with female autonomy. In 2003, the satirical websiteThe Onion
ran the headline “Women Now Empowered By Everything
A Woman Does”, with “does” meaning “buys”.
Big business was not slow in striving to exploit the idea
of “women’s lib” as a commodity. Whether it was an It-bag,
an It-restaurant or an It-shoe, the “It” we were being sold
was empowerment; because we were worth it. The global
financial crisis of 2007–2008 looked to have thrown
a spanner in the works of consumer feminism, but, in fact, it
merely forced it underground.
When it emerged, it was no longer confined to luxury goods,
but became a marketing free-for-all. Today, anything can be
sold as empowering, from leggings to lingerie, weight-loss
programs to wine, sanitary items to Kim Kardashian’s arse.
As Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project,
notes: “The idea of selling individual women ‘empowerment’
can be an easy way for brands to jump on the bandwagon of
a thriving feminist movement without actually engaging with the
systemic, ingrained issues women are really battling. It is
frustrating when we are sold the idea that women themselves
could solve the problem of institutionalised discrimination and
abuse by simply buying the right shampoo or T-shirt.”
That’s not to say organisations and companies can’t adopt
meaningful feminist messages, “but they need to put their
money where their mouth is if they expect it to be convincing,”
says Bates. “It’s no good slapping feminist quotes on your
merchandise if your senior leadership is completely dominated>
john hannent
(John Hannent)
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