Commodity feminism

Commodity feminism theorizes that the mass media appropriates feminism for commercial purposes, using it as a vehicle to sell consumer products and services. By associating brands with key concepts surrounding feminism, such as the idea that women are empowered and strong, marketers and advertisers use feminism in ways that are internally contradictory and appropriative.

The term "commodity feminism" was developed and articulated by Goldman, Heath, and Smith in a 1991 essay in Critical Studies in Mass Communication.[1] This essay noted that femininity and feminism have been in opposition, with feminism critical of the ways in which femininity is used to marginalize and oppress women. The authors argued, in part, that in the marketplace, "Femininity and feminism become presented as interchangeable alternatives" through the "logic of market segments and product differentiation," transforming "feminism into a manipulable set of semiotic markers -- confidence and attitude -- which bear the meanings of individual freedom and independence associated with feminism. Terms like 'attitude' and 'confidence' [...] represent what can be acquired through the right consumer choices" (p. 348).

Influence on feminist scholarship

Since the article's publication in 1991, commodity feminism has become a major concept that is broadly applied in feminist media studies, cited frequently by other scholars,[2] many of whom apply it in their analysis of media and popular culture. For example, it has informed critical analyses of topics including telenovelas,[3] girl power,[4][5] children's media,[6] TV shows such as Sex and the City,[7] and pop stars such as Beyoncé.[8] It has also informed the rise of new, related terms, such as "femvertising".[9]

The term "commodity feminism" brings to mind the term "commodity fetishism" and added a new dimension to it, as Kirsten Howard has noted.[10]

See also

References
  1. Goldman, Robert; Heath, Deborah; Smith, Sharon L. (1991). "Commodity feminism". Critical Studies in Mass Communication. 8 (3): 333–351. doi:10.1080/15295039109366801.
  2. Goldman, Robert; Heath, Deborah; Smith, Sharon L. (1 September 1991). "Commodity feminism". Critical Studies in Mass Communication. 8 (3): 333–351. doi:10.1080/15295039109366801. ISSN 0739-3180.
  3. Acosta-Alzuru, Carolina (2003). ""I'm Not a Feminist...I Only Defend Women as Human Beings": The Production, Representation, and Consumption of Feminism in a Telenovela". Critical Studies in Media Communication. 20 (3): 269–294. doi:10.1080/07393180302775. S2CID 53320601.
  4. Hains, Rebecca (2009). "Power feminism, mediated: Girl power and the commercial politics of change". Women's Studies in Communication. 32 (1): 89–113. doi:10.1080/07491409.2009.10162382. S2CID 143794585.
  5. Hains, Rebecca C. (2014). "The Significance of Chronology in Commodity Feminism: Audience Interpretations of Girl Power Music". Popular Music and Society. 37 (1): 33–47. doi:10.1080/03007766.2012.726033. S2CID 146414869.
  6. Duvall, Spring-Serenity (2010). "Perfect Little Feminists?". Journal of Children and Media. 4 (4): 402–417. doi:10.1080/17482798.2010.510007. S2CID 143358433.
  7. Meyer, Michaela D. E. (2014). "The Fantasy of Sex and the City: A Postcolonial Critique of the Romantic Imaginary, Consumerism and Globalization". Women's Studies. 43 (4): 425–439. doi:10.1080/00497878.2014.897167. S2CID 145512725.
  8. Fegitz, Ella; Pirani, Daniella (2018). "The sexual politics of veggies: Beyoncé's "commodity veg*ism"". Feminist Media Studies. 18 (2): 294–308. doi:10.1080/14680777.2017.1358200. S2CID 148886957.
  9. Varghese, Neema; Kumar, Navin (2020). "Feminism in advertising: irony or revolution? A critical review of femvertising". Feminist Media Studies: 1–19. doi:10.1080/14680777.2020.1825510. S2CID 224966441.
  10. "Commodity Feminism, Commodity Fetishism". Retrieved 2022-02-16.
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