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Young Women's Dis-Identification with Feminism: Negotiating Heteronormativity, Neoliberalism and Difference

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Young Women's Dis-Identification with Feminism: Negotiating Heteronormativity, Neoliberalism and Difference London School of Economics and Political Science Young women's dis-identification with feminism: negotiating heteronormativity, neoliberalism and difference Christina Marie Scharff A Thesis Submitted to the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy, London, September 2009 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. 2 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the women who volunteered to take part in my study for taking the time to talk to me, sharing their thoughts and experiences openly, and enabling me to conduct this research. Several colleagues and friends have put me in touch with my research participants. In particular, I would like to thank Diane Farmer, Norah Waters, Tracey Jensen and Verena Barth for their help. My thanks also go to the Economic and Social Research Council that has funded this project. I cannot overstate my gratitude to my supervisor Ros Gill. I feel thankful, lucky and privileged that I could benefit from her intellect and expertise, commitment to her students, as well as her warm and generous academic and personal support. By doing my PhD at the Gender Institute, LSE, I was fortunate to conduct and discuss my research in a friendly, but rigorous environment. I would like to thank Clare Hemmings for fostering my interest in gender research through her inspiring teaching, for reading and commenting on my work, and offering her help on numerous occasions. I would also like to thank Diane Perrons for her engagement with my research and support in obtaining funding, as well as Sadie Wearing for always being approachable, both in terms of offering intellectual and personal advice. Hazel Johnstone has played a central role during my time at the Gender Institute and I would like to thank her for her professional and skilled help with regard to securing funding, organising conferences and managing the various administrative tasks of being a PhD student. I am also glad that Jonathan Dean joined the Gender Institute in July 2008 and thank him for the hours spent discussing our common research interests. I wrote my PhD in the PhD room, at the Gender Institute, which has became my most permanent 'home' in London. Not only intellectually, but also because of my friendships with the PhD students. I have valued the time spent working and relaxing together, particularly our Friday night drinks. My thanks go to Elisabeth Kelan, Faith Armitage, Deborah Finding, Carolyn Williams, Joanne Kalogeras, Rebekah Wilson, Amy Hinterberger, and Gwen Beetham. I would like to express my gratitude to Patrizia Kokot for proof-reading some of my chapters, and to Marina Franchi for checking my bibliography. I would also like to thank Maria do Mar Pereira and Natasha Marhia for being such great colleagues during our work on the Lost and Found and Translation project. I feel very fortunate that we collaborated so well as a team and were encouraging of each other, both in relation to our common project, and our research more generally. Lastly, I thank Carolyn Pedwell for commenting on my work, and for generously offering her advice by acting as a mentor on several occasions. Outside the Gender Institute, my friends Hyo Yoon Kang, Ana Hozyainova, David Saha, and Luis Alton have shared the ups and downs of my daily life in the UK. My thanks go to Sarah Jones for moving back to London and for offering me a safe space to discuss my emotional life, that so easily gets overlooked in the business of London. In this respect, I also thank Alejandra Perez. Eddie and Sheila Cass have provided me with a home away from home — thank you for being my 'English' parents. I would also like to thank Charles Jandreau for his loyal support and for keeping my mind alert by taking my ideas seriously and engaging with them critically. 3 My work and well-being has certainly been nourished by the hours spent chatting and laughing with LONK — Leena Crasemann, Olga Jugov, Nele Kirchner, and Katharina Gnath. I feel that it is precious to be part of a group of friends with a common history, who have known me for a long time and in different phases of my life. The fact that you are all in Berlin does not always make my life abroad easy, but it certainly helps to know that you are there for me. I am also thankful that my godmothers Maria Hoffmann-Ltining and Gisela Zenz take such an interest in my life, and continue to offer their advice and support, never getting tired of changing addresses, phone-numbers and whereabouts. My special thanks go to my family — my siblings Anna and Philipp, and their partners Tim and Christiane. It is really nice to be your younger sister, and always have a loving and caring ear to turn to. Finally, I thank my parents, Heidi Scharff and Joerg Scharff, for their endless love, encouragement, and support. This is for my nieces Mae, Ada, and Luisa in the hope that they won't need this thesis, but instead live in a post-patriarchal era. 4 Abstract This thesis explores young women's relationship with feminism, contributing to an enhanced understanding of feminist dis-identification. Feminist research offers various explanations for young women's repudiation of feminism; this study adds a further dimension to current debates by adopting a performative approach which explores how difference, and particularly sexuality, mediates young women's responses to feminism. Employing and developing the broader theoretical frameworks of postfeminism, individualisation, neoliberalism, and difference, this thesis intervenes in current debates by highlighting the role of heteronormativity in negotiations of feminism. The study is based on forty, semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews with a diverse group of German and British women, aged 18-35. A discursive analysis of the interviews provides an insight into young women's talk, thoughts, and feelings about feminism. Exemplifying a postfeminist logic, two broad patterns were discernable in the research participants' talk: feminism was either considered as valuable, but anachronistic and therefore irrelevant to the present, or fiercely repudiated as extreme and dogmatic. While most research participants reported they would not call themselves a feminist, their stance towards feminism shifted depending on the cultural resources they drew on to discuss feminist politics. Reflecting the broader cultural currents of neoliberalism and individualisation, the respondents frequently rejected the need for a collective movement by positioning themselves as individuals who were capable of negotiating structural constraints autonomously. The research participants were aware of persistent gender inequalities, but located them predominantly in the public sphere and/or 'other' parts of the world, claiming they had not personally experienced gender discrimination. Feminists were overwhelmingly portrayed and 5 constructed as unfeminine, man-hating, and lesbian. Although the respondents could not name any concrete examples of feminists who corresponded to this stereotype, the construction of 'the feminist' haunted their accounts. As the performative approach illustrates, discussions of feminism gave rise to complex negotiations and performative citations of normative femininity. Performances of femininity were racialized and classed, intersecting with feminist dis-identification in multiple ways. The perception of feminism as inclusive or exclusive figured as an important theme in the interviews. This thesis adds to our understanding of feminist dis-identification by employing various theoretical tools, drawing on empirical accounts, and by revealing the structuring role of heteronormativity in negotiations of feminism. 6 Table of Contents Declaration 2 Acknowledgments 3 Abstract 5 Preface 9 1 Chapter One 14 Literature review: understanding feminist dis-identification 14 1.1 Young women's relationship with feminism: does social movement theory lend itself to exploring feminist dis-identification? 17 1.1.1 The socio-historical contexts: why study young women's negotiations of feminism? 17 1.1.2 Social movement theory 23 1.2 Feminist perspectives on feminist dis-identification 30 1.3 A performative approach to feminist dis-identification 38 1.4 Acknowledging difference: femininity as a classed and racialized performance 47 1.5 Conclusion 56 2 Chapter Two 59 Methodology: doing qualitative research from a feminist perspective 59 2.1 Feminist methodology and the use of the qualitative in-depth interview 60 2.2 The researcher/researched relationship 71 2.3 The dilemma of representation 80 2.4 Silences and reflexivity 89 2.5 Conclusion 98 3 Chapter Three 100 The interpretative frame: performativity theory, discursive psychology and theories of affect 100 3.1 Butler's performativity theory 101 3.2 Discursive psychology and conversation analysis 108 3.3 Discursive psychology and cultural psychoanalysis 117 3.4 Theories of affect 130 3.5
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