VII. ‘The Young Women Are Having a Great Time’: Representations of Young Women and Feminism

Abstract

Contemporary discussions of young women's relationship to feminism rest on assumptions that position both young women and feminism in particular ways. Feminism is constructed as irrelevant to young women, and/or young women are represented as antagonistic or apathetic towards feminism, at least in contemporary western societies. Such representations position young women and feminism as distinct and separate entities, each with their own internal cohesion, so that diversity between young women--and between feminisms--is overlooked. These assumptions comprise the discursive arena in which discussion of the possible meanings and relevance of feminism for young women takes place. In this article I take a critical look at the discursive construction of 'feminism' and 'young women' in the popular domain, going on to consider the implications for debates about young women's relationship with feminism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)