Postfeminism

Postfeminism refers to issues relating to or taking place following the feminist movement of the 1970s. The term, which arose during the early 1980s, is often used to suggest that most or all the goals of the feminist movement have been achieved, and the feminist movement has no further purpose. In some circles, people use postfeminists as a pejorative term for those who support ideas that the feminist movement fought against. In short, postfeminism may have multiple conflicting meanings and must be considered in context.

Background

Feminism has been discussed and promoted to varying degrees since ancient times. Ancient Romans were bitterly divided over the legal ramifications of permitting women to own property. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, founding father John Adams, during the eighteenth century, encouraging him to remember the interests of women as he helped found a new nation. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, feminism manifested as the suffrage movement. Women in the United States demanded and finally earned the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment.

American women were active participants in World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). During the latter conflict, Rosie the Riveter arose as a feminist icon. Yet when the men returned from the front, most women were told that their services were no longer needed and the jobs once again went to male workers. In the years that followed, the United States was plunged into the civil rights movement. Many women actively participated in the movement and increasingly sought careers. The demand for equal pay was a primary concern, and many people supported the Equal Pay Act, which President John F. Kennedy signed into law in 1963.

Betty Friedan published her landmark book The Feminine Mystique in 1963. In it she argued that women were still relegated to remaining at home to cook, clean, and raise children. People began using the expression women’s liberation to describe feminism.

During the 1970s, women faced setbacks, such as the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment, which was not ratified by enough states to become law. They also gained ground in 1973 when the US Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that women had the right to choose abortion.

The women’s rights movement was often marginalized, however, as other social movements such as Black Power and protests against the war in Vietnam took precedence. In response, some women formed women-only organizations, such as the National Organization of Women (NOW). They created new publications to spread their message. This is often referred to as the second wave of feminism. While the first wave generally involved white middle-class women, the second wave expanded to include women of color and all economic and cultural classes.

Overview

A third wave of feminism arose during the 1990s. This wave, actually the leading edge of postfeminism, was characterized by women taking charge of their image. Many embraced cosmetics and cleavage-enhancing clothing, as well as other feminine styles their predecessors had firmly rejected. Third-wave feminists, in choosing these styles for themselves, felt that they eliminated any stigma of male oppression or patriarchy: They were not wearing what men expected them to and were choosing their own styles and embracing femininity. They advocated for people of all genders. Most also rejected the label feminist. They viewed it as exclusionary, whereas third-wave feminism valued inclusivity. The term also fell victim to conservative media, which associated it with hatred of men and a rejection of motherhood.

Fourth-wave feminism, or twenty-first century postfeminism, embraces a wide range of issues, many of which have drawn mainstream attention. These include body-type concerns (such as fat shaming), sexual abuse, rape, violence against women, rape on college campuses, homophobia, transphobia, maternal and paternal leave, Title IX, and unequal pay. The fact that such issues are commonly discussed and covered in the media often leads individuals to see them as human rights rather than women’s rights or feminist issues.

In 2017, a divide between feminists and postfeminists became apparent with the development of the Time’s Up movement and interest in the #MeToo movement. Both drew national attention after several actresses publicly accused producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. More than three hundred women in Hollywood founded Time’s Up to support all persons by raising awareness of sexual assault, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace. #MeToo is an expression used by the nonprofit Just Be, Inc., which was founded in 2006 to support victims of sexual misconduct. Actress Alyssa Milano posted a request on Twitter for followers who had been sexually harassed or assaulted to reply with “Me too.” Milano inadvertently spotlighted Just Be, and soon gave the organization her full support. As many prominent public figures were publicly accused of sexual misconduct, however, some feminists disagreed with the public shaming. Some women felt certain that incidents of misconduct were too minor to raise alarm. They characterized some accusers as women who should have been stronger in rejecting the unwelcome attention.

The postfeminist divide over sexual misconduct was decidedly generational. Many of those who said that women needed to be tougher in standing up for themselves were older than fifty. These individualist feminists advocated for taking personal responsibility and choosing strength—a masculine trait—over femininity, or victimhood. Some characterized young women who were driving the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements as strident young activists eager to be heard on social media. Some young-skewing publications painted the older critics as out of touch.

By endorsing #MeToo, postfeminists were choosing solidarity with other women and all victims of sexual harassment. Sexism, according to the social postfeminists, harms everyone, and therefore is a problem that all should address. The two sides differed over whether sexual misconduct and sexism are the responsibility of the individual to endure and overcome or if it is up to society to eliminate these concerns before even more people experience them.

Bibliography

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