Page 85 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 85
What Can We Learn About Feminism
from Web Portals? – Analysing Media Bulletins
Mirjana Adamović, Institute for Social Research, Zagreb, Croatia
Introduction
Society’s relationship to feminism and feminist values speaks not only
about the level of gender equality achieved but also the level of the
democracy achieved and readiness to support the equality of those
who believe their rights are being violated and feel like they are not full
members of that society. Women, to paraphrase Carole Pateman (1988)
are still not, nor ever have been, recognised as equal members or citizens
of any known democracy because, even though they have a general right
to vote, in public spaces of political or economic importance where deci-
sions of crucial social importance are being made, women continue to not
be present or underrepresented despite the best efforts of gender main-
streaming. Moreover, women are marginalised in the public sphere (Harp
et al., 2016) as well as marginalised and underrepresented in media dis-
courses and practices (Bachmann, Harp & Locke, 2018; Byerly & Ross,
2006). Basically, stereotyping feminism and feminists is inseparable from
stereotyping women in general.
The new kind of antifeminism differs from the form which appeared
in the 1970s and 1980s, despite individual feminist values being incorpo-
rated in institutional and social lives, namely “a substitute for feminism”
as explained by Angela McRobbie (2009), in the still patriarchal system of
economic power and domination, is a new form of the “sexual contract”,
promising young women that they will achieve equality through educa-
tion and employment and by participating in the consumer culture and
civil society.
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(5-6)83-102 83
Original scientific article
from Web Portals? – Analysing Media Bulletins
Mirjana Adamović, Institute for Social Research, Zagreb, Croatia
Introduction
Society’s relationship to feminism and feminist values speaks not only
about the level of gender equality achieved but also the level of the
democracy achieved and readiness to support the equality of those
who believe their rights are being violated and feel like they are not full
members of that society. Women, to paraphrase Carole Pateman (1988)
are still not, nor ever have been, recognised as equal members or citizens
of any known democracy because, even though they have a general right
to vote, in public spaces of political or economic importance where deci-
sions of crucial social importance are being made, women continue to not
be present or underrepresented despite the best efforts of gender main-
streaming. Moreover, women are marginalised in the public sphere (Harp
et al., 2016) as well as marginalised and underrepresented in media dis-
courses and practices (Bachmann, Harp & Locke, 2018; Byerly & Ross,
2006). Basically, stereotyping feminism and feminists is inseparable from
stereotyping women in general.
The new kind of antifeminism differs from the form which appeared
in the 1970s and 1980s, despite individual feminist values being incorpo-
rated in institutional and social lives, namely “a substitute for feminism”
as explained by Angela McRobbie (2009), in the still patriarchal system of
economic power and domination, is a new form of the “sexual contract”,
promising young women that they will achieve equality through educa-
tion and employment and by participating in the consumer culture and
civil society.
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(5-6)83-102 83
Original scientific article
