Angela McRobbie

 Angela McRobbie (born 1951), is a
British cultural theorist, feminist and
social commentator whose work
combines the study of popular culture,
contemporary media practices and
feminism. She is a Professor of
Communications at Goldsmiths
College, University of London.
 McRobbie has authored many books
and scholarly articles on young
women and popular culture, gender
and sexuality, the British fashion
industry, social and cultural theory,
the changing world of work and the
new creative economy, feminism and
the rise of neoliberalism.

 Popular culture ensures young women that the traditional feminism is something
they can happily live without, and young women are encouraged to adopt a “post-
feminist” ideology.
 Post-feminism draws on a neo-liberal vocabulary of “empowerment” and “choice,”
offering these to young women as substitutes for more radical feminist political
activity.
 Post-feminist femininity, with its deceptive ideas of “capacity, freedom, change and
gender equality” reinstates gender hierarchies and breeds new forms of patriarchal
power.

Concept:
 Post-feminism: a kind of substitute for, or
displacement of, feminism as a political movement.
Explanation:
 Young women today are the beneficiaries of past
liberal feminist victories, to the extent that “gender
equality” now seems to be common sense.
 As a consequence, the media suggests that feminism
is no longer relevant — it is expendable, a thing of the
past.

 Post-feminism: a kind of substitute for, or displacement of, feminism as a
political movement. McRobbie defines post-feminism as an active
process by which feminist gains of the 1970-80s come to be undermined
(Explanation:Young women today are the beneficiaries of
past liberal feminist victories, to the extent that "gender equality" seems
to be common sense.As a consequence, the media suggests that
feminism is no longer relevant — it is expendable, a thing of the past.)
 It proposes that elements of contemporary culture have a harmful effect
on the undoing of feminism while appearing to a be well-informed and
well-intended response to feminism. (Explanation: there is a trend
found in popular cultural products that seems to suggests or imply that
feminism is no longer needed and that female empowerment is
achieved through means of the traditional idea of femininity i.e. being
“sexy”, having a specific type of body, self-representing in a specific
“feminine” way, etc..)
 Paradox: a statement or proposition which, despite apparently sound
reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems
logically unacceptable or self-contradictory.

 McRobbie talks about a double entanglement which she says is “manifest in popular
and political culture” (Explanation: there are two forces working (neo-
conservative/capitalist ideology and its reflection in popular cultural artifacts with
regards cultural commodification) together to diminish feminism with the argument
that it is no longer needed or even desirable, or by appropriating the language and
codes of feminism and emptying them of their original meaning, such as in false
ideas of female empowerment through the traditional ideas of femininity)
“Women are
currently being
disempowered
through the very
discourses of
empowerment they
are being offered
as substitutes for
feminism”

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen prefer blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) Beyonce performs onstage during the MTV Video Music Awards August, 2014.
Popular feminism is a new form of
pretended feminism that looks too much
like the old idea of femininity, and which,
unlike traditional feminism, is broadcast
widely in the media and iconically
appropriated by celebrities. “How does it
happen that this new feminism looks so
much like the old, conventional
femininity? “

 Feminist success: Feminism has eventually had an
impact every aspect of public life, from the media to
the educational system. However, McRobbie
questions how success is being measured.
(Explanation: During the late 80s and especially during
the 90s, feminism was taken into account within a
range of institutions, making them look “modern
and abreast with social change”, and feminist values
were taken on board in education, law and the media.
 McRobbie explains that within this XXI century cultural
space, women don’t like to identify with feminism
anymore and choose to reject the notion.This form
of anti-feminist is seen to be embodied in the
successful ‘TV blonde’, young women as “privileged
subjects of social change”, however the terms for this
success is that they must do without more
autonomous feminist politics.

 One strategy is disempowering of feminism includes it being historicised and
generationalised and thus easily rendered out of date.This presents the idea
of feminism as an ideology from the past.
 Popular cultural products and texts represent feminism as incompatible
with femininity, or rather present the idea of female empowerment through
the traditional idea of femininity, by provocatively "enacting sexism“, whilst at
the same time playing with those debates about objectification of women
and the female body (ie.TheWonderbra advert featuring Eva Herzigova)
 Since women have achieved economic independence – they conform a new
market in which women are new consumers of women’s products.
According to McRobbie, this has created a hyper-culture of commercial
sexuality, that can be found in almost every product marketed to the
women.
 Female achievement is predicated not on feminism, but on female
individualism, which turns out to mean competition, rather than cooperation,
the foundational principle of feminism (as much as of any other revolutionary
movement).This certainly hinders the effectiveness of the feminist struggle.

Female/Feminist success as reflected by popular culture artefacts?
1950s 1994

 Young women today ironically accept the normalisation of pornography, ‘lad
mags’, the “page 3 girl”, etc. and the hyper sexualised representations of women
within the media as a sign of sophistication (or “being cool”) and empowerment.
Sexual objectification is seen as empowering.
 Due to the ubiquitous presence of this hyper sexualised message and idea about
women, most young women prefer to stay silent about this new growth of hyper
sexualisation of the female body, as they are afraid to be criticised or to be
perceived as a “prude”, “uncool”, or “old fashioned”.

 McRobbie introduces the concept of “Post-feminist masquerade” as one form of
dispersed and body-oriented gender power central to the (re)production of
masculine hegemony. Exemplified by the “so-called fashionista,” (McRobbie, p. 67)
the post-feminist masquerade and its various incarnations — the well-educated
working girl, the swearing and boozing phallic girl, and the racialized global girl — are
adopted freely and self-consciously as statements of personal choice and female
empowerment. Paradoxically, however, the post-feminist masquerade operates as
an ironic, quasi-feminist gesture, while at the same time, warding off any potential
threat or challenge to the traditional patriarchal authority.

 Neo-conservative ideas have had an impact on the western world and the
way the newest generation thinks. One of these ideas is the concept of
individualisation, as presented by sociologists such as Giddens and Becks.
 The earlier period of modernisation (“first modernity”) created a welfare
state and a set of institutions (e.g. education and health care) which allowed
people in general and women in particular, who had been traditionally
dependent on men, to become more independent and able, for example, to
earn their own living.
 Young girls who aim to be independent women must have a lifeplan must
become more reflexive in regard to every aspect of their lives, from making
the right choice in marriage, to taking responsibility for their own working
lives.These arguments appear to fit very directly with the kinds of scenarios
and dilemmas facing the young women characters in the narratives of
contemporary popular culture (such in the film Bridget Jones Diary)
 “Choice is surely, within lifestyle culture, a modality of constraint”.

 McRobbie argues that young women’s increasing participation in the
labor market is accompanied by a cultural politics of what Stuart Hall has
called disarticulation.
 For her purposes, McRobbie defines disarticulation as that force which
undermines potential inter-generational solidarities between and
among women through the widespread dissemination of values which
posit feminism as embittered and passé, the territory of ancient, furry,
man-hating lesbians. Moreover, disarticulation works to foreclose
potential cross-cultural ties by imagining non-Western women as
sexually constrained and victimized, in (false) contrast to “sexually free”
young women in theWest.The post-feminist celebration of the fashion-
conscious ‘thong-wearing’Western girls” (McRobbie, p. 27) works to
recreate and reinforce notions of Western superiority while
disarticulating possible affiliations based on feminist post-colonialist
critique.
Angela McRobbie,TheAftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change, Sage
Publications, 2009, 192pp.

According to Angela McRobbie, disarticulation works to foreclose potential cross-cultural
ties by imagining non-Western women as sexually constrained and victimized, in (false)
contrast to “sexually free” young women in theWest.

 Femininity
 Feminism
 Backlash
 Third-wave of feminism
 Post-feminism
 Disarticulation
 Post-feminist masquerade

 Post-feminism draws on a neo-liberal vocabulary of “empowerment”
and “choice,” offering these to young women as substitutes for more
radical feminist political activity.
 Post-feminist femininity, with its “capacity, freedom, change and
gender equality” reinstates gender hierarchies and breeds new forms of
patriarchal power.
 Popular culture ensures young women that the traditional feminism is
something they can happily live without, and young women are
encouraged to adopt a “post-feminist” ideology.
 For Professor McRobbie, this is a paradox (paradox: a statement or
proposition which, despite sound reasoning from acceptable premises,
leads to a conclusion that seems logically unacceptable or self-
contradictory.)

McRobbie sets out to explain apparent paradoxes:
 How is it that “women are currently being
disempowered through the very discourses of
empowerment they are being offered as
substitutes for feminism?”
 How does it happen that “this new feminism
looks so much like the old, conventional
femininity?”

 ReadAngela McRobbie’s “Post-feminism and
popular culture” extract.
 Identify the main concepts and argumentation.
 Create a glossary of terminology with those
words which meaning you don’t know and
search for those words using both the Oxford
dictionary and the internet.

 Look at the different examples of historical
representations of femininity in the following
slides.
 Choose three examples from different eras and
analyse them:
1. What idea of femininity is being represented?
2. How is it being represented?
3. In what way are the representations in these
examples similar or different?

Venus of Willendorf. Estimated to have been made between 28,000 and 25,000 BCE.
(Naturhistorisches Museum inVienna, Austria)

Venus of Laussel
Gravettian Upper
Paleolithic culture
(approximately 25,000
years old)
Musée d'Aquitaine
(Bordeaux, France)

The Venus of
Lespugue is aVenus
figurine, a statuette of a
nude female figure of
the Gravettian, dated to
between 26,000 and
24,000 years
ago.discovered in 1922
in the Rideaux cave
of Lespugue (Haute-
Garonne) in the foothills
of the Pyrenees by René
de Saint-Périer (1877-
1950).
The origins of the
Gravettian people are
not clear, but as their
Aurignacian
predecessors, they are
known for theirVenus
figurines.

 Aphrodite is the ancient Greek
goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.
 Venus is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, desire, sex,
fertility, prosperity and victory. In Roman mythology, she
was the mother of the Roman people through her
son, Aeneas, who survived the fall ofTroy and fled to Italy.
 The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of
her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art and Latin
literature. In the later classical tradition of theWest,Venus
becomes one of the most widely referenced deities
of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love
and sexuality.

The Birth of Venus. Sandro Botticelli (most probably made in the mid 1480s).

 In Greek mythology, a Charis (/ˈkeɪrɪs/; Greek: Χάρις, pronounced [kʰáris]) is one
of three or more minor goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity,
and fertility, together known as the Charites /ˈkærɪtiːz/ (Χάριτες [kʰáritɛːs])
or Graces.
 According to Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogony, there were three charites: Aglaia (or
Aglaea), which means radiance (or elegance); Euphrosine (or Euphrosyne), which
means joy (or mirth); andThalia, which means flowering (beauty associated with
youth). Born of one of Zeus’s affairs, the three Graces were pure virgins who lived
with the gods, served at the banquets and fostered joie de vivre.They served
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and were never bored.
 In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces". In some
variants, Charis was one of the Graces and was not the singular form of their name.
 TheThree Graces is a representation of the mythological three charites, daughters
of Zeus, Euphrosyne, Aglaea andThalia - who were said to represent youth/beauty
(Thalia), mirth (Euphrosyne), and elegance (Aglaea).

TheThree Graces (Peter Paul Rubens, 1635)

Boudica or Boudicca (Latinised as
Boadicea or Boudicea, and known
inWelsh as Buddug) was a queen of
the British Celtic Iceni tribe who led
an uprising against the occupying
forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60
or 61, and died shortly after its
failure.
John Opie (1761-1807)
Boadicea Haranguing the Britons

Archetypes, stereotypes and countertypes

 "We Can Do It!" is an American wartime propaganda
poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for
Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational image to boost
worker morale.The poster is generally thought to be
based on a black-and-white wire service photograph taken
of a Michigan factory worker named Geraldine Hoff.
 The poster was seen very little duringWorld War II. It was
rediscovered in the early 1980s and widely reproduced in
many forms, often called "We Can Do It!" but also called
"Rosie the Riveter" after the iconic figure of a strong
female war production worker.The "We Can Do It!" image
was used to promote feminism and other political issues
beginning in the 1980s.

 Women’s roles were greatly changed in the 1950s, with the men coming back from war
and taking their jobs back.
 DuringWorldWar II, women had taken men’s jobs while they had been away. After the
war, and although many women wanted to keep their jobs, an estimated 1,000,000
women (in America only) were made redundant, so men could occupy their former
jobs. Many of them became wives and mothers as the men came back from the war.
 In 1957, 70% of working women held clerical positions, assembly lines or service jobs.
12 % held a profession and 6% held management positions.Those that held
professional jobs worked as nurses and teachers.They found themselves taking care of
the house and of their children.

• Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 –1928) was a British political activist and leader of
the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.
• Is she an archetypal representation of femininity ?
• Why?

AngelaYvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944)
is an American political activist, academic, and
author. She emerged as a
prominent counterculture activist and radical
in the 1960s as a leader of the Communist
Party USA, and had close relations with
the Black Panther Party through her
involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. As
a result of purchasing firearms used in
the 1970 armed take-over of a Marin County,
California courtroom, in which four persons
were killed, she was prosecuted for
conspiracy. She was later acquitted of this
charge. She was a professor (now retired) at
the University of California, Santa Cruz, in
its History of Consciousness Department and a
former director of the university's Feminist
Studies department.
• Is this an archetypal representation of femininity ?
• Why?

• Is this a stereotype?
• Why?

• Why?

Evolution of representation of women in Cosmopolitan

Angela McRobbie

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