Teaching the Conflicts: (Re)Engaging Students with Feminism in a Postfeminist World
Meredith A. Love and Brenda M. Helmbrecht
What happened to the dreams of a girl president She’s dancing in the video next to 50 Cent They travel in packs of two or three With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees Where, oh where, have the smart people gone? Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back Porno Paparazzi girl, I don’t wanna be a stupid girl Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back Push up my bra like that, I don’t wanna be a stupid girl —Pink, “Stupid Girls”
If representational visibility equals power, then almost-naked young white women should be running Western culture. —Peggy Phelan, Unmarked
There is no question that the work of femi- all around” and a “World despaired, their nists has benefited the daily lives, health, only concern [is]: Will they fuck up my and financial status of many American hair?” Certainly, Pink is prone to hyper- women. In fact, some women’s lives have bole, but her questions resonate: do young been so improved that today’s younger women still dream of being world leaders, generation of women may not even know or have their ambitions been curtailed that “we’ve come a long way, baby” and, in lieu of the smaller achievements they perhaps even more importantly, that we can make with their buying power? Peggy still have a long way to go. Even pop cul- Phelan makes a similar point above, noting ture icons themselves, such as the musi- that “almost-naked young white women” cian Pink, recognize the current state of are given great visibility in our culture, gender politics, lamenting the fact that especially in advertisements, television, young women today are more concerned and film; yet it would be preposterous to with what they need to do and buy to suggest that their visibility instantly trans- maintain their image than they are with lates into power. Phelan continues to sug- the positions of power they could some- gest that when women or anyone else who day hold. is “othered” in Western culture (including Pink, an artist we will discuss at some women and men of color, gays, lesbians length in this essay, is searching for “Out- and transsexuals; basically anyone who is casts and girls with ambition,” because not a white, heterosexual male) are given despite the fact that there are “Disasters visibility, this visibility is often accompa-
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© 2007 by the board of trustees of the university of illinois
FT 18_1 text.indd 41 9/26/07 2:38:46 PM nied by surveillance, voyeurism, and the woman minoring in women’s studies. desire to possess another (6–7). Thus, for This self-identified “third-wave feminist,” this project, questions about whether a who also works in the women’s center group is in some way made visible or rep- and volunteers at a shelter for abused resented in popular culture may be more women, asked, “Who is Gloria Steinem?” productively framed as follows: What is This student’s commitment to improv- the difference between an assumed image ing the lives of women is commendable, of empowerment and a “real” image of yet we found ourselves troubled by the empowerment? And as feminist educators, fact that a student preparing to graduate how do we help students to tell the differ- with a women’s studies minor has nearly ence? Furthermore, what do the discourses finished her work without learning about of current third-wave feminism and post- Steinem or understanding her contribu- feminism teach women about representa- tion and, perhaps, the contributions of tion, empowerment, and their place in the other second-wave feminists to the overall realm of social action? feminist project. This student has lingered To explore these questions, we dis- in the back of our minds as we researched cuss three products of mass media—the and wrote this article. In many ways, we musician Pink, the Dove Campaign for find ourselves directing our pedagogi- Real Beauty, and the film The Devil Wears cal strategies to reach students like her: Prada. In an attempt to better under- younger students who want to re-engage stand the relationship between young with gender theory and feminism but may women and men and their own ability to be unfamiliar with the analytical tools that effect change, we turn to these images of can support them as they try to find their “strong” and “empowered” women. The place within the feminist movement. Of depiction of women in each of these texts course, the experience of this one student creates an interval where the relation- doesn’t allow us to make generalizations ship between personal empowerment and about the curricula of women’s and gen- visibility via consumerism can be inter- der studies courses. However, we find rogated. Moreover, what we regard as a ourselves wondering if younger feminists consumerism/activism split actually epito- would feel less alone in their beliefs if they mizes the tension that manifests when the could position their ideas and their work discourses of postfeminism and third-wave within a broader historical narrative about feminism become conflated. We suggest gendered struggles and the women’s that teaching to the ideological conflicts movement—within a context that is greater that manifest within this convergence than both themselves and the third-wave can serve to (re)engage students with the feminist movement today. tenets and arguments of feminism. Of course, many feminist scholars have recounted the tension and strain felt by Moving Past the the proponents of third-wave feminism Second/Third Divide and the second wavers that came before them. Yet in the Winter 2004 issue of Ms., In order to ground our inquiry, we turn to Lisa Jervis, one of the co-founders and a an example from the classroom. Recently, former editor of Bitch magazine, claims Brenda had a conversation with a young that the term “third-wave feminism”
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FT 18_1 text.indd 42 9/26/07 2:38:46 PM is no longer useful, in part because of to show that there is “nothing specifically how much has been made of this divide generational about any of these femi- between the questionably demarcated nisms” (108). She contends that there waves. Jervis’s assessment of the so- are too many generalizations made about called generational gap between femi- second wave and third-wave feminism: nisms has a deep history. She writes, “Attributing our differences to generation rather than to politics sets us firmly into The rap goes something like this: Older psychologized thinking, and into versions women drained their movement of of mother/daughter relations—some- sexuality; younger women are uncriti- how, we are never sisters who might have cally sexualized. Older women won’t recognize the importance of pop cul- things to teach each other across our dif- ture; younger women are obsessed with ferences and despite our rivalries” (118). media representation. Older women However, as Jervis and Hogeland argue, have too narrow a definition of what it could be said that too much has been makes a feminist issue; younger women made of the differences between second are scattered and don’t know what’s and third-wave feminism, or that it has important. been discussed too much, at the expense of other, more important conversations. In a 1997 article in Hypatia, Catherine Orr Jervis reminds us that “It’s just so much notes that some third-wave texts reveal easier to hit on the playful cultural ele- a distinctive desire to break away from ments of the third wave and contrast second-wave feminism to create some- them with the brass-tacks agenda—and thing entirely new (32–33); however, Orr impressive gains—of the second wave: It’s also laments the breach between the become the master narrative of feminism’s two waves, writing that “Second wave progression (or regression, as some see ‘moms’ can and should be represented it).” as something more than just oppressive Rather than dwell on the misunder- to their third-wave ‘daughters’” (42). As standings and animosities between sec- an alternative, Orr proposes a supportive ond and third wave, we propose moving relationship: “What we must realize is that the discussion to one that understands the inevitable reworking of the successes the goals and objectives of men and and failures of second wave feminism is women who self-identify as third-wave underway, and the best place for second feminists. We contend that such an under- wave academics to be is where the action standing hinges both on our ability to is. After all, if the second wave is history, account for the effects of postfeminist then perhaps we should get to work on thinking—which generally argues that the demonstrating to the next generation that feminist movement is an historical entity, it is a usable past” (42). at best—and on the ability of the third Lisa Maria Hogeland makes similar wave to function as a coherent front. claims in her 2001 article, “Against Gen- erational Thinking, or, Some Things that Voices of the Third Wave ‘Third-Wave’ Feminism Isn’t.” Hogeland sorts out the various political positions Third-wave feminism, like other femi- taken by feminists in different movements nisms, is not held to one, stable defini-
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FT 18_1 text.indd 43 9/26/07 2:38:46 PM tion. And just as second-wave feminism However, as we shall examine momen- consisted of liberal, material, cultural, and tarily, third-wave voices, even those in this other versions of feminism, the third wave collection, do not always reflect this focus also has several different voices and ideol- on transformation and action. ogies within it. There is no right way to be Bitch, a self-described third-wave a feminist. However, after much reflection, feminist magazine that seeks to mesh we do hold to a definition of feminism that critique with action, attempts to meet assumes a consciousness of social condi- the objective spelled out by Dicker and tions and a commitment to the undoing of Piepmeier. In particular, Bitch focuses on patriarchal systems. Although there never critiquing popular culture’s representa- has and never will be a monolithic defini- tions of women, directing its attention to tion of the term “feminism,” we subscribe a broad array of media outlets, including to Judith Butler’s simple definition: “Femi- film, television, publishing, and advertis- nism is about the social transformation of ing. However, Bitch also regularly extends gender relations” (204). In other words, the arm of critique to the realm of social feminism should be more than just an action with sections like “Where to identity label. It must do. It must signify Bitch.” Within this regular feature, read- action. ers encounter information about current Within this same vein, Rory Dicker and social issues as well as the organizations Alison Piepmeier, editors of the collection they can contact to better educate them- Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for selves and respond to injustices. In the the 21st Century, believe that Summer 2006 issue, for instance, “Where to Bitch” offers information about organi- We need a feminism that is dedicated to zations that assist readers wanting to start a radical, transformative political vision, campaigns against sweatshops; they also a feminism that does not shy away from provide URLs where consumers can check hard work but recognizes that changing the world is a difficult and necessary on the toxicity of beauty products or the task, a feminism that utilizes the new ethics of retailers (35). Readers of this zine technologies of the Internet, the playful will find feminist discourse that is smart, world of fashion, and the more clearcut irreverent, and vibrant, but also focused activism of protest marches, a feminism on moving a feminist agenda forward. that can engage with issues as diverse However, Bitch may be an exciting as women’s sweatshop labor in global exception to the rule. In their study of six factories and violence against women third-wave feminist texts, Stacey Sowards expressed in popular music. (5) and Valerie Renegar find that third-wave feminists “share their stories, listen to The actual organization of the pieces others’ stories, consume popular culture within the collection “mirrors the process in ways they find empowering, and create of consciousness-raising itself” (5) and new vocabularies to enhance their own includes diverse voices. Overall, the col- lives, but these activities do not necessar- lection reflects the belief of the editors ily lead to social activism in its traditional that “Ultimately, to be effective, feminism forms” (548). They may “embrace vari- must embrace action, even when action ous forms of activism,” but “they do not calls us to make difficult choices” (19). want to force individuals to take an activ-
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FT 18_1 text.indd 44 9/26/07 2:38:47 PM ist stance or assume that certain forms of was relevant to my life and my values” activism are appropriate for all people” (309). Baumgardner then acknowledges (548). It is this strand of the third wave the advancements made possible by ear- that seems, at times, to be focused, even lier feminisms that took on the important preoccupied, with personal freedom and project of naming injustices regarding pay, desire, perhaps to the exclusion of social equal opportunity, and sexual freedom; activism altogether. now, claims Baumgardner, the third wave In their introduction to Catching a Wave: must rebuild feminism for what’s com- Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Cen- ing next. As other third-wave feminists tury, Dicker and Piepmeier also identify a have claimed, Baumgardner argues that contradiction we have perceived in other younger feminists do not want to be tied third-wave texts. They write, “many in the to a fixed feminist identity that requires third wave—in their attempt to complicate members to be “anti-capitalist, super- and broaden feminism, in their attempt serious, and hostile to bikini waxes and to bring postmodern and poststructuralist Madonna” (310). theoretical concepts to bear on feminist Pollitt responds by applauding the next theory and praxis—run the risk of aban- generation’s interest in forming their own doning feminist politics” (18), perhaps, groups, yet she emphasizes that “society we contend, in lieu of personal fulfill- places rather serious limits on the ability ment. Although the editors acknowledge of most women to live differently, even the dangers of moving too much towards if they think differently. Those limits are the private end of the spectrum when subtler now—everything looks like a free constructing new feminist paradigms, the choice” (313). Baumgardner then contin- afterword at the end of Catching a Wave ues to argue that, gives voice to a troubling thread in third- wave feminism. This final section of the I guess I’m sensing that the personal frontier is where my generation is doing collection is structured as a conversation most of its work [. . .] and that is impor- between third-wave author Jennifer Baum- tant work. Just as important as the gardner and second-wave political colum- lawchanging/tenure/first-woman-presi- nist Katha Pollitt. dent stuff, because how we conduct our We believe that this conversation is personal lives (what speaks to us, what more important in terms of what it tells we value) represents us directly—this is us about third-wave feminism and post- why the personal is political. [. . .] Femi- feminism than in terms of what it does (or nism is about getting in touch with your does not) add to the second/third-wave true desires.[ . . . ]I believe in a femi- divide. Early in the conversation Baum- nism that strengthens my connections gardner explains, “As you know, I am to my own desires. (316–17) invested in claiming that there is a third- Pollitt seems perturbed by the focus on wave and that younger women are taking a feminism that is too focused on self-ful- feminism forward, toward greater freedom fillment: “I am all for following one’s star if not always toward stronger laws or more and embracing one’s ‘true desires’—but organized protests” and it is the “right who arranges the constellations in one’s and responsibility” of Baumgardner and personal firmament? Where do those ‘true her generation “to create a feminism that
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FT 18_1 text.indd 45 9/26/07 2:38:47 PM desires’ come from and in what social consumerist culture, and into an activist context does one pursue them?” (317). stance that works to effect change. Pointing to the importance of examin- We have this worry, in part, because of ing the power of social forces on our the virulent discourse of postfeminism, “choices,” Pollitt notes the countless ways which tells young women to focus on the that women are still disadvantaged finan- self and to consume in order to be empow- cially, noting that sometimes a choice ered. These very messages—buttressed that looks like a “free” one can have dire by media images of women made stronger consequences down the road. Pollitt con- by their purchasing power—allow for post- cludes that “A feminism that doesn’t raise feminist ruminations that question the these issues isn’t worth much” (317) and legitimacy and need for the entire feminist that “feminists have to raise those uncom- movement within the very social and cul- fortable, unsettling, infuriating questions tural spaces that have been indisputably about intimate relations and personal altered by feminist voices. choices: it’s not enough to say, ‘Whatever floats your boat’” (318). Contradictions, Post What? as Pollitt suggests, must be uncovered, dealt with, and sometimes left as contra- In a recent gender studies course, Mer- dictions. But the personal cannot remain edith presented her students with the personal if social change is a goal. “‘You statistic that 57 percent of college stu- go, girl!’ is a good slogan,” writes Pollitt, dents today are women (“College”). Most “But it’s not the only thing women need to of the women in the class smiled. One hear. They also need to hear, from time to nontraditional student noted what a huge time, that old, infuriating, favorite saying change this is from when she got her first of the hairy-legged ancients: the personal college degree several decades ago, while is political” (319). a young man in the class confessed that Like Pollitt, we are struck by the use of he always thought about school as being the word “desire” here and struggle to a place with more women than men. How- account for such a feminist objective when ever, faces in the room sobered a bit when introducing students to third-wave discus- they learned that fewer women hold pow- sions. After all, it seems that such a focus erful, decision-making positions in higher on personal fulfillment can be at odds education than men and that women tend with the goals of a feminist pedagogy. Joy to earn more bachelor’s and master’s Ritchie points out that “Feminist class- degrees than men, but hold fewer PhDs rooms are not simply revisionary because (Tyler). And they were shocked to learn they break with canonical content; they that women who work full-time still earn are also revisionary because they demand only 77 percent annually as much as full- critical rather than solipsistic modes of time male workers (“Gender” 1). thought and because they assert an ethi- We have found that, at times, statistics cal rather than a nihilistic stance” (304). In can be an effective persuasive strategy our view, the goal of feminist pedagogy is when discussing the need for continued to move students away from egocentrism attention to gender and women’s issues in and self-indulgent penchant for personal the U.S. As many feminist instructors (our- desire, a stance encouraged by media and selves included) have learned, some stu-
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FT 18_1 text.indd 46 9/26/07 2:38:48 PM dents, particularly “traditional,” younger lens of postfeminist discourse, media university students, believe that there is outlets might praise the statistic that 57 no reason to fight for a feminist agenda percent of college students are women anymore—a sentiment students freely but then ignore the darker truth behind express in our women’s studies courses. the numbers about the positions women We sometimes attribute this resistance to hold and their second-rate status in earn- students never knowingly experiencing ings. Although young women today leave discrimination. Moreover, other students college with education and opportunities, may be surprised by the data on success the flip side of that 57 percent remains after college in part because of media obstructed from their view, for we sel- messages that come wrapped up in post- dom “see” popular images of successful feminist discourse, a term Angela McRob- women hitting a glass ceiling, contend- bie defines as ing with sexual harassment, or knowingly working next to a male coworker earning a an active process by which feminist higher salary. gains of the 1970s and 1980s come We see a conflict here. We want women to be undermined. It proposes that to understand that they do have power through an array of machinations, ele- ments of contemporary popular culture and agency and that they are strong and are perniciously effective in regard to capable. Yet we also want students to this undoing of feminism, while simul- see a difference between feeling empow- taneously appearing to be engaging in ered because the media says they are, a well-informed and even well-intended and actually being empowered—through response to feminism. (255) knowing women’s history, from political engagement, by working collectively on In her essay, “Negotiating Spaces For/ cultural and social issues important to Through Third-Wave Feminism,” Amber E. women. Such evidence of empowerment Kinser helps build on McRobbie’s defini- is often located in consumerism, where tion of postfeminism by conceding that Yvonne Tasker and Diane Negra observe, “freedom is construed as the freedom [p]ostfeminism very well may be a voice that is currently rising above the din for to shop (and to cook), albeit [. . .] with many young women. It is seductive. It the option of an ironic mode” (107). Ann co-opts the motivating discourse of fem- Braithwaite puts it this way: “The empha- inism but accepts a sense of empower- sis of this newer ‘more fun’ and ‘groovier’ ment as a substitute for the work toward postfeminism now allows women to and evidence of authentic empower- (re)emphasize or return to lifestyle choices ment. (emphasis original; 134) and personal consumer pleasures, rather than those older agendas for more direct In response to the social and private kinds of social activism” (24). While we advances second-wave feminists made are comfortable pointing out the fallacies (and continue to make), postfeminist of postfeminist thinking for our students, texts subtly communicate the idea that we become conflicted when we observe feminism is “decisively aged and made to some of the same focus on self-empower- seem redundant” (McRobbie 255). ment and consumerism in texts identified For instance, when looking through the as being part of third-wave feminism. In
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FT 18_1 text.indd 47 9/26/07 2:38:48 PM many ways, we worry that postfeminism nism and third-wave feminism. We would and its generally dismissive attitude like to give students tools that they can toward feminist achievement and ideolo- use to move beyond the consumerist, gies may slowly overtake the third-wave self-focused nature of postfeminism and feminist movement. reconnect them with the socially moti- Our campuses are certainly friendly vated work of feminists, regardless of their to conversations about women’s experi- wave. The overarching goal here is to help ences, yet we still find ourselves contend- young women locate their own agency in a ing with resistance in our classrooms that capitalist, androcentric media culture that we trace back to the postfeminist influence is not invested in actually giving them any of popular culture texts, which “are per- agency at all. Thus, when we consider the niciously effective in regard to this undo- tenets of third-wave feminism, as we do in ing of feminism” (McRobbie 255). Chris this article, we must keep in mind that it Holmlund notes that despite its “longish” history, “the adjective ‘postfeminist’ has is in the midst of [postfeminism’s] bel- lowing voice that third-wave feminism been applied to texts—from books and begins to speak. [ . . . ] Third-wave songs to TV programs and films to paint- voices are clearly a response to the ings, cartoons, and photographs—only strength of postfeminism and its effec- since the 1980s,” adding that Madonna is tive depoliticizing of feminist discourse, frequently cited as a “postfeminist queen” and therefore by definition are going (117). We believe that popular texts, like to have a different articulation of what film, music, and advertising, need to be it means to be feminist and a different brought into a classroom where they can narrative of feminist living than second be scrutinized, questioned, and studied wavers. (Kinser 133, 135) through a gendered lens. Harriet Malinow- itz, in an article exploring feminist writing Facing the Conflicts in theory, reminds us that “The goal of femi- the Classroom nist education has never been to prepare students to participate in the world as it As women who grew up in the 1980s, we exists; the goal, rather, has been to help are, by the generational definitions associ- them develop the skills to deconstruct ated with the “waves,” third-wavers. Yet and transform that world” (310). Bringing we believe that feminist educators who to the classroom some of the most cur- have been educated in the discourses of rent and most popular images that our second-wave, third-wave, and postfemi- students see every day and studying them nist discourses are best equipped with through lenses that highlight the postfem- experiences and theories that can help inist agenda give students a perspective students understand the transformative that they can use to identify other such power of feminism. In her essay, “Con- subtle messages and see the transforma- fronting the ‘Essential’ Problem: Recon- tions that are still necessary. necting Feminist Theory and Pedagogy,” As educators committed to helping Ritchie advocates taking a “both/and” students (re)engage with feminism, we position in a classroom when teaching must engage students in dialogue to help within a feminist paradigm, because such them bridge the gap between postfemi- a position allows her to “interpret more
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FT 18_1 text.indd 48 9/26/07 2:38:48 PM clearly the contradictory and conflict- some students use their voices to express filled experience of the students as they could be sexist, homophobic, or racist. So, [attempt] to understand their position of in many respects, it also seems that an women in our culture” (287). instructor’s obligation is to teach students Contradiction. Conflict. This is the stuff to use their voices in a way that does not of feminist pedagogy. Any person who further discriminatory agendas. attempts to live and/or teach according We work at universities where women’s to feminist theories and principles has studies and gender studies programs are experienced it. Ignoring contradiction and new to the curriculum. Even in courses like conflict in our classrooms would mean “Introduction to Women’s Studies,” stu- overlooking important teaching moments. dents are hesitant to claim the term “femi- This notion of both acknowledging and nist” and come with little understanding even seeking out the areas in a culture about the role that feminists have played where conflicts abound can be attrib- in academic, social, historical, or legal uted, in part, to Mary Louise Pratt, who realms. Many students enroll in the course argued for the arts of the “contact zone,” to fulfill a “cultural pluralism” requirement; or “social spaces where cultures meet, others are there because the class fit their clash, and grapple with each other” (607). schedule; some need to fill an upper-level The metaphor of the contact zone serves writing requirement; others truly have an to remind us that even within communi- interest in conversations about gender pol- ties like universities and classrooms, we itics. Because so few of our students can cannot “assume that principles of coop- articulate their relationship to feminism eration and shared understanding are in terms that are wholly positive, our task, normally in effect” and that “the situa- then, becomes one of imagination. To best tion is governed by a single set of rules or serve our students, we need to step into norms shared by all participants” (615). what might possibly be postfeminist think- Rather, we need to encourage and nurture ing and realize that before asking them to the voices of discord and critical inquiry. take feminism “into account” we must (like We certainly feel these tensions as we them) regard it as “having already passed attempt to honor our identities as feminist away” (McRobbie 255). In other words, educators in the midst of this ideological many of our students approach femi- gap between feminisms. In Women Teach- nism as an historical artifact, and our job ing for Change, Kathleen Weiler, draw- becomes not just re-engagement, but also ing on the work of Paulo Freire and other critical recovery and reclamation. While critical pedagogues, reminds us of the some students leave our courses happily importance of respecting the dignity of our applying “feminist” to their list of identi- students. In practice, this means making ties, others never become comfortable space for their voices in the classroom, with it, seemingly unable to subtract the even when we don’t agree with them. stereotypical “angry, man-hating, flannel- Weiler writes, “The empowerment of stu- wearing” associations attached to it. For dents means encouraging them to explore instance, in an assignment that asks stu- and analyze the forces acting upon their dents to profile a woman in their lives who lives” (152). Yet, this pedagogical choice hails from a different generation, students itself becomes tricky because the ideas often report that their own mothers, aunts,
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FT 18_1 text.indd 49 9/26/07 2:38:49 PM and grandmothers despise feminism and empowered by female role models and still struggle with the angry feminist icon become aware of their own oppression who seems to haunt their understanding and the possibilities for emancipation of the women’s movement. It’s no wonder through the consumption of popular cul- that our students carry this same baggage ture” (544). Thus, we find popular cul- with them. ture an important pedagogical tool for At other universities with a different stu- (re)engagement with feminism. dent population or curriculum, instructors Our task as educators, then, is to under- might encounter students whose feminist stand these interactions, these points of identities are already solidified, who come mediation, so that we can both relate to to the classroom with a social agenda the worldview of our students and ask or an ideology. The pedagogical sugges- them to engage with images that com- tions and discussions that we offer here plicate the ubiquity of the “self-empow- work just as well with that population, for erment via consumerism” message fed these moments in popular culture appeal to them. We need to grapple with the to our desire to be empowered and to see gendered experiences students access ourselves as always already completely by watching commercials, films, video free from the hold of patriarchy or other games—any text that provides them with oppression. a framework to interpret their place in We want our students to use their culture as a gendered being. Students voices, their writing, their skills of criti- approach images with varying levels of cal analysis to resist these discriminatory savvy and sophistication, such that some agendas, if they choose. Our experience may claim to be unaffected by everything has shown us that one of the most effec- they see—as though saturation alone tive ways to help students (re)engage with makes them immune to media’s effects. feminist politics in our classroom is to While reception studies have consis- ask them to look again at the mediatized tently pointed out the difficulty of ever culture surrounding them. Images create truly understanding what happens when “teachable” moments that highlight some people cast their gaze upon a certain of the conflicting messages our students image, there is little debate surrounding receive about gender. In How Images the idea that images do matter, and that Think, Ron Burnett uses they do affect how people interact with and understand their place in the world.1 the term image to refer to a complex set When people cast their eyes upon images, of interactions that constitute everyday “[e]vents are no longer viewed through life within image-worlds. The ubiquitous the simple relations of viewer and image; presence of images far exceeds the con- ventional notions that images are just rather, viewers deal with increasingly com- objects for consumption, play, or infor- plex discourses as they struggle to make mation. Images are points of mediation sense of images that literally seep into that allow access to a variety of experi- every aspect of their lives” (Burnett 6). ences. (xix) Thus, it makes sense to spend time with these contradictions and build them into In addition, Sowards and Renegar have our pedagogical and curricular choices. found that “many young women are The three media texts we suggest here—
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FT 18_1 text.indd 50 9/26/07 2:38:49 PM the work of Pink, the Dove Campaign for hyper-sexual performance exemplified by Real Beauty, and the film The Devil Wears Pink and others who argue for the power Prada—present images and messages that of personal choice can also be seen as students consume, and are also suitable a form of resistance to the second wave for illuminating the conflicts among both of feminism (which some say pits femi- third-wave and postfeminist discourses nism and femininity against one another). and the dissolving line between consum- Anthea Taylor writes that “in girlpower erism and activism. terms, embracing femininity becomes an act of defiance against both feminism pink think (which rejects it) and patriarchy (which In many ways, Pink simultaneously trivialises it)” (188). What concerns us is embodies and questions a consumerist that Pink’s audience may not recognize impulse, and, in doing so, seems to be a the implicit contradiction, but will live out perfect example of a cultural text that is this postfeminist hyper-femininity without situated squarely between the dual perfor- pausing to consider the political message mances encouraged by postfeminism and behind it. third-wave feminism. In her song, “Stupid As feminist educators who both con- Girl,” Pink defines “stupid girls” as young sume and teach popular culture, we women who seek to live up to the beauty find ourselves troubled by students who standards and consumer habits set by largely define feminism and their rela- Hollywood stars (in her video she imitates tionship to it through public images like Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Jessica Pink, rather than through activist voices Simpson). In an interview with Oprah, found in politics, books, or zines. Teach- Pink explained that she wrote the song to ing Pink’s song in tandem with self-pro- spark discussion about “mindless con- claimed feminist activists like Ani DiFranco sumerism,” about women not “question- (who founded her own production com- ing anything or contributing anything to pany, Righteous Babe Records) allowed the world.” Oprah quickly pointed out that Brenda to further examine with her stu- Pink has been called hypocritical because dents the relationships among feminism, she has “bared just as much skin in [her] activism, and consumerism. As she had own videos.” Pink replied: “My point is predicted, few students were familiar with not that sexy is a bad thing; my point is DiFranco while most had downloaded that sexy and smart are not oil and water. “Stupid Girl” onto their iPod—a fact that You don’t have to dumb yourself down to prompted discussions of the kinds of femi- be cute. . . . I think it’s an act—it makes nists and feminist statements that “sell.” [a woman] less challenging as a female.” Research has shown that young In effect, Pink herself has been the very women’s impressions of what feminism kind of icon she no longer wants “girls” to means are often learned from the media. emulate. For instance, in an interview project con- Our point is that women are presented ducted with early-adolescent girls, Mela- with “Pink” images that are both exploit- nie Lowe discovered that young women ative and commercial (and maybe even have learned a lot about their sexuality damaging)—yet this same image tells fans from the music and public performances not to be so concerned with images. The of music icons like Spears: “While the girls
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FT 18_1 text.indd 51 9/26/07 2:38:49 PM feel offended and angry when women’s erwise altered the images that appeared bodies are objectified in media, many of on billboards, in commercials, and in them are surprisingly empowered by the magazines. idea that women themselves might choose In addition, one of Dove’s campaign/ to use their own bodies for personal or—in advertising goals is to “create a forum for the case of Britney Spears—professional women to participate in a dialogue and gain” (135). Interestingly enough, Lowe debate the standards of beauty in society” also found that these young women were (“Why”); such “conversation” transpires active readers of the images they saw of on Dove’s website where viewers encoun- Spears, yet she concluded that “Their indi- ter images of women of all ages, sizes, vidual readings of various media texts fre- and skin tones. The site asks viewers to quently frustrate them, particularly when vote on whether the featured woman— their feminist consciousness engages the who changes each time you reload the increasingly decentered self of pop cul- site—is “flawed” or “flawless,” “wrinkled” ture and postfeminism” (139). As educa- or “wonderful,” by clicking on the appro- tors, we want to ask students if they feel priate box. Of the 1,870,950 people who empowered, embarrassed, voyeuristic, or voted to determine if a woman was “over- even indifferent and/or confused as they sized” or “outstanding” in August 2006, gaze upon Britney Spears’s naked, preg- 44 percent opted for oversized. Is Dove nant body on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar truly challenging beauty standards, or Magazine while standing in line at the subtly reifying popular notions of beauty? grocery store. Or if they are angry when The products Dove sells—including firm- they hear Pink criticize other women in her ing lotion, moisturizers, and self-tanning attempt to be both sexy and smart. The lotion, each of which presumably helps messages are, no doubt, mixed, and the the wrinkled, flawed, and oversized— classroom may be a place for students to appear as mere afterthoughts to the larger sort them out together. cause of helping women focus on their own needs. campaign for “real” beauty In creating these spaces where con- Another purveyor of contradictory mes- sumerism and activism mingle awkwardly, sages is Dove. In a recent advertising Pink and Dove implicitly argue that wom- campaign, Dove claims women’s social en’s empowerment and advancement lie and sexual empowerment as a goal. From within an individual’s buying power, not the get-go, Dove’s “global” “Campaign for within a larger cultural cause or move- Real Beauty” positioned itself as being ment. In other words, gender politics wholly altruistic, intending to “serve as a have become conflated with consumer- starting point for societal change” (“Cam- ism. When she recently taught a course paign”). The campaign “aims to change in Women’s Rhetoric, Brenda brought the the status quo and offer in its place a Dove campaign to her students. As she broader, healthier, more democratic view expected, the class (comprised of women) of beauty. A view of beauty that all women was familiar with the campaign, and could can own and enjoy every day” (“Why”). describe the images associated with it Dove chooses “real” women as models, with little prompting. They praised the and claims not to have airbrushed or oth- images as being “unique” and a “welcome
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FT 18_1 text.indd 52 9/26/07 2:38:50 PM change” from the images they regularly struck by the novelty of this concept when encountered in Vogue and Cosmo. After it is presented to the women in our class- spending a few hours on the Dove web- rooms. Yet, once students have consid- site for homework, students posted their ered the relationship between activism responses to an online discussion forum. and consumerism, some do so eagerly. For For the first time, they began to witness instance, one of Brenda’s students, Fran- how a capitalist enterprise had appropri- ces,2 decided to explore this connection in ated women’s “rhetoric of empowerment” the third-wave feminist zine she is design- to sell a product. Images that once made ing for her senior project. In one of her some of the women in the course feel bet- compositions, titled “The Dynamics and ter about their bodies now made them feel Complexities of Consumerism as Activ- more like mere customers. In short, they ism,” Frances critiques the new [PROD- felt duped. UCT] RED campaign that seeks to fight Meredith’s students in a Gender and AIDS in Africa. To support the campaign, Rhetoric course had a similar reaction people can purchase a RED product at a when they came across the portion of store like the Gap or Apple and, as Frances the website that asked them to vote on observes, “walk down the street” think- whether a featured woman was beautiful ing they are an activist in the fight against or oversized. After reading the introduc- AIDS in Africa. Frances continues, tory materials on the site that discussed the importance of teaching young girls Many young women of today consider their consumption of certain products about healthy self-image and reading that support “good” causes as one about Dove’s commitment to make “real and the same with developing a criti- women” more visible, they felt betrayed cal political consciousness. This lack of when they were asked to then participate truly grasping the issue, whether it be in “othering” women with “atypical” body AIDS, sustainability, or breast cancer, types. Additionally, these students were limits both the social or environmental also shocked to see that the women on issue itself as well as the consumer. If the “Real Women Have Curves” page of the consumer’s foundation for under- the site were not really that curvy at all, standing an issue is based upon and at least not curvy enough to be a size associated with the product they pur- 12 or up. Students experienced a sort of chased, there is a disconnect between intellectual and emotional discomfort buying the product and supporting the cause. . . . Society, and third wave femi- with the new paradigm this conversation nists in particular, needs to understand established. The self and the product the complexities of the issues within had become all mixed up—a message of society in order to truly change their empowerment was, in effect, being used community. The development of a criti- against them. Their wallets were lighter, cal social and political awareness is yet they felt no more empowered than absolutely necessary to make change. before they purchased the product. Although we are certainly not the first Yet even Frances, who clearly wants to feminist scholars to point out the ways in live out feminist principles, struggles to which consumerism and feminist activ- untangle her power as a consumer from ism have become conflated, we are still her power as a feminist. Though students
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FT 18_1 text.indd 53 9/26/07 2:38:50 PM are not necessarily passive consumers of model. On the other hand, the icy, aging all images and products, we urge them to editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is think about the images they consume in the third wave’s worst nightmare. She a new, critical framework that questions has power, but lacks happiness. In a dis- the relationships among consumerism, cussion of backlash and postfeminism, gender, and feminism. This pedagogical Braithwaite writes, “Women today, the framework mimics one Weiler discusses. theory goes, are more miserable precisely In describing a group of feminist teach- because of those changes that 1970s ers she has interviewed, Weiler writes, feminism brought about, and everything “they are describing the classroom as that feminism demanded for and in the a place where consciousness is interro- name of women—for example, being able gated, where meanings are questioned, to ‘have it all’—only succeeded in mak- and means of analysis and criticism of the ing them more miserable than ever” (22). social world as well as of a text or assign- Miranda evokes second-wave feminism, ment are encouraged” (114). Foreground- whose advancements served to make her ing the contradictions and struggles both “more miserable” than anyone else in the within ourselves and within movements film. enables necessary conversations that may The Devil Wears Prada is a prime candi- help students better understand their date for exploring with students compet- positions regarding feminism. ing media depictions of strong, successful women. Students may be familiar with the feminist devil both Andy and Miranda, and, as a class, Undoubtedly, popular culture contributes can identify other imagistic representa- to a capitalist version of a postfeminist tions of the “bitch boss.” These sorts of discourse of empowerment. Thus, teach- discussions can serve as an introduc- ing popular films with which students are tion to this film or to others that seem already familiar can provide another tactic to perpetuate the unhealthy “us/them” instructors can use to engage students dichotomy that often stands in the way with gendered images in a classroom. of women organizing across generational For example, in many filmic depictions of lines. By the end of the film, Andy chooses independent and successful women, the to leave her work, haunted perhaps by lead female characters are often impov- the fear that she will become Miranda. erished in the arena of their homes, fami- She instead chooses a low-paying job lies, and friendships. with a local newspaper, reconnects with In 2006’s hit film The Devil Wears her boyfriend, and leaves the film with a Prada, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a spring in her step. The Devil Wears Prada recent ivy league graduate with no fashion presents a false choice—women must sense or any real desire to work in fashion, choose between career success and per- is hired at Runway magazine because her sonal success—and, in turn, tells the story frumpiness and glasses seem to signify that women can be financially successful a kind of librarianesque reliability. As a only by paying the hefty price of personal young woman with career ambitions, Andy unhappiness. Furthermore, the underside is the character audiences are meant to of these representations takes us back identify with—in short, a third-wave role to the fact that women earn 23 percent
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FT 18_1 text.indd 54 9/26/07 2:38:51 PM less than men. The Devil Wears Prada and for the next generation. Writing projects other films like it send the message that that encourage students to reflect on their earning less than men is not only okay but own lives and career aspirations and then also necessary. For “running with the big search out women who might have made boys” takes an emotional toll that men these paths possible, would give students seemed better equipped to handle than the chance to connect their desires with women. The message: “You might earn history and the larger feminist project. less, but you’ll be happier.” The Devil Wears Prada can also provoke Coming to Terms with an investigation into the lives of women the Conflicts in the workplace, about which there are questions that the film does not pose, In her foreword to The Fire This Time, including: What were Miranda’s options Rebecca Walker admits that she did not in terms of maternity leave and day care foresee how easily the acts of consumer- when she had her children? What would ism and activism would be mistaken for happen to Andy’s career if she were to one another: she now feels “shortsighted start a family by adopting a child? What in that we did not anticipate that young are the options for women and men who women and men would think that buying are harassed at work? Thus, this film is books or magazines, or supporting films an excellent starting point for research and fashion that reflected diverse beauty projects, presentations, and discussions and beliefs, could replace many important about legislation—both past and present— struggles to be waged against an unjust that affects women’s lives. In presenting system” (xix). Many of our students fre- us with false dichotomies and simplistic quently make this same error. They may generational and gendered depictions, look to make-up counters, fashion maga- The Devil Wears Prada actually leaves zines, name brands, and images that tell more room for negotiation and interpre- them that the consumption of a particular tation than more complicated stories of product or idea will empower them. Yet, women’s working lives as depicted in films the irony here is that the act of critiquing like North Country and Erin Brockovich. these products and their effect on female This film creates an environment where consumers within a capitalist market will students can critique depictions that they bring them closer to empowerment than already identify with, thereby allowing us, anything they can buy. as a class, to critique our own places as Unlike activism, which tends to encour- women in higher education. age coalition building and collaboration, Additionally, the film encourages the consumerism is a choice driven by market- “generational divide” between second ing and individualism. Although Walker and third wavers. Miranda is presented does not draw this connection, we think as embodying the “qualities” Andy both it’s fair to say that when consumerism admires and does not want to possess. and activism become mistaken for one However, we suspect that Andy’s pro- another, we can reasonably conclude that fessional career trajectory will be much postfeminism has overtaken third-wave smoother than Miranda’s, for it is women women’s conception of social change as like Miranda who helped to pave the way evidenced by the dialogue between Baum-
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FT 18_1 text.indd 55 9/26/07 2:38:51 PM gardner and Pollitt. And if we lose our them, “the term ‘pedagogy’ was not about drive for social change, then feminism is teaching techniques, divorced from con- truly over. Thus, as feminist pedagogues, tent, but rather about the whole process we have an agenda. Every text or speech of knowledge construction, in the class- or act of consciousness raising need not room as elsewhere. Positional pedagogies be focused on activism or social change, attend to the complex social dynamics of but we hope that a pedagogy that seeks difference and inequality as an integral not only to teach students about feminism part of this process” (10). The pedagogy we but also encourages them to engage and are arguing for is invested in understand- thus to act might thwart the pull of post- ing “knowledge construction,” as knowl- feminism and enable third-wave feminism edge about gender and feminism is, in to make a mark on women’s lives today many ways, constructed by the images we and in the future. (Re)engagement with see. Certainly the three texts we discuss social issues could lead to social activism. here could, and should, be enhanced in a We offer the previous three image-based classroom with more imagistic texts that texts as fodder for classrooms that focus focus on representations of gender, par- on gender representations—the kind of ticularly texts that offer contradictory and representations students interact with as confusing messages. Instructors can pro- consumers and viewers on a near-daily vide students with a framework for under- basis. Since interaction demands analy- standing gender representations in texts, sis, it also presents a teaching moment. and, in turn, students should be invited to We present these texts because they take bring into the classroom texts with which gender as a focal point, a means of dis- they are grappling. There they can work seminating meaning with gender at the with their peers to generate gendered read- center. When we argue for feminist peda- ings of these texts. Making a space where gogy that seeks to (re)engage students the media’s version of the “norm” can be with feminism—its history, its leaders questioned is essential to a feminist peda- and activists, its arguments—we want to gogy because “confronting what is con- do so because we fear that if post-wave tradictory and alienating in human expe- feminism stifles the great potential that rience allows women and men to resist third-wave feminism offers, fewer and definitions that society would impose” fewer students will want to see themselves (Ritchie 320). as feminists. Furthermore, when we think of feminist pedagogy, we, as feminists, notes teachers, and researchers, need to remem- 1. See John Berger, Teresa de Lauretis, Susan ber that the experiences and knowledge Faludi, Trinh T. Minh-Ha, Susan Bordo, and Jay of the second-wave feminists who trained David Bolter, among many other scholars. and mentored us, the third-wave feminists 2. Frances has granted us permission to we teach and befriend, and feminists who quote from her zine for our project. don’t claim a wave, offer knowledge that references must be accounted for in our classrooms. In The Feminist Classroom, Frances A. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Brit- ish Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Maher and Mary Kay Tetreault assert that to Books, 1977.
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FT 18_1 text.indd 56 9/26/07 2:38:51 PM Bolter, Jay David, and Richard Grusin. Remedia- Jervis, Lisa. “The End of Feminism’s Third tion: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, Wave: The Cofounder of Bitch Magazine Says Mass.: MIT Press, 2000. Goodbye to the Generational Divide.” Ms. Bordo, Susan. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Winter 2004. 28 January 2007
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FT 18_1 text.indd 57 9/26/07 2:38:52 PM Ritchie, Joy. “Confronting the ‘Essential’ Representation, Gender and Cultural Politics. Problem: Reconnecting Feminist Theory New York: Routledge, 1991. and Pedagogy.” The Kinneavy Papers. Tyler, Raven. “Gender Gap 101.” NewsHour Eds. Lynn Worsham, Sidney Dobrin, Gary A. Extra. 2 October 2002. 26 July 2006
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