Gill (390-400)

INTRODUCTION

  • Discussion of postfeminism as a significant and contested term in feminist cultural analysis.
  • Recent debates span history and exclusions of feminism, gender consciousness of young women, and ideological nature of contemporary media that have crystallized in disagreements about postfeminism.
  • The term postfeminism is overloaded with multiple meanings, similar to postmodernism.
  • Nearly two decades of argument yield no consensus on the definition of postfeminism.
  • The term is used variously: as a theoretical position, as feminism following the Second Wave, or as a regressive political stance.
  • Disagreements about postfeminism are seen not necessarily as a problem (but potentially as a sign of vibrant debate).
  • Challenges include:
    • Difficulty in outlining rigid features of postfeminism.
    • Complications in applying modern ideas to cultural or media analysis.
  • Essential questions:
    • What makes a media text postfeminist?
    • What features are necessary for labeling something as postfeminist?
  • Aim of this chapter: to propose a practical understanding of postfeminism useful for analyzing contemporary cultural products.
  • Suggests that postfeminism is best characterized as a sensibility manifest across various media products.

UNPACKING POSTFEMINIST MEDIA CULTURE

  • The chapter argues for understanding postfeminism as a sensibility, emphasizing contradictory narratives that weave feminist and anti-feminist themes.
  • Identified stable features of postfeminist discourse include:
    • Femininity as a bodily property.
    • Transition from objectification to subjectification.
    • Emphasis on self-surveillance, monitoring, and discipline.
    • Focus on individualism, choice, and empowerment.
    • Dominance of a makeover paradigm.
    • Assertion of natural sexual differences.
    • Marked sexualization of culture.
    • Focus on consumerism and commodification of difference.
  • These themes exist alongside continuing inequalities related to race, class, age, sexuality, and disability.

FEMININITY AS A BODILY PROPERTY

  • Postfeminist media culture obsessively focuses on women’s bodies, framing femininity primarily as a bodily property.
  • Shift away from previous representations where femininity was characterized by social roles such as nurturing or motherhood.
  • A ‘sexy body’ is portrayed as women’s primary source of identity.
  • The body is seen as both a source of power and a site of constant scrutiny and control, requiring ongoing surveillance and consumer expenditure to meet beauty standards.
  • Media representation of women's bodies includes:
    • Celebrity scrutiny (e.g., comments on bodies in magazines like Heat).
    • Hostile evaluations in lifestyle shows like What Not to Wear and 10 Years Younger.
    • The portrayal of women’s internal difficulties through bodily expressions (e.g., Bridget Jones’s smoking or calorie counting).
    • Success often requires conformity to a sleek, toned image; contradictions exist between the external presentation and internal emotions.

THE SEXUALIZATION OF CULTURE

  • Increased sexualization in contemporary culture links closely with the obsession over women’s bodies as markers of femininity.
  • Defined sexualization includes a plethora of discussions around sex across media, as part of what Brian McNair calls ‘striptease culture’.
  • Represents the erotic presentation of bodies, especially women’s, in public contexts:
    • Newspapers feature rape stories alongside alluring content, sexualizing all women including public figures.
    • Representation of sex varies across media; 'lad magazines' depict a carefree pursuit of pleasure while those for young women frame it as a rigorous responsibility.
    • For women, narratives involve policing sexual reputations and handling emotional burdens, contrasting with men’s portrayal as mere hedonists.

FROM SEX OBJECT TO DESIRING SEXUAL SUBJECT

  • Representations in media have transitioned from depicting women merely as passive objects to presenting them as active sexual subjects.
  • Advertising has adapted to a postfeminist sensibility, celebrating sexually autonomous women who engage actively with their sexuality.
  • This modernization represents:
    • A new ‘technology of sexiness’ critical to contemporary femininity (as noted by Hilary Radner).
    • Shifts control from external male judgment to self-surveillance and self-objectification, complicating the dynamics of women's agency and empowerment.
  • Despite perceived autonomy, critiques are offered regarding the inadequacy of this presentation amid societal realities of sexual violence and exclusion of diverse women from sexual subjectivity.

INDIVIDUALISM, CHOICE AND EMPOWERMENT

  • Central to the postfeminist sensibility are concepts of choice, individuality, and empowerment.
  • Empowerment narratives resonate throughout various media forms today, framing personal experiences (like racism and domestic violence) in individualistic terms, reversing the political aspect of personal issues.
  • Examples include:
    • The rise in popularity of Brazilian waxing and breast augmentation are framed as personal pleasure-seeking choices.
    • Little attention is given to societal pressures or commercial interests fueling these trends.
  • Women are presented as completely autonomous agents, obscuring the underlying social influences and commonality in beauty standards across media.
  • The encouragement to interpret feminine practices as freely chosen is drawn alongside neoliberal ideologies.

SELF-SURVEILLANCE AND DISCIPLINE

  • Emphasis on self-surveillance and discipline is heightened in postfeminist culture.
  • Historical requisites of successful femininity include constant grooming and adjustment to societal expectations.
  • Three defining aspects of contemporary self-monitoring are identified:
    • Increased intensity and scope of self-surveillance.
    • Expansion into new areas of life, requiring more intimate forms of regulation.
    • Focus on psychological transformation; monitoring one’s thoughts and emotions.
  • Pressures on femininity require women to self-evaluate across multiple facets of their lives, often disguised as fun practices, while imposing rigorous standards.

THE MAKEOVER PARADIGM

  • The makeover paradigm is pervasive within postfeminist media culture, suggesting inherent flaws in individuals or lives that can be remedied through expert advice and modified consumption habits.
  • Such messaging is found in various programming, effectively promoting narrow ideals of success and transformation.
  • Ubiquitous makeover shows create new ethical selves, often embedding societal animosities and reinforcing class and racial stereotypes.
  • The implicit narrative encourages judgment of those who fail to conform to the ideal, perpetuating conflict between women rather than addressing systemic inequities.

THE REASSERTION OF SEXUAL DIFFERENCE

  • Resurgence of ideologies surrounding sexual difference has re-emerged following feminist movements, notably manifesting in media portrayals of masculinity, such as the critique of the 'New Man' alongside the rise of the 'New Lad.'
  • This idea asserts a return to essentialist notions of gender, beneath growing interests in evolutionary psychology and genetic science framing human behaviors.
  • Cultural literature emphasizes differences between sexes, often delegitimizing feminist viewpoints advocating for equality.

IRONY AND KNOWINGNESS

  • Irony plays a crucial role in postfeminist media culture, functioning to convey both sophisticated consumerism and subtle rebuffs to traditional sentiments.
  • Advertisements utilize irony to conflate sexism with humor, deflecting potential criticism through the guise of nostalgia or self-aware referencing.
  • This usage cultivates misogynistic narratives while disallowing critique, positioning outright discrimination as merely whimsical.

FEMINISM AND ANTI-FEMINISM

  • The integration of feminism within media reflects both the incorporation and revision of feminist ideals, producing a complex relationship that includes both advocacy and repudiation.
  • Notably, feminist discussions are largely framed within media rather than originating from independent analyses, echoing in various popular culture representations.
  • By examining phenomena such as ‘chick lit’, a liberal feminist perspective is accepted while negatively portraying feminists as punitive.
  • Postfeminist heroines, while reflecting empowerment, sometimes conform to traditional feminine norms criticized by feminists.

CONCLUSION

  • This chapter outlines the elements of a postfeminist sensibility, highlighting the connection between postfeminism and neoliberalism.
  • Feminist ideas are both echoed and contested, intertwining within a rhetoric of autonomy and choice juxtaposed against societal surveillance of women.
  • Postfeminism showcases a nuanced conflict, requiring women to navigate expectations tied to personal freedom while confronting varying standards across identities and experiences.
  • This complex relation is indicative of broader neoliberal ideologies, inviting further exploration around gendered implications of neoliberal frameworks.

REFERENCES

  • // List of various works and authors cited throughout the text to support analytical claims and discussions related to postfeminism, media culture, and gender studies. //