Introduction
According to the book by Drucilla (1998), Feminism is a term that has been widely described in different ways and by different people. It refers to the aspect of different beliefs put across by people as far as gender equality is concerned and its importance. This goes further to dismiss the fact that the hierarchy of gender is just but a social perception. The concept of feminism has brought a great change in the area of human being lifestyle.
This is because the feminist has continuously staged their consents as far as the rights of women are concerned in terms of social, political, health, economic and legal rights. Socially, issues such as the right to inherit property have been discussed. Legally, the rights to cast a vote, own property, and get a contract. Healthwise the issues of reproductive health as far as abortion is concerned to have been tackled. Economically, issues of discrimination in the workplace, maternity leave, and reception in the workplace have been accounted for.
In the study by Humm (1992), the process of Feminism has been through three main stages namely the first wave, the second wave, and the third wave. During the first wave, which took place in the U.K and the US around the early 20th century, issues of right for the women to contracts, property ownership, and possessiveness of women and children by their husbands was dealt with. Further, issues of sexual violence, economic rights, right to political power, and right to vote were dealt with.
The second wave which was in 1960 on the other hand, focused on the issue of social inequality and more of their political rights since that was important as far as individual woman’s life is concerned. The social belief that women can only and only find their fulfillment in homemaking and bearing children was discussed in depth. Finally, the third wave which took place in 1990 was a reaction against much of what was done in the second wave
Postfeminism
Postfeminism is a term that describes a wide range of arguments against the issue of feminism. As far as post-feminism is concerned the goals of the first wave were achieved but a lot has been criticized as far the second and the third ones are concerned. A lot of critical ideas have been suggested which were focused on exposing the challenges of the ideas brought forth in the second wave. Arguments have gone to an extent of claiming that feminism in the current society is completely invalid.
Much of the work done by the post-feminists argues that the agenda of feminism is separating the people of opposite sexes instead of reuniting them. Most of the claims alleged by the feminist were dismissed in the sense that they lacked evidence. It was claimed that most of the issues dealt with in feminism were just of self-interest. However, McRobbie (2009), argues that post-feminism simply undermines the efforts done by the feminist in as far as the issue of attaining equality is concerned. McRobbie (2009) further gives an example of post-feminism like media products by feminists like the famous TV program called sex & the city.
Post-feminism concerning gender, power, and identity
According to Whelehan (2000), the feminist in the year 1970s was focused on achieving women’s freedom from struggles like reproductive health, sexual rights, and inequality as far as the workplace is concerned. However, as the era of post-feminism came into being, the issue of empowerment came into place. There came a need for the females to get empowered to be able to make their own decisions like the choice of clothes to wear or buy and also the kind of food to cook. These were found to be rather much important even more than the right of a woman to vote. Emphasizes the issue of women being more proud of themselves, Bold enough to air their thoughts or grievances, independent and free from any form of oppression were dealt with.
Joanne (2000) argues that women’s issues of independent decision making like choosing who to socialize with, the ability to care for the children on their own, making choices on the products one opts to buy were part of what the post-feminists fought for. Empowerment was expressed in form of mead adverts. For example, products for women to use are widely being advertised. This enables them to freely and in their own free will choose what to purchase and use without interference by any man.
However, in most cases, this kind of empowerment has been criticized in the sense that it has been differently understood. Most post-feminist argue that such matters like the ones discussed above are not all ways in which a woman can be said to be empowered. In other words, it is such a cheap way of showing independence in the woman. For example; a woman who has so many types of shoes does not mean she is more empowered.
However, further critics have been given on the issues of for example a woman wearing some very high-heeled shoes to show how confident she is. Some people have gone further and misinterpreted the whole idea in that it is a sign of sexual promiscuity. To add strength to such argument, many have criticized the idea of a woman being so uncomfortable in such shoes to achieve sexual attractions at the expense of her freedom to move freely and comfortably.
According to Gill (2006), advertisement has been considered a good form of achieving gender equality as far as sexual issues are concerned. For example, some of the websites today and magazines have a column where women are invited to air their views as far as the issue of sexual gratification is concerned. Though women feel that through such opportunities their equality in conjugal rights is very well catered for, some other people feel that that is just a form of getting the magazine to be sold.
Also, since not many can air their views through such means, some people argue that an article bearing such an issue which has also attracted so many men to participate gives an implication that women are just sexual objects for men.
It has been noted by Gill (2006) that the emergence of some media products like pornography has been highly criticized in the sense that such can not be a form or a way for a woman to express her freedom to make decisions on what to do and not to do. The basis of this argument is in the aspect of moral values. Many people feel that the art and secrets of the act of sex are no longer a secret to anyone anymore because these pornographic materials are even open to children for viewing.
Financial freedom in women has also been a negative target by many. This is because a lot of products are being produced to catch the attention of women. The issue of commodity feminism whereby products are being packaged in a way that attracts women is another strategy of misusing their financial and choice freedom. This is a form of taking advantage of a woman’s naivety.
In the book Gill (2006) the issue of female bodies being represented structurally has been questioned as far as feminism is concerned. Many adverts showing a wide range of women products have been a victim of this. This is because some women are using this form of adverts to form their identities. For instance, the use of a smooth faces woman structure in contrast to a rough-skinned woman structure has caused some identity crises in women. Also, the use of a fat woman’s body structure against a slim woman’s body structure has caused some identity crises. All this has led to some social classes in women and a lack of confidence in some women.
The use of women naked and tattooed bodies in the advertisement have misinterpreted the meaning of feminism. This is because a woman’s body is now being referred to as a property rather than a psychological or even a social structure. The woman’s body is now being referred to as a sexy body which is a form of identification. In such cases, the woman’s body is not only assumed as a man’s gaze since they are no longer represented as passive objects.
Such figures like midriff, where women are being represented in their active form hence appearing as sexual desiring subjects, are giving women the wrong identity. They are believed in doing that one is showing a sense of confidence. Also, others are being used to represent beauty in women. Some other representations are drawing a picture of a world where for one to be called beautiful a great price has to be paid in terms of time, finances, and pain. Moreover, these midriff adverts give the impression of women’s potentiality being coined in their beauty.
According to Gill (2002), representations in the form of a midriff have led to a state called power shift. The fact that a woman’s image is no longer being represented as a passive structure but an active being like in the case of pornography has painted a picture of oppression on the side of women. This is because women are no longer being sex objected but now they are sex subjected. The issue of objecting to a woman in sexual representation was abated understandable to be a violation of rights since it was done without consent. However, the issues of subjecting women to sexual activities like pornography with their consent have been greatly criticized. It is no longer referred to as oppression but it is now a disciplinary regulation.
Driscoll (2002) found that some other forms of midriff adverts too have been criticized. For instance, a woman represented in a car looking as revengeful as an advert for a new model of a car. This brings a very wrong impression of a woman. In that, it means the woman did not go for the car because of her financial empowerment but rather for revenge on her sexual partner. Therefore, some other imagery representations of women’s empowerment are very detrimental to men. Also, this paints a woman as generally a very nasty and cruel being to the rest of the world. Also, such forms of feminist representation are drawing a picture of how different men are from women. The aspect of competition between the two genders is brought out through such.
Conclusion
Berger (2001) concluded that Gender, identity, and power have been highly criticized as far as feminism is concerned. It should be noted that not always that the state of fighting for feminism will result in the achievement of gender identity, power equality, and female identity as post-feminism has shown. In an actual sense some means of acquiring or showing the acquisition of that, have caused more harm to women than before. Media for instance has contributed to such as shown above.
Therefore, post-feminism is a very crucial means of trying to achieve positive feminism whereby as much as women seek equality it is important to look at the consequences of the whole issue as far as their identity is concerned. Also, a form of feminism that is very much aware of the media agendas as far as the fight for political rights, identity, and empowerment are concerned must be applied. So post-feminism is a form of awakening-call in as far as media, products production, and packaging are concerned regarding the gender mainstreaming process.
References
Berger, W. (2001) Advertising today. Routledge, London.
Driscoll, C. (2002) Girls: Feminine adolescence in popular culture and cultural theory. Columbia University Press, New York.
Drucilla, C. (1998) At the heart of freedom: feminism, sex, and equality. Colombia university press, Colombia.
Gill, R. (2006) Advertising and post feminism. Polity press, Cambridge.
Humm, M. (1992) Modern feminisms: political, literary, cultural. Columbia University Press, New York.
Joanne H. (2000) Feminism, femininity and popular culture. Manchester University Press, Manchester.
McRobbie, A. (2009) Post-feminism and popular culture. University of oxford press, London.
Whelehan, I. (2000) Overloaded: Popular culture and the future of feminism. The Women’s Press Ltd, London.