Popular Feminism Research Articles

The impossible woman and sexist realism on NBC’s Parks and Recreation

ABSTRACT This article critically interprets the NBC television program Parks and Recreation, analyzing its main character Leslie Knope as emblematic of an emerging rhetorical figure in public culture: the impossible woman. The impossible woman informs the possibilities for subjectivity and political engagement among audiences drawn to feminist messages as it mediates between the competing demands of feminism and neoliberalism through narrative structures that evoke what I have termed sexist realism, the presumption that, strive as we must to resist it, there is no alternative to patriarchy. I explore how the impossible woman is at once a product of and response to sexist realism as popular feminist rhetoric has made a virtue of feminist striving. The proliferation of the impossible woman in public culture celebrates this feminist virtue even as it cannot imagine collective feminist outcomes.

“Consent Is F#@king Required”: Hashtag Feminism Surrounding Sexual Consent in a Culture of Postfeminist Contradictions

Hashtag feminism exists in a time of postfeminist contradictions marked by the simultaneous existence of popular feminism and popular misogyny. In one such contradiction, popular feminism has led women to expect the successful negotiation of sexual consent, while popular misogyny permits the circulation of traditional sexual scripts that disregard the necessity of consent. In this study, we analyze messages conveyed through digitized narratives of sexual consent posted on Tumblr, a social media site that is popular among feminist activists, to identify the ways that users construct meaning around the dissonance between expectations for consent and the inequalities that inhibit its negotiation. We specifically explore whether hashtag feminism navigates postfeminist contradictions in a way that simultaneously calls out misogyny and calls on feminism. We find that the Tumblr posts in our sample did both, albeit in a manner that failed to offer tangible solutions to the problem at hand. Calls on feminism were largely limited to tagging feminist allies and recirculating existing feminist campaigns. Thus, we argue that the hashtag ultimately became a handoff to a larger feminist abstraction. Future research should explore conditions under which activists link tangible issues, actors, and agendas to an otherwise abstract popular feminism.

Forced Empowerment and the Paradox of Mobile Dating Apps

New women-focused mobile dating apps purport to empower women by having them “make the first move” and disrupt traditional male-dominated dating norms. Drawing on feminist approaches and technological affordances, we examine how heterosexual cisgender women and men experience this “empowerment” and contrast it to other mobile dating app use. We used a multimethod approach to conducting app walkthroughs, focus groups, and interviews to contrast the mobile dating apps, Tinder and Bumble. The findings reveal that perceptions of free choice and action determine empowerment experiences. Our study reveals that the “forced empowerment” on Bumble was still strongly shaped by heterosexual gender norms that encouraged “good” girls and guys to use the app to look for long-term relationships but continue to use Tinder to hook up, despite the popular misogyny on Tinder identified by both men and women in our study. We conclude by discussing the empowerment paradox of dating apps through popular feminism and misogyny.

“Let’s rewrite some history, shall we?”: temporality and postfeminism in Captain Marvel’s comic book superhero(ine)ism

ABSTRACT Superhero comics books’ reliance on revision has been discussed but the role of gender in relation to these concepts in such comics is yet to be explored. This paper examines the first story arc of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s acclaimed comic book series Captain Marvel (2012) through the interrogative lens of postfeminist culture, considering how past and present collided within the relaunching of the popular Marvel comics superheroine Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) into Captain Marvel. Simultaneously a postmodern pastiche and a contemporary mediation of popular feminism, the story takes Danvers back, via time travel, to periods before the western second-wave feminist movement took hold. The article thus considers how this Captain Marvel storyline engages with contemporary feminist issues such as the proliferation of female superheroes in Marvel comics as well as the retroactive insertion of feminist discourses into an ostensibly prefeminist setting, questioning what, if any, radical interventions in dominant modes of women’s representations in superhero narratives these stories might offer.

The education of youth and adults in Colombia from a popular feminist and gender perspective

AbstractThe article begins with the broad context of youth and adult education (YAE) in Colombia, and then discusses the place that educational demands occupy in the political plans of popular feminisms. The article ends with an analysis of the experiences of two community projects, which address YAE for women from the perspective of gender, feminisms, and popular education.

Failure to thrive: incels, boys and feminism

ABSTRACT The group known as ‘incels’ (involuntary celibates, usually men) has become a spectacle for feminism as well as for mass media. Both popular and academic feminisms have condemned the incel for his involvement in many examples of misogyny and of violence. He is, in many ways, an unredeemable figure. I consider the incel beyond these denunciatory terms and in particular examine how the incel is represented as a ‘boy’; that is, as a man who cannot grow up. I also reflect on the reasons incels give for this arrested development – feminism, loss, and crisis, among them – and grapple with how boys like the incel are living in a world already changed by feminism. The incel is not a ‘good boy’, but this essay argues that ‘bad objects’ can disrupt the surface of our political projects in new, generative ways and that thinking with and through the incel in these terms is made possible by an affirmative feminist framework.

The problems with feminist nostalgia: Intersectionality and white popular feminism

Contemporary feminisms are ineluctably drawn into comparisons with historic discourses, forms of praxis and tactical repertoires. While this can underscore points of continuity and commonality in ongoing struggles, it can also result in nostalgia for a more unified and purposeful feminist politics. Kate Eichhorn argues that our interest in nostalgia should be to understand feminist temporalities, and in particular the specific context in which we experience such nostalgia. Accordingly, this article takes up the idea that neoliberalism and populism, which have given rise to both neoliberal feminism and femonationalism, have produced a series of contestations regarding the purpose and nature of feminist politics, as expressed by white popular feminism in the United Kingdom. This article examines two dimensions of feminist nostalgia: first, nostalgia for a more radical form of feminist politics – one not co-opted by neoliberal forces, not individualistic and not centred around online activism; and second, a nostalgia for the idea of ‘sisterhood’ – a time before white feminists were called upon to engage with intersectionality or be inclusive of trans-women. We analyse these themes through analysis of white popular feminism produced in the United Kingdom between 2010 and 2020, cautioning against a feminist nostalgia which neglects to engage with the radical politics of intersectionality.

Introduction Popular Feminism(s): Pasts, Presents, and Futures

Introduction Popular Feminism(s): Pasts, Presents, and Futures

YouTubers between postfeminism and popular feminism: Dulceida’s and Yellow Mellow’s construction and performance of gender identity

Participatory culture (Jenkins, 2006) has opened up the possibility of prosumption for the youngest users, who use social media as a tool for building their (gender) identities. At the same time, as part of a juvenile digital culture they share with their audiences, influencers, and more specifically YouTubers, they act as role models in this process. While YouTube and other social media continue to reproduce the post-feminist sensibility, recent studies indicate that it also embraces manifestations of popular feminism. This research focuses on two popular female Spanish YouTubers, Dulceida and Yellow Mellow, and its aim is to analyse how they build and represent their gender identity. Particular emphasis is put on the negotiation and/or integration of feminist precepts into those identities, in order to determine whether they contribute to the creation of new gender imaginaries. A qualitative methodology, which includes four models of analysis, is used to cover the representations from the audio-visual, socio-semiotic and textual aspects. The results show a certain ambivalence regarding gender, since popular feminism and queer theory coexist with postfeminism, and values such as diversity with the acritical acceptance of individualism.

Popular Feminism: Considering a Concept in Feminist Politics and Theory

An analysis of popular feminism as a category in Latin American feminist studies from its origins in the 1980s and its disappearance in the 1990s to its resurgence in the present through the protagonism of the World March of Women, asks what is at stake in this contemporary claim to popular feminism in relation to the multiplication of feminisms. The contemporary use of the concept specifies a feminist praxis that is contentious, materialist, and counterhegemonic in permanently unsettled relations both with other feminisms and mixed-gender movements on the left. Despite converging agendas for redistribution, it also remains in considerable tension with black and indigenous feminisms. As a racially unmarked category, contemporary popular feminism continues to reproduce an elision of race and colonialism common to mestiza feminism and the political left. Un análisis del feminismo popular como categoría en los estudios feministas latinoamericanos, desde sus orígenes en la década de 1980 y su desaparición en la década de 1990 hasta su actual resurgimiento a través del protagonismo de la Marcha Mundial de la Mujer nos lleva a preguntarnos qué está en juego en esta reivindicación contemporánea del feminismo popular cuando lo consideramos en relación a la actual multiplicación de feminismos. El uso contemporáneo del concepto especifica una praxis feminista que es polémica, materialista y contrahegemónica dentro del marco de relaciones permanentemente inestables, tanto con otros feminismos como con movimientos izquierdistas de género mixto. A pesar de las agendas convergentes de redistribución, también mantiene una tensión considerable con los feminismos negros e indígenas. Como categoría racialmente inespecífica, el feminismo popular contemporáneo mantiene sus elisiones de raza y colonialismo, asunto característico del feminismo mestizo, así como de la izquierda política.

Preteens in pantsuits: instructional feminism and the professionalization of girlhood fashion on the red carpet

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the impact of popular feminism on girlhood culture via tween celebrities’ red carpet fashion. Trends on the red carpet have taken a markedly mature turn for tween girls, namely via the popularity of the pantsuit, demonstrating a shift away from the hyperfeminine aesthetics attributed to postfeminist girl culture. I argue that this is indicative of a new iteration of feminism for girls that I term “instructional feminism,” which deconstructs and reconstructs new boundaries between childhood and adulthood through popular feminist rhetoric. Through an analysis of two case studies, I demonstrate that instructional feminism encourages girls to learn the values of and embody adult womanhood, especially via professionalism, in the present. Additionally, my case studies demonstrate the necessity of taking an intersectional approach, as young Black stars must counter narratives that negate their status as innocent children and therefore always at risk. Thus, embodying adult professionalism produces differing effects for the Black tween star.

Popular Feminism(s) Reconsidered: Popular, Racialized, and Decolonial Subjectivities in Contention

Popular Feminism(s) Reconsidered: Popular, Racialized, and Decolonial Subjectivities in Contention

Feminist Solidarities and Coalitional Identity: The Popular Feminism of the Marcha das Margaridas

The Marcha das Margaridas is a mass mobilization in Brazil led by women’s organizations within rural unions in alliance with other social movements and nongovernmental organizations, including transnational partners such as the World March of Women. The main political subjects are rural working women, a political identity that articulates gender, class, and urban-rural inequalities. These are foundational for the popular feminism of the Marcha. An examination of the Marcha das Margaridas guided by a theoretical discussion of poststructural feminism and postcolonial feminism on the role of political identities in building coalitions reveals that it expands the agenda of popular feminism in its relationship to historical feminist agendas and intersectional feminisms and in its coalition politics with men and the left.A Marcha das Margaridas é uma mobilização de massa no Brasil liderada por organismos de mulheres dentro de sindicatos rurais em aliança com outros movimentos sociais e organizações não governamentais (ONGs), incluindo parceiros transnacionais como a Marcha Mundial das Mulheres. Os principais sujeitos políticos são as mulheres trabalhadoras rurais, uma identidade política que articula as desigualdades de gênero, classe e urbano-rurais. Estes são fundamentais para o feminismo popular da Marcha. Um estudo da Marcha das Margaridas guiado por uma discussão teórica do feminismo pós-estrutural e do feminismo pós-colonial sobre o papel das identidades políticas na construção de coalizões revela que ela expande a agenda do feminismo popular em sua relação com agendas feministas históricas e feminismos intersetoriais, como também em sua coalizão política com os homens e a esquerda.

Decentering a Mulher popular? Gender-Class and Race in Early and Contemporary Latin American Popular Feminisms

Although 1980s popular feminisms were crucially concerned with the (gendered) class interests of women from the popular sectors, the concerns of racialized women were generally obscured. In the context of the new millennium, contemporary forms of self-identified popular feminisms such as the World March of Women are broader, cross-class, and multiscale coalitions that create new challenges for representation in decision-making beyond the local. These contemporary coalitions also aim for greater systemic change, explicitly embracing anticapitalism and feminism, but have generally maintained the primary gender-class focus of earlier popular feminisms, hindering their attention to antiracism and sexual identities. Embora os feminismos populares da década de 1980 estivessem extremamente preocupados com os interesses de classe (de gênero) das mulheres dos setores populares, as preocupações das mulheres racializadas eram geralmente ofuscadas. No contexto do novo milênio, as formas contemporâneas de feminismos populares auto identificados, como a Marcha Mundial das Mulheres, são coalizões mais amplas, entre classes e multiescala, que criam novos desafios para a representação no processo de tomada de decisões além do local. Essas coalizões contemporâneas têm também como objetivo uma maior mudança sistêmica, abraçando explicitamente o anticapitalismo e feminismo, mas de uma forma geral, mantiveram como foco primário os feminismos populares de gênero e classe anteriores que impediram a devida atenção no que se refere ao antirracismo e identidades sexuais.

Racialized Popular Feminism: A Decolonial Analysis of Women’s Struggle with Police Violence in Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas

The action of the women of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas to avoid, prevent, counter, and denounce police violence, both infrapolitically and in the public transcript, are associated with the rise of a political consciousness that is gendered and racialized in the context of the genocide of Brazil’s black population. Their resistance, rooted in “Amefricanidade” and the lingering coloniality of gender, is best described as characterized by an intersectional consciousness of injustice. A ação das mulheres das favelas do Rio de Janeiro para impedir, prevenir, combater e denunciar a violência policial, tanto na infrapolítica quanto na esfera pública, está relacionada ao surgimento de uma consciência política de gênero e também a racialização em um contexto de genocídio da população negra no Brasil. Sua resistência, arraigada na “Amefricanidade” e na persistente colonialidade de gênero, é mais bem descrita e categorizada como consciência interseccional de injustiça.

The World March of Women: Popular Feminisms, Transnational Struggles

The World March of Women is an example of the transnationalization of popular feminism from below as defined by four elements: the diversity of women’s struggles, grassroots women as political subjects, alliances with mixed movements, and popular education as a feminist methodology. Class analysis is most prominent, with tensions and challenges linked to attempts to address issues of heteronormativity and racial colonialism, in part because of differences between local spaces in a global network and between relatively more localized and transnationalized scales of practice. A Marcha Mundial das Mulheres é um exemplo de transnacionalização do feminismo popular desde abaixo definido por quatro elementos: diversidades nos obstáculos das mulheres, as mulheres de raiz como sujeitos políticos, alianças com movimentos mistos e educação popular como metodologia feminista. A análise de classe é mais proeminente, com tensões e desafios ligados às tentativas que abordam questões de heteronormatividade e colonialismo racial, em parte por causa das diferenças entre espaços locais dentro de uma rede global e entre escalas de prática relativamente locais e transnacionalizadas.

The Relational Dynamics of Becoming Popular Feminist Subjects: The World March of Women and Rural/Peasant Women’s Organizing in Brazil in the 2000s

The constitution and consolidation of rural and peasant women as popular feminist subjects in Brazil are the result not only of processes internal to these constituencies but also of relational dynamics involving cross-class and cross-movement popular activist organizations. Since the end of the 1990s, organizations and activists identifying with the World March of Women in western Rio Grande do Norte and at the national scale have consciously engaged with rural and peasant women and assisted them in becoming and consolidating themselves as popular feminist subjects. Relational dynamics have also been important in the (unfinished) process of transforming, extending, and deepening the dual meaning of “popular feminism” in Brazil.A constituição e consolidação das mulheres rurais e camponesas como sujeitos feministas populares no Brasil são o resultado não apenas de processos internos desses grupos, mas também das dinâmicas relacionais que envolvem organizações ativistas populares de classes e movimentos. Desde o final da década de 1990, organizações e ativistas que se identificam com a Marcha Mundial das Mulheres da região Oeste do Rio Grande do Norte e em escala nacional têm se engajado conscientemente com as mulheres rurais e camponesas, ajudando as mesmas a se tornarem e consolidarem como sujeitos feministas populares. As dinâmicas relacionais têm sido importantes também no processo (incompleto) de transformação, extensão e aprofundamento do duplo significado de “feminismo popular” no Brasil.

Peasant and popular feminism and postmodernism

The purpose of this paper is to situate peasant feminism within the current debate in feminist research strands on the importance, or the fallacy, of postmodernism for gender studies. We draw, among other sources, on academic work produced by activists of the Peasant Women's Movement who have chosen to pursue graduate studies, producing MA dissertations and Ph.D theses and moving on to become university professors. Our contention is that, despite the force of arguments against the influence of postmodern thought and its derivatives in favor of these women, there is room for a dialogue which, if we look at the field without assuming an a priori stance, has been taking place, albeit not explicitly.

A New Genealogy of “Intelligent Rage,” or Other Ways to Think about White Women in Feminism

AbstractRage, we argue, has been vividly constructed in multiple academic and popular feminist forums as specifically directed at white women. White women are both the object of rage and the reader...

Testing Data Feminism in India

Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F.Klein in their book Data Feminism argue that data models reflect existing power structures and social hierarchies. We aim to test this hypothesis in India on Instagram. Instagram is one of the most accessible and politically engaging social media platforms in India which makes its data models appropriate subjects for our study. The research question of our study is “Do Instagram data models disproportionately prioritise accounts that publish majoritarian feminist content over intersectional feminist content in India?” The paper employs two methodological approaches; an experimental set-up under controlled setting for primary data collection through a positivist sociological approach kept under time bound observational study and secondary data qualitative analysis. This paper first analyses the biases and preconceived notions which cloud digital data models. It further elaborates upon the concept of Data Justice which acknowledges historical inequalities and power differentials amongst communities that drive data collection. The paper attempts to test this hypothesis through an experiment. The experiment includes creation of two Instagram accounts dedicated to two different forms of feminism. Account “A” would publish content ascribing to popular feminist ideals i.e. non-intersectional and Account “B” would publish intersectional feminist content. The creation of new accounts is critical for establishing a causal relationship between data models and disparity in accounts growth, as a pre-established follower count would affect the accounts engagement. For a period of three months, both the accounts will employ the same strategies to increase user engagement/reach. The impact of these strategies on metrics such as follower count, post likes, post reshares, post comments, profile visits, frequency and duration of story views, and duration of post visibility would be documented through a weekly monitoring system. The data collected......