Page 86 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, št. 3-4: K paradigmam raziskovanja vzgoje in izobraževanja, ur. Valerija Vendramin
P. 86
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 3–4
commercialization reveal problems systemically inherent to power femi-
nism” and “to understand how the politics of commercial media and mar-
keting shape cultural conceptions of feminism” (Hains, 2009: p. 94).
Possible Conclusions
I have not been trying to give some kind of a typology of contemporary
sub-forms of “feminism” here, such as “choice feminism”, “power femi-
nism”, “celebrity feminism”, and others, because my main objective was
to point that there is something awry with the dominant, media-regulat-
ed forms of “feminism” and that often, but not always, those forms pass as
the essence of feminism to generations of girls and young women. These
forms are, as put by Nancy Fraser, in a cruel twist of fate,
entangled in a dangerous liaison with neoliberal efforts to build a
free-market society. That would explain how it came to pass that feminist
ideas that once formed part of a radical worldview are increasingly ex-
pressed in individualist terms. Where feminists once criticised a society
that promoted careerism, they now advise women to “lean in”. A move-
ment that once prioritised social solidarity now celebrates female entre-
preneurs. A perspective that once valorised “care” and interdependence
now encourages individual advancement and meritocracy (Fraser, 2013).
The messages to children and young adults are very often sent in a
neoliberal package, although it might be in the name of feminism. As I
tried to show, it is important how feminism (or: “feminism”) is under-
stood among younger girls (and, in fact, among children in general), here
is where educational interventions are needed (and by that I do not mean
“education for entrepreneurship” so popular lately in Slovene schools in
various forms). It should be made clear that the gains women acquired
in the last century or so are the result of struggles and efforts for equal-
ity and, in as much it is possible in the present moment, that feminism
is not something unnecessary nor the beacon of the tyranny of political
correctness.16
I cannot give conclusive answers here, but I think it is all the more
important to reflect on this in the present moment—via media analyses,
course circuitously found an unexpected home in children’s media. In the late 1990s, the
number of children’s television networks increased and the networks competed to stake
claims to young viewers. In the process of devising new niche target audiences, the idea
of the ‘tween’ girl developed through market research. The tween is a girl negotiating a
location between childhood and adolescence, aspiring to be a teenager but still attached
to toys and childhood’s trappings” (Hains, 2009: p. 90).
16 Seeforexampletheresponsestomovementssuchas#MeToo–menarepresentedasthetruevic-
tims (not to mention that feminism is often blamed for all sorts of “aberrant” social phenomena).
84
commercialization reveal problems systemically inherent to power femi-
nism” and “to understand how the politics of commercial media and mar-
keting shape cultural conceptions of feminism” (Hains, 2009: p. 94).
Possible Conclusions
I have not been trying to give some kind of a typology of contemporary
sub-forms of “feminism” here, such as “choice feminism”, “power femi-
nism”, “celebrity feminism”, and others, because my main objective was
to point that there is something awry with the dominant, media-regulat-
ed forms of “feminism” and that often, but not always, those forms pass as
the essence of feminism to generations of girls and young women. These
forms are, as put by Nancy Fraser, in a cruel twist of fate,
entangled in a dangerous liaison with neoliberal efforts to build a
free-market society. That would explain how it came to pass that feminist
ideas that once formed part of a radical worldview are increasingly ex-
pressed in individualist terms. Where feminists once criticised a society
that promoted careerism, they now advise women to “lean in”. A move-
ment that once prioritised social solidarity now celebrates female entre-
preneurs. A perspective that once valorised “care” and interdependence
now encourages individual advancement and meritocracy (Fraser, 2013).
The messages to children and young adults are very often sent in a
neoliberal package, although it might be in the name of feminism. As I
tried to show, it is important how feminism (or: “feminism”) is under-
stood among younger girls (and, in fact, among children in general), here
is where educational interventions are needed (and by that I do not mean
“education for entrepreneurship” so popular lately in Slovene schools in
various forms). It should be made clear that the gains women acquired
in the last century or so are the result of struggles and efforts for equal-
ity and, in as much it is possible in the present moment, that feminism
is not something unnecessary nor the beacon of the tyranny of political
correctness.16
I cannot give conclusive answers here, but I think it is all the more
important to reflect on this in the present moment—via media analyses,
course circuitously found an unexpected home in children’s media. In the late 1990s, the
number of children’s television networks increased and the networks competed to stake
claims to young viewers. In the process of devising new niche target audiences, the idea
of the ‘tween’ girl developed through market research. The tween is a girl negotiating a
location between childhood and adolescence, aspiring to be a teenager but still attached
to toys and childhood’s trappings” (Hains, 2009: p. 90).
16 Seeforexampletheresponsestomovementssuchas#MeToo–menarepresentedasthetruevic-
tims (not to mention that feminism is often blamed for all sorts of “aberrant” social phenomena).
84
