‘Luminous spaces of attention’ – methodological challenges when analysing postfeminist advertisements

Abstract

The author explores the methodological consequences of the conceptual shift implicated in the word/image (cultural) and reality (social) dynamics. She argues that such a conceptual shift may emerge if we are prepared to move from the hegemonic concerns in (even most feminist) scholarship about ‘the image/representation of women’ to the idea of ‘woman-as-image’ as suggested by Sue Thornham. As a corollary of the move, in the author’s understanding, we may then evade the (imaginary) containment of woman in the ‘body’ articulated in binary oppositions of the prevailing categorisation practices that continue to inform so-called postfeminist representations as of the 1990s also. Instead, she proposes to make use of the (non-feminised) concept of embodiment and explore the ways in which the female body has been re/produced through the new norms of appearance of commodification and maintained in and by media representations. She substantiates her claims through the case study of the problematic attempts at representing ‘real female bodies’ in the name of a dramatic ‘language makeover’ of women’s body-bashing on the website ‘The curvy answer to Barbie – Sophia Dolls: ‘Bringing Wisdom back into the World.™’ (http://curvylife.com/the-curvy-entrepreneur-unleash-your-curvy-diva-for-business-success/), which is a representative example of the recent (mostly US and UK based) popular cultural invitation for young women to celebrate their femininity and even self-identify as ‘feminist’, provided they go along with the new global sexual pact discussed by Angela McRobbie.