Critical Exploration of the Term Post-Feminism in US Entertainment Media - Essay Example

Critical Exploration of the Term “Post-Feminism” in US Entertainment Media Table of Contents Introduction 3 a.Research Goal 4 b. Justification for Choosing the US and its Entertainment Media 4 2.Post-Feminism – A Contested Term 5 ‘Post-feminism’ is a contested term and critics are doubtful about its validity (Richardson 2006). This is because various critics use the same term to imply different ideas. For instance, post-feminism is regarded to be an era where the aims of feminist activists have been achieved and that women can now accomplish what they wish, provided they are ready to make the required effort (MacDonald 1995). On the other hand, McRobbie assumes post-feminism as an active process through which feminist gains made in the 1970s and 1980s are being undermined or undone by contemporary popular culture (2007). 5 Others such as Lotz argue that post-feminism is a part of third wave feminism (2001). According to Lotz, post-feminism includes poststructuralism and women-of-colour feminism influenced by poststructuralist, postmodern and postcolonial ideologies. In another representation of post-feminism, Rachel Moseley, a media critic sees post-feminism as a “re-evaluation of the tension which was often thought to exist between feminism and femininity” (Richardson 2006, p. 163). By this, she implies that post-feminism puts feminity (such as glamour and sexual objectification of women) back into feminist politics that originally are against feminity. 6 Some critics such as Tania Modleski take an opposite stance and argue that post-feminism is in fact discarding the achievements of second wave feminists by “delivering us back to a prefeminist world” (Richardson 2006, p. 164). Thus, there are paradoxical and opposing representations of the term ‘post-feminism’ and this contradiction is also reflected in the characters played in contemporary media. 6 The first use of the term ‘post-feminism’ was in 1920s press when it stated that feminist activism was not needed any longer and that a post-feminist era had dawned (Lotz 2001). The term’s critical academic use was in the post-second-wave era when it was defined as an emerging ideology and culture which incorporated, depoliticized and revised a large number of fundamental issues put forth by second-wave feminism (Lotz 2001). Faludi later on used the term to state that women no longer cared about feminism (McRobbie 2004). 6 Authors have debated post-feminism in terms of gender politics in popular magazines such as Time and People. However, there is no shared understanding of this term and its theoretical explorations are very expansive and unclear. Earlier representations of women in media, such as Mary Richards in The Mary Tyler Moore Show during the 1980s and 90s was in the form of a superwoman who effectively balanced a conventional family life and a successful career. Similar representations of such feminist superwomen were made in shows such as Who’s the Boss and The Cosby Show. These feminist television shows were then replaced with those that presented characters whose home and professional life was balanced with difficulty, as seen in shows such as thirtysomething, Roseanne and the subsequent popular shows such as Ally McBeal, Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives. These shows, which critics often label as post-feminist, show the side-effects of feminism and purport the preference for anti-feminist ideology by the female characters (Brunsdon 2013). 6 3.Critical Exploration of Post-Feminism in US Entertainment Media 7 a.Feminity versus Feminism 8 b.Sexual Objectification a Personal Choice? 11 4.Discussion and Conclusion 14 References 16 1. Introduction In US popular culture, since the turn of the twenty-first century, the term ‘post-feminism’ has been subject to debate, contradiction and confusion (Lotz 2001). Entertainment media in the US, particularly television series, earlier introduced ‘new woman’ feminist characters such as Mary Richards of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Lotz 2001). Towards the end of the 1990s, television series such as Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sex in the City introduced new ‘new women’ characters that are different from their predecessor feminist characters. These television series put forth characters that had contradictory representations of feminism. Such contradictory representations gave rise to debates over ‘feminism’ or more specifically ‘post-feminism’ because this is the term that scholars and feminist critics are now using for characters in these shows. For instance, the character Ally McBeal in a popular US television series of the same name has been widely studied by critics to understand what it means to be a “liberated woman” in the twenty first century (Moseley and Reed 2002). The show presents altered relationships between feminism and feminity, which is an important aspect in the formulation of the term ‘post-feminism’ by cultural studies scholars and feminist media. There has been a growing interest in research on media characters that are considered to be ‘post-feminist’. However, the question that arises here is – what is ‘post-feminism’ and what does it imply when a particular character is termed ‘post-feminist’? The late 1990s mark a turning point in feminist theory (McRobbie 2007). Television programs with supposedly feminist characters showing a contradictory representation of feminism have become commonplace. For instance, Ally McBeal is a strong character representing a liberated working woman. While the ideology of this character appears to be feminist, she has certain characteristics (such as the preference for miniskirts, the tendency to use her sexuality to gain an edge over colleagues, and the longing for her ex-boyfriend Billy), which give her character an anti-feminist shade. Therefore, the appearance of such contradictions in feminist discourses on television has given rise to debates on what does feminism mean today. Some critics use the term ‘post-feminism’ to describe this phenomenon, where present concepts contradict the previous expressions of feminism. Others use the term to show that the goals of feminism have been reached and that the world is now in an era of post-feminism. There are many other such instances where the term ‘post-feminism’ has different connotations. Thus post-feminism is a contested term and there is still debate as to its meaning, as will be discussed in the next section. a. Research Goal This paper critically explores the term ‘post-feminism’ in entertainment media in the US. The aim is to examine post-feminism in terms of changing gender politics and representations in television series, movies and music videos. b. Justification for Choosing the US and its Entertainment Media The US has been specifically chosen for this critical analysis because it is among the few countries with the most diverse demographics in terms of racial and ethnic composition. The formation of what may be called the American culture started some ten thousand years ago when Paleo-Indians migrated from Asia, Oceania and Europe into the continental United States of today – the 48 adjoining states including Washington, D.C., that lie between Canada and Mexico (Eriksson 2011). The term, United States, excludes the states of Hawaii and Alaska and all the off-shore territories of the US. The mass migration of people of all races into the country throughout its history partly explains this diversity. The contemporary culture of America is essentially Western, but with Latin American, Native American, African, Asian and Polynesian influences. For this reason, the US is called a "melting pot of cultures" (Kornblum 2007). By studying post-feminism in the context of the US, it is possible to gain a much wider understanding of gender debates and politics because this country is developed and women have a much larger representation in the liberated workforce as compared to other countries. The fine arts, also called the performance arts, are an important part of popular American culture (Thornbury, 2013). While the arts take many forms, the interests of this paper lie in their representation in television, movies and music videos. An attempt will be made at critically examining the relevance of the notion of "post-feminism" to these three elements of the US entertainment media. In the US prime-time television, women comprise 45% of the regular characters while in movies, major male characters outnumber females by up to 50% (Anderson 2014). Female characters on television mainly present interpersonal roles that are involved with friends, romantic partners and family while male characters mainly present work-related roles (Anderson 2014). 2. Post-Feminism – A Contested Term ‘Post-feminism’ is a contested term and critics are doubtful about its validity (Richardson 2006). This is because various critics use the same term to imply different ideas. For instance, post-feminism is regarded to be an era where the aims of feminist activists have been achieved and that women can now accomplish what they wish, provided they are ready to make the required effort (MacDonald 1995). On the other hand, McRobbie assumes post-feminism as an active process through which feminist gains made in the 1970s and 1980s are being undermined or undone by contemporary popular culture (2007). Others such as Lotz argue that post-feminism is a part of third wave feminism (2001). According to Lotz, post-feminism includes poststructuralism and women-of-colour feminism influenced by poststructuralist, postmodern and postcolonial ideologies. In another representation of post-feminism, Rachel Moseley, a media critic sees post-feminism as a “re-evaluation of the tension which was often thought to exist between feminism and femininity” (Richardson 2006, p. 163). By this, she implies that post-feminism puts feminity (such as glamour and sexual objectification of women) back into feminist politics that originally are against feminity. Some critics such as Tania Modleski take an opposite stance and argue that post-feminism is in fact discarding the achievements of second wave feminists by “delivering us back to a prefeminist world” (Richardson 2006, p. 164). Thus, there are paradoxical and opposing representations of the term ‘post-feminism’ and this contradiction is also reflected in the characters played in contemporary media. The first use of the term ‘post-feminism’ was in 1920s press when it stated that feminist activism was not needed any longer and that a post-feminist era had dawned (Lotz 2001). The term’s critical academic use was in the post-second-wave era when it was defined as an emerging ideology and culture which incorporated, depoliticized and revised a large number of fundamental issues put forth by second-wave feminism (Lotz 2001). Faludi later on used the term to state that women no longer cared about feminism (McRobbie 2004). Authors have debated post-feminism in terms of gender politics in popular magazines such as Time and People. However, there is no shared understanding of this term and its theoretical explorations are very expansive and unclear. Earlier representations of women in media, such as Mary Richards in The Mary Tyler Moore Show during the 1980s and 90s was in the form of a superwoman who effectively balanced a conventional family life and a successful career. Similar representations of such feminist superwomen were made in shows such as Who’s the Boss and The Cosby Show. These feminist television shows were then replaced with those that presented characters whose home and professional life was balanced with difficulty, as seen in shows such as thirtysomething, Roseanne and the subsequent popular shows such as Ally McBeal, Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives. These shows, which critics often label as post-feminist, show the side-effects of feminism and purport the preference for anti-feminist ideology by the female characters (Brunsdon 2013). 3. Critical Exploration of Post-Feminism in US Entertainment Media Television series representing feminist discourses started appearing around 40 years ago (Lotz 2001). This coincided with the rapid increase in number of independent-minded working women (Lotz 2001). D’Acci contends that several factors occurring in the 1970s made white middle-class women a target market for advertisers because a significant portion of them were working women (1994). They were targeted because advertisers believed that these women had more purchasing power than housewives because they had control over their disposable income. And therefore, the television series created then were in line with feminist ideology to appeal to this class of independent women (Rabinovitz cited in Lotz 2001). Feminism thus became the subject of a majority of television shows post 1970s. Following this period in the late 1990s, the general populace was exposed to new discourses on post-feminism (then a new term) in magazines such as Time where the term ‘post-feminism’ was ill-defined and most often implied ‘after feminism’ or ‘anti-feminism’. Post-feminism discourses also began appearing in television series and media at this time. These shows focused on female characters embroiled in complex situations and torn between their professional life and personal desires. Examples include shows such as Ally McBeal, Sex and the City, Any Day Now and Judging Amy. Because post-feminism is a contested term and has more cultural than academic relevance, it is more pragmatic to study it in contemporary culture and popular texts such as television series (Moseley and Read 2002). This paper therefore critically examines the term in popular discourses such as television series, movies and music videos. a. Feminity versus Feminism Feminity is one of the major targets of feminist activism. The women’s movement or feminist movement argues against the acceptance of feminism as a way of life and encourages women to choose independence, to develop their careers and to avoid become victim of male of gaze through indecent clothing. However, the characters in post-feminist television series such as Sex and the City and Ally McBeal, and movies such as Bridget Jones Diary present an alternative picture. Here, the female characters seem to be in favour of feminity despite having alternate choices. For instance, in episode 55 in Sex and the City, a character named Charlotte tells her single friends that she wants to give up her career to gain enough time to pursue other interests such as having a baby, learning to cook Indian cuisine, volunteering and pottery making (Hollows 2003). Her friends scorn at her idea of becoming “one of those women” they hated who left their jobs after marriage. In support of her decision, she says that “The Women’s Movement is supposed to be about choice and if I choose to quit my job, that’s my choice. . . . It’s my life and it’s my choice.. . . I am behind my choice. . . . I choose my choice. I choose my choice” (Hollows 2003). This particular scene shows how some women, after the days of feminist activism, believe that feminity is their rightful choice and they can choose to live without a career or professional life if that makes them happy. This is an example of the post-feminist depiction of a middle class modern independent woman. It should be noted here that not all female characters are shown in this light. Some characters accept feminism as it is and others choose only certain ideologies and do away with the rest. In the episode of Sex and the City just mentioned, Charlotte’s argument offers a valuable insight on how the rhetoric of feminism, middle class status, and contemporary femininity are articulated around the ideas of choice, where women in a world (after the advent of feminism) feel the need to fight for choosing feminity against the ideologies of feminism. Women in post-feminist television shows are shown as torn between career and home, successful job and family (Probyn 1990). They are also shown as independent and strong women who choose to be single but at the same time wish to raise a family and are aware of the ticking of their “biological clock”, which implies that the chance to have a baby may soon diminish owing to their increasing age. For instance, in the television show thirtysomething, post-feminism is represented through the female character Melissa who in a dream scene is pinned down on an ovary shaped clock with the appearance of possible sperm donors (Probyn 1990). The movie Bridget Jones’s Diary draws on a similar theme. The female character Bridget is shown as a 30 year old single, childless woman living in London (McRobbie 2004). She is a free agent, enjoying her liberty to frequent pubs and restaurants and who is a product of modernity who neglects the bondages of tradition. Bridget Jones has a significantly good professional life but has anxieties such as the fear of remaining single, not finding a suitable partner to be the father of children and being lonely through her life. The character of Bridget Jones, despite being brought up under the feminist ideology of not being bound by tradition, portrays that she does fantasize tradition as after a romantic encounter with her boss, she imagines herself in a wedding dress wishing to get married. Thus, while feminism has constrained such conventional feminine desires, post-feminist characters portray their wish to escape from feminist politics and enjoy freely what is disapproved by feminists. Here, one should note that the desire of a female character to deviate from the ideologies of feminism and tend to her feminine fantasies does not mean that women in the post-feminist era wish to go back into a prefeminist world. They wish to enjoy their freedom and power but at the same time wish to get the best out of their feminity, wish for a man, a baby, a home. As McRobbie (2004) puts it – ...the relations of power are indeed made and re-made within texts of enjoyment and rituals of relaxation and abandonment. These young women’s genres are vital to the construction of a new “gender regime,” ... and young women have come to the fore as the pre-eminent subjects of this new ethic. These popular texts normalise post-feminist gender anxieties so as to re-regulate young women by means of the language of personal choice. But even “well regulated liberty” can backfire (the source of comic effect), and this in turn gives rise to demarcated pathologies (leaving it too late to have a baby, failing to find a good catch, etc.) which carefully define the parameters of what constitutes liveable lives for young women without the occasion of re-invented feminism Individuals must now choose the kind of life they want to live. The characters depicted in these television shows seem to be crushed under the burden of expectations laid on them by feminist activists, that girls need to have a lifeplan, that they need to control every aspect of their life, be it taking responsibility for their careers, making the right choice regarding marriage, etc. This is not the only kind of engagement with post-feminist politics in US television. Dow (1996) points out three modes of post feminist ideologies in the TV series of the 1980 and 90s. In the first mode, she draws on the example of professional serial dramas like L.A.Law and Murphy Brown, saying that in these shows, one can see the effect of second-wave feminism, where the prime conflict for the female characters is between personal happiness and career. Here, personal happiness and professional success are shown as being mutually exclusive. Dow refers to the second mode as ‘postfeminist family television’ drawing on examples of shows such as thirtysomething. These shows depict an idealised vision of working motherhood and family life, showing that feminist goals have been achieved and that women can successfully juggle these two. Here, personal happiness and professional success are not shown as mutually exclusive. In the third mode which Dow describes as ‘sisterhood’, shows such as Designing Women, through their feminine setting clearly have a feminist agenda offering a postfeminist nirvana where the women have the best of both personal and professional life. All these three modes represent the dynamics of choosing feminism or feminity – one over the other. The show Ally McBeal in a similar fashion presents how a woman in a post-feminist world chooses her career over her true love Billy but at the same time wishes to have him back. Despite being a feminist, she prefers to flaunt her feminity by choosing to wear miniskirts and talks about her desire to get married. This is clear from her statement in the show where she insists that “she really does want to change the world”, but then adds, “I just want to get married first” (Moseley and Read 2002). Thus Ally McBeal, and other characters such as Bridget Jones and Charlotte portray their experiences of being feminist and feminine at the same time. In these series and movies, the professional and personal pursuits (in terms of feminism and feminity) of female characters are shown as being inseparable and therefore expressive of a post-feminist ideology, where there is a conflict between feminism and feminity and women wish to have the best of both. b. Sexual Objectification a Personal Choice? As stated earlier, certain critics of feminism, many of whom are scholars, use the term “post-feminism” to refer to the active process through which the gains made in feminism in the 1970s and 80s are undermined (McRobbie 2004). Several aspects of contemporary Western culture are held responsible for this reversal of feminism. According to these critics, it is ironical that women themselves, who are supposed to defend the ideologies of feminism, are in fact facilitating its removal. Female characters, who are supposedly feminists, are shown to be scantily dress. Examples are female characters such as Ally McBeal (Ally McBeal) and Miranda (Sex and the City), who prefer to wear miniskirts. Today, women are better represented in the media than they were a few decades ago (Eriksson 2011). Many of them are well-educated in gender issues and feminist activism. However, they are simply unwilling to condemn the sexual objectification of the female body and prefer to flaunt it through revealing clothing and place more importance on the achievement of perfect bodies. These ideas are greatly purported by lifestyle television, whose influence is the greatest in the area of dress and fashion (Negra 2009). Unfortunately, television promotes the importance of looking sexually attractive that some people influenced by this ideology can be seen walking the streets dressed in “fashion” that would hardly pass for the bedroom (Driscoll 2002). Therefore, sexual objectification of the body is shown as more of a personal choice. In the television show Ally McBeal, Ally feels that she has the right to wear skirts as short as she likes but at the same time, she does not appreciate being used for her looks (Moseley and Read 2002). This aspect of post-feminism denotes that while on the one hand, women like to flaunt their sexuality, on the other hand they do not wish to be considered as mere sex objects. This brings forth another aspect of post-feminism, namely symbolic violence. Within women, there is differentiation of class where women distinguish one another based on looks. There are women with perfect bodies and the confidence to flaunt their bodies while on the other hand, there are plain Janes who are too simple, and sometimes even masculine. The bodies of women are being labelled in absurd ways. For instance, McRobbie (2004) describes a scale that distinguishes the bodies of young women, where the bodies are labelled as “welfare-dependent”, “single maternity”, “marking failure”, to “well-groomed”, “slim”, “sophisticated”, and “marking success”. Thus, post-feminism has also brought to light the focus on feminity, beauty, sexuality, and the desire to flaunt it and also judge others based on their sexuality, beauty and body type. With growing focus on body and sexuality, there is also an increasing normalization of pornography, where some women endorse or refuse to condemn it, and show the desire to be “pin up girls for the centrefolds of the soft porn “lad mags,”, and it is not unusual to see young women on the streets wearing T-shirts that say “Porn Queen” or “Pay To Touch” (McRobbie 2004). Thus, after the culmination of feminist activism, women are going back to the pre-feminist era and are accepting and promoting commercial sexuality. This is also clear in popular shows such as What not to Wear where women participating in the show are subjected to harsh comments and taught on how to make the right decision in clothing so they can flaunt their sexuality and attract partners (Roberts 2007). Music videos such as Dirty Dancer (Ahmady 2012) clearly demonstrate how sexual objectification of women appears is encouraged. Even pop stars such as Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez (Tejeda 2013) call themselves as feminists do not shy away from portraying themselves as sex icons. For instance, Miley Cyrus who was criticized by musician Sinead OConnor for “allowing herself "to be pimped" and behaving like a prostitute under the guise of feminism”, responded by saying “I feel like Im one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women to not be scared of anything” (Tejeda 2013). A similar example is Madonna who is considered as a postmodern, post feminist woman is famous for her sexualised performances (Genz and Brabon 2009). As seen here, certain female singers are breaking down certain ideologies of feminism and allowing themselves to be sexually objectified but at the same time are maintaining the stance that they are feminists. Two themes cut across the music videos of male American celebrities, who dominate the industry: money and women. It would appear that the two cannot be separated. A simple observation will reveal that the majority of the women who flank these celebrities are white, slim, with the "perfect" body covered only by bikinis (Butler 2013). Research on the content of music videos has shown that sexual objectification is commonplace and compared to male artists, females are more likely to be sexually objectified, made to hold stricter appearance standards and required to demonstrate sexually alluring behaviour (Aubrey and Frisby 2011). In a similar observation, analysing Pink’s music video ‘Stupid Girls’, Railton and Watson describe the irony of feminism and feminity. They state that Pinks ‘Stupid Girls’, which is regarded as post-feminist, exemplifies that women who now have choices use those choices to actually turn themselves into sexual objects. Now, patriarchy is not a problem anymore and despite the fact that real choices can made freely, women still choose to be sexually objectified. 4. Discussion and Conclusion Two obvious themes seem to run in post-feminist entertainment media in the US, one is the conflict between feminism and feminity and the other is the preference of women for sexual objectification despite having a choice. It can be concluded that post-feminism has led to the emergence of a new gender ideology where feminity and feminism are not mutually exclusive and where sexuality and preference for it is not determined by gender. Different post-feminist discourses have different ideologies, which are most often paradoxical or contradictory. Lotz argues that the entertainment media of this age relates to the modern women of today who have grown up in an environment where the feminist victories of their mothers are taken for granted and for whom feminism exists at the level of common-sense rather than as something that is to be won (2001). It is clear from the struggles of the female characters in post-feminist media that feminity cannot be done away with and that women, even those who might consider themselves as feminists, may not be willing to do away with their feminine desires. The new young women, as represented by post-feminist discourses are strong and independent and at the same time, are confident enough to expose their anxieties about the possibilities of failure in finding a suitable husband, enjoying their sexuality and avoiding extremely traditional men (McRobbie 2004). They are confident about their appearance and professional stature and for them, “being without a husband does not mean they will go without men” (McRobbie 2004, p. 262). Tasker and Negra note that post-feminism both celebrates and dismisses feminist history, while re-writing it at the same time (Gwynne and Muller 2013). It can be concluded from this analysis that a particular character, series, movie or genre cannot be labelled as post-feminist and that post-feminist ideology arose out of the internal conflicts in feminist ideology. References Ahmady, J., 2012. Gender Representation in Music Videos & Feminism. Blog post. Accessed http://jasemahmadyems.blogspot.in/2012/10/gender-representation-in-music-videos.html. Anderson, K.J., 2014. Modern Misogyny: Anti-Feminism in a Post-Feminist Era. Oxon: Oxford University Press. Aubrey, J.S., & Frisby, C.M., 2011. Sexual Objectification in Music Videos: A Content Analysis Comparing Gender and Genre. 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Americas Japan and Japans Performing Arts: Cultural Mobility and Exchange in New York. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read More