes a positive, instead of made taboo.
Interpretations of Post-Feminism
Post feminism has become one of the most fundamental yet contested notions in the vocabulary of feminist studies because it has so many different interpretations among different scholars. In literature, there are three dominant yet diverging visions of post feminism. Firstly, post feminism can be interpreted as a political position regarding the feminist confrontation with difference. Secondly, post feminism can be interpreted as a historical shift within feminism. Finally, post feminism can be viewed as a backlash against second-wave feminism where a celebration of neoconservative, traditional values becomes prominent.
Post feminism as a critique on second-wave feminism
Second wave feminism is used to describe feminist activism from the 1960s to mid-1980s.[1] Some scholars consider post feminism to be a critique on second-wave feminism. The second wave of feminist thought is a ‘hyphenated feminism’ containing several different theoretical frameworks (ex: liberal, radical, Marxist, psychoanalytical, etc…), united by a commitment to sameness, equality, universal action, sisterhood and scientific understanding.[2] Post feminism critiques especially second wave’s binary thinking and essentialism, its vision on sexuality and its perception of the relationship between femininity and feminism.
Post feminism: re-visiting the feminine/feminist relationship
Central to second wave thought is the idea that femininity and feminism are oppositional, mutually exclusive and that the adoption of one of these identities (feminine or feminist) can only be achieved at the expense of the other. Also, second wave endorses ‘body politics’ which implicates a rejection of practices that draw attention to differences between male and female bodies, refusing to shave the legs and underarms and rejecting cosmetics and revealing, form-fitting clothing as they are a creation of patriarchy.
Post feminism critiques these body politics and re-visits the relationship between feminism and femininity, establishing a link between previously opposed alternatives, carving out a new subjective space for women, allowing them to be feminine and feminist at the same time without losing their integrity or dignity.[3] The conventional manners of articulating femininity – such as lipstick, high heels or glamour – do not conflict with female power anymore. We can even say that one of the most striking aspects of post feminist media culture is its preoccupation with the body, which implies a huge contradiction with earlier representational practices. It appears that in our current cultural state, femininity is defined as a bodily property rather than a social, structural of psychological one. Possession of a ‘sexy body’ is represented as a woman’s key source of identity.[4]
Post feminism as opposing binary thinking
By focusing on equality, the basic similarity between the sexes, universalism and sisterhood, second wave employs binary (or 'two-way’) thinking, such as man/woman or good/bad, and champions a fixed identity of the female, employing a monolithic conception of ‘woman'.[5] Post feminism, like post modernism, offers a critique on the modernist, enlightened model of second-wave feminism. This critique is mainly articulated by post feminists’ focus on ‘difference’, anti-essentialism and hybridism, where fixed binary categories are pierced and multiple identities are promoted. This plethora of identities operates through the generation of contradictions in someone’s concept of self-feeling.[6] Post feminism claims and promotes that every woman should recognize her own personal mix of identities. This claim contradicts the universal identity that was often promoted by feminists and that fits within a neo-liberal individualistic society with its emphasis on flexibility. In popular culture, this stance against binary thinking is articulated by for instance the increased attention for themes as androgyny, queerness, …
Second wave feminism is often critiqued for being too ‘white’, too ‘straight’, too ‘liberal’ and thus ignoring the needs of women from minority groups and cultures. Post feminism, on the other hand, linked with post structuralism and post colonialism, has been referred to as ‘women of colour feminism’. “In the process, post feminism facilitates a wide, pluralistic conception of the application of feminism, and addresses the demands of marginalized, diasporic and colonized cultures for a non-hegemonic feminism capable of giving voice to local, indigenous and post-colonial feminisms”.[7]
Post feminism as sexually liberated
Second-wave feminists stand for a rather negative perspective on sexuality and focus mostly on the potential dangers and disadvantages of sexual encounters for women. They focus on themes such as sexual transmittable diseases, sexual abuse and the sexual objectification of women in the media. Post feminism, on the other hand, rejects these rigidly cynical perspectives and instead promotes the fundamental female right of sexual pleasure and fun.
Post feminists point to the importance of sexual pleasure, freedom and choice. In post feminist discourse, emphasis is placed on sexual subjectification, as women are portrayed as active, desiring sexual beings. Perfect examples are the female protagonists in the television series ‘Sex and the City’. The political and the critical cannot be separated as the demand for more female sexual freedom is linked with the critique on the early and rigid conceptualisations of female sexuality
References
- ↑ Crapanzano, T. (2012). Feminist theory: second wave. In M. Kosut (Ed.), Encyclopedia of gender in media. (pp. 103-106). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.4135/9781452218540.n44
- ↑ Gamble, S. (2001). The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Post feminism. London and New York: Routledge
- ↑ Genz, S. (2006) ‘Third Way/ve. The politics of post feminism,’ Feminist Theory, 7(3): 333-353
- ↑ Gill, R. (2007) ‘Post feminism Media Culture. Elements of a sensibility,’ European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(2): 147-166
- ↑ Genz, S. (2006) ‘Third Way/ve. The politics of post feminism,’ Feminist Theory, 7(3): 333-353
- ↑ Featherstone, M. (1996) Consumer culture and postmodernism. London: Sage
- ↑ Murray, G. (1997) ‘Agonize, Don’t Organize: A Critique of Post feminism,’ Current Sociology, 45: 37-47