Page 80 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, št. 3-4: K paradigmam raziskovanja vzgoje in izobraževanja, ur. Valerija Vendramin
P. 80
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 3–4
often, says Rosi Braidotti (2005: p. 4), “flattens out all other political con
siderations in order to stress the individual value of women like Margaret
Thatcher or Condoleeza Rice”. (Neither could be said to particularly care
for women’s cause—or the cause of disenfranchised, for that matter.) In
other words, “the post-feminist master narrative of neo-liberalism has
re-introduced the syndrome of ‘the exceptional woman’, which was a rec
ognised topos before the women’s movement introduced more egalitar
ian principles of inter-connection, solidarity and teamwork” (Braidotti,
2005: p. 4). In this vein, according to Rosi Braidotti (ibid.), women who
had explicitly (or, let me add, implicitly) chosen to keep distant from the
women’s movements are transformed into feminist heroines.2 So a posteri-
ori feminist credentials are granted to strong individual personalities, no
matter what their world-views or inclinations.3
Therefore, my aim is to explore the definitions of (post)feminism, es
pecially as presented to children and young adults. As already conveyed by
the title of this contribution, there might be three key words that decisive
ly colour the understanding of feminism in the present moment, and they
are: Celebrities, Empowerment, Consumerism, all three firmly planted in
the readily available mediascapes.
Finally, there is another thing that needs to be mentioned prelimi
nary regarding the terminology used here. I still, somewhat out-of-dately,
think of feminism as emancipatory collective activity on behalf of wom
en’s rights and interests, together with the theory of the political, eco
nomic, and social equality.4 Any other use of the word feminism should
perhaps be put in quotation marks. But, since this is a work in progress,
I expect the terminology to gradually evolve (together with conceptual
changes).
2 I do see the need to “showcase” women who could, to illustrate the point that there were wom
en in history, but we can soon clash into problems.
3 Hilary Mantel, two times Booker prized winner, similarly acknowledges problems that
arise when modern ethical mores are placed in the mouths of historical figures. In her Reith
Lectures, she said: “This is a persistent difficulty for women writers, who want to write about
women in the past, but can’t resist retrospectively empowering them” (Furness, 2017).
4 This is a very (very!) working definition, used only to pinpoint some of the differences with
today’s media-induced usage, formulated with the help of Merriam-Webster’s. Let us remem
ber that Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2017 was feminism. Of course the rise in the
lookups of the word was driven by turbulent events in the wider social sphere (e.g., Women’s
March on Washington, #MeToo movement, etc.). In addition to that, interest in the diction
ary definition of feminism was also driven by entertainment (The Handmaid’s Tale, TV series,
based on a novel by Margaret Atwood; or Wonder Woman, superhero film based on the comics’
character). See https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-of-the-year-2017-
feminism/feminism.
78
often, says Rosi Braidotti (2005: p. 4), “flattens out all other political con
siderations in order to stress the individual value of women like Margaret
Thatcher or Condoleeza Rice”. (Neither could be said to particularly care
for women’s cause—or the cause of disenfranchised, for that matter.) In
other words, “the post-feminist master narrative of neo-liberalism has
re-introduced the syndrome of ‘the exceptional woman’, which was a rec
ognised topos before the women’s movement introduced more egalitar
ian principles of inter-connection, solidarity and teamwork” (Braidotti,
2005: p. 4). In this vein, according to Rosi Braidotti (ibid.), women who
had explicitly (or, let me add, implicitly) chosen to keep distant from the
women’s movements are transformed into feminist heroines.2 So a posteri-
ori feminist credentials are granted to strong individual personalities, no
matter what their world-views or inclinations.3
Therefore, my aim is to explore the definitions of (post)feminism, es
pecially as presented to children and young adults. As already conveyed by
the title of this contribution, there might be three key words that decisive
ly colour the understanding of feminism in the present moment, and they
are: Celebrities, Empowerment, Consumerism, all three firmly planted in
the readily available mediascapes.
Finally, there is another thing that needs to be mentioned prelimi
nary regarding the terminology used here. I still, somewhat out-of-dately,
think of feminism as emancipatory collective activity on behalf of wom
en’s rights and interests, together with the theory of the political, eco
nomic, and social equality.4 Any other use of the word feminism should
perhaps be put in quotation marks. But, since this is a work in progress,
I expect the terminology to gradually evolve (together with conceptual
changes).
2 I do see the need to “showcase” women who could, to illustrate the point that there were wom
en in history, but we can soon clash into problems.
3 Hilary Mantel, two times Booker prized winner, similarly acknowledges problems that
arise when modern ethical mores are placed in the mouths of historical figures. In her Reith
Lectures, she said: “This is a persistent difficulty for women writers, who want to write about
women in the past, but can’t resist retrospectively empowering them” (Furness, 2017).
4 This is a very (very!) working definition, used only to pinpoint some of the differences with
today’s media-induced usage, formulated with the help of Merriam-Webster’s. Let us remem
ber that Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2017 was feminism. Of course the rise in the
lookups of the word was driven by turbulent events in the wider social sphere (e.g., Women’s
March on Washington, #MeToo movement, etc.). In addition to that, interest in the diction
ary definition of feminism was also driven by entertainment (The Handmaid’s Tale, TV series,
based on a novel by Margaret Atwood; or Wonder Woman, superhero film based on the comics’
character). See https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-of-the-year-2017-
feminism/feminism.
78
