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| http://time.com/3576870/worst-words-poll-2014/ |
It seems that the decline of feminism as a legitimate
agenda can be traced to the rise of social media. The topics of sexism and feminism have been trending among social media users lately, especially through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Upworthy. In a way, having these widely accessed websites addressing these issues can be positive. It attempts to illustrate the scope of sexism to the masses, many of whom are never subjected to this reality. However, there is an issue with this type of social media bringing attention to sexism. The danger arises when popularization, notnecessarily understanding, develops around the issue and it becomes a trend for self-proclaimed and often misinformed "feminists" to briefly address. The internet has made it possible to popularize a cause without actually doing anything. Now, by simply retweeting and reblogging, anyone can publicize their opinions. In turn, the public is presented with a conglomeration of miseducated "feminists" as leaders of the movement rather than serious feminist activists who may lack the same social media presence. Feminism has been popularized as a bandwagon cause and I'm still unsure as to whether the attention brought to the cause is helpful or harmful. Media attention is media attention—even if people don't agree with certain claims about gender inequality, at least they are exposed to the topic. However, because these this corrupted "internet feminism" most often generates buzz and conversation rather than understanding and action, I see the deep-rooted and very real issue of sexism being cheapened and commodified through social media. Many corporations and celebrities have begun to endorse feminism, only adding to the bandwagon appeal. By simply acknowledging gender inequality, it seems like these celebrities assume that they are enacting change or making some controversial, edgy statement. This example set by celebrities is projected to the public who in turn believe that by simply being aware of sexism, that they are contributing to the cause. At this point, feminism doesn't need more internet buzz or celebrity attention, feminism needs solidarity, dedication, and action.
Within the past few months, several viral videos attempting to explain and demonstrate street harassment have captured public attention. Most of these videos attempt "reverse the roles" of sexism to show how badly this issue affects women. Though the initial videos that prompted this trend intended to be serious, they generated comedic responses that gained even more attention. The predominant flaw I see in these videos is the entire concept of role reversal. The roles don't need to be reversed because sexism affects both men and women. While it is true that more women are subject to catcalling and verbal harassment than men are, these videos offer an incomplete, one-sided argument about sexism. Also, using comedy to address such an issue can make it more accessible to the public, but at the same time it undermines and trivializes a serious social problem. I am not condemning feminism; I support it whole-heartedly. I am, however, condemning "feminists" who believe they are solving anything through generating harassment/abuse back towards men. These actions are not only irrational, but they also corrupt the public perception of modern feminism and undermine the intentions of informed and serious equal rights activists. At this point, I don't think simply "making a statement" (especially through comedy/trivialization) is a productive avenue if we are serious about enacting a legitimate change in the way our society contributes to sexism.
I totally get what you're saying, and I've seen this commodification and subsequent trivialization of feminism by the mainstream media more and more lately, and it is frustrating. What has become popular is this really watered-down version of the movement that is more "accessible" but not really doing anything. A lot of people are like, I think women should be equal to men, oh, I'm a feminist, and it's like, okay, basically, but not really. I think if you ask pretty much everyone at this point if they believe men and women should be equal they'll say of course. But that's not really acknowledging or doing anything about all the insidious ways sexism persists, ingrained in institutions and internalized by people. You can say you believe in equality but if your words and actions don't reflect this sense of equality -- for ALL women -- then it doesn't really mean anything.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that all said, I think social media can be really important in educating people and bringing awareness to issues. Personally, I do not think I would be as interested or as passionate a feminist if it were not for Tumblr. I've always vaguely thought of myself as a feminist but I was not able to articulate its importance as easily until I was exposed to more posts and articles about it and really read and learned about the variety of issues which extend past the pay gap and whatever the mainstream media deems important or newsworthy. I think in this way the internet plays an important role in giving a wider spread of people access to a wider spread of information. Of course, as you say, just knowing about it isn't enough, but once you have a better understanding, you can engage in important conversations out in your life and point out sexism and work to change it, which is what it is about. So, yeah, I think like most technology, there are benefits and drawbacks to social media. It's hard to see what its overall impact will be at this point, but I hope we can harness it and use it to enact change for the better.
I found the TIME article very disturbing, but I wanted to respond more to the comedic feminist videos/content and celebrity endorsement aspect of this blog post. Although this mainstream feminism is more watered down and can at times be discouraging, it does expose the public to issues of inequality. Out of the thousands and in some cases millions of people who absorb these kinds of videos on a daily basis, there are sure to be folks who learn something from the videos and begin to start seeing inequality in a different light. Even though these videos may be problematic themselves, sometimes what individuals gain from the videos can outweigh the issues associated with them. I would like to think that as more and more people are exposed to videos like this, the message they take away is not that inequality is something that is funny or not serious, but that it is constant and prevalent in society. As people are exposed to notions of feminism, even though they may not be done in the most high caliber sort of way, they are spreading information. I think that the people that actually reflect on the comedic representations can eventually start to make more serious connections between the videos and their own life. The silly video then becomes an introduction into a much more serious conversation.
ReplyDeleteI think the amount of media attention that feminism is getting helps to educate people that inequality is still a real and current issue. It is not something that will go away, and even if some celebrities endorse feminism for the sake of joining the “bandwagon” they again expose more people to little bits of information that force them to evaluate their lives differently. Although the exposure is not always accurate or presented in a good way, it still has the potential to be a starting point, the blocks upon which we build a stronger educational base regarding inequality.
When it comes to celebrities I would disagree with some of what is said here. It is true that we have seen many huge celebrities publicly endorse feminism and then perpetuate inequality in the content that they produce whether that be music, art, etc. However there are people like Emma Watson and Ellen Page, who along with proclaiming themselves as feminists have attempt to become part of the solution and have actively worked to educate by using their celebrity status. People like Watson and Page are, in my opinion, very important to battling inequality because they can reach so many people. I think as humans we have a tendency to identify with other humans, so rather than seeing a list of all the inequality in the world, someone being told about inequality by a celebrity that they look up to, identify with, or even just recognize from a movie can be helpful. People who would ordinarily not seek out information about inequality on their own are more likely to run into that information if a celebrity that they follow discusses it. As we have seen in prior blog posts, our country in particular is so entranced with the lives of celebrities, so, why not use this obsession with celebrity media to the advantage of a worthy cause. If the headline of every magazine in a store will be about a celebrity, why not have it read “(random celebrity X) announces status as feminist.” Seeing more and more celebrities talking about feminism, will hopefully fuel more conversation about inequality.