From the Premier Christianity magazine to
Elle it seems that feminism is well and truly back on the agenda again. GQ has
its own spin on it with a list of Britain's 100 Most Connected Women in the
current issue which has a category within it "Campaigner and Change
Agent" and unashamedly quotes Gloria Steinem.
The articles are interesting because apart
from with Christianity magazine they sit amid the very adverts and photographs
which theorists such as Mulvey argue reflect the male gaze. That is the adverts
and articles around the Feminist focused adverts can be argued to sexualise
women and portray them which reflects the way men want women to look. Page 59
of GQ has an erotic shot of a topless Emily Ratajkowski with the promise of
exclusive bonus shots for users of ipad, iphone and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S.
The advert for Miss Dior on the back of Elle is best described as sultry and
seductive.
The first question this raises in my mind is
has the current wave of feminism been incorporated? By this I mean has a
potentially counter cultural movement had the power removed from it and has it
been made into a consumer product which is almost a parody of itself in the
same way as Hebdidge argues happened to punk? Or as I saw one Tweeter put it,
"has feminism become meaningless?"
Well, on one hand yes, I think there has been
incorporation and there are problematic issues regarding some of the other content
of some of these magazines which need to be raised and addressed. However, on
another I think something more powerful is happening and that is I think the
debate around feminism is being taken to a broader audience rather than
expecting them to come to it, which let's face it they are unlikely to.
I want to briefly look at each of these three
and see what we can learn from them.
Firstly, the November issue of Premier
Christianity. The cover was divided into two reflecting the different models of
womanhood which popular culture and conservative church culture promote with
the heading of "What Women Want? From feminism to head coverings:
challenging how society and the Church define gender roles" bridging the
two.
The initial editorial welcomed us to their
"female focus edition" before we were launched into an article giving
the profiles of 5 women apparently in the running to be the first female bishop.
Christian Feminist and popular social media user Hannah Mudge had an
interesting article outlining how the media, society and church represent women
and why she is a Christian Feminist. Within this article she makes the
important point that "finding common ground across the theological divide
is important, but so is building bridges with the secular women's
movement."
Whilst being careful not to other the
oppression of women the article on the Female Cost of War was one of the most
powerful of the issue. The article on headcovering by Heather Tomlinson looked
at both sides of the argument in a way which was fair and balanced.
Finally, in the Science in the Bible theologian
David Instone-Brewer explored what the bible had to say on gender and
transgender issues. On one hand this article, with its discussion of intersex
issues, this was a useful article however, I believe to label it as an article
on what the bible has to say on gender and trans issues was unhelpful. The I in
LGBTQI is very definitely separate to the T and trans issues were not really
touched upon at all. The article should have stated clearly it was looking at
what it meant to be Intersex not at wider gender and trans issues.
Whilst I applaud what was being done in this
issue it highlighted a problem which the December edition of Elle also
reflects, that feminism and gender issues are something which should be othered
and labelled in a way which commodifies the issue.
The Elle magazine article focused on the
results of a survey they had commissioned and an interview with Emma Watson. It
also had the photos of various men in "This is What a Feminist Looks Like
T-shirts", something which the Daily Mail turned into a storm when they
claimed the t-shirts were unethically made. The Fawcett Society in turn
published a statement refuting the Daily Mail allegations.
The article by Janice Turner with the survey
results was interesting because it outlined how the key problem which we face
is apathy and misunderstanding. This is what allows inequality to fester and
continue in our society unchallenged by most. It is also what allows feminism
to be a term which continues to be viewed negatively and as extreme by many.
Yet, Elle was also the most heterosexist of the three in many ways and that was
something I found problematic. Whilst Diva may be the magazine of choice for
many LGBTQI women, we do like magazines like Porter and Elle too and wish we
would be reflected more within them.
Then we get to the November GQ list of influential women, similar in some ways to the Rainbow List of LGBT influencers
in the Independent this Sunday in many ways. By that I mean both are focusing
on who they see as the key movers and shakers who are influencing society and
thought. Within the GQ list it was encouraging to see Rev Lucy Winkett named,
somebody also in the Christianity list of possible future bishops.
There were women in the list who can definitely
be described as feminist such as Stella Creasy MP and Caitlin Moran but many
would probably not be so readily labelled. The list contained the straight, the
gay and the single. One notable omission was Paris Lees, number two in the
Rainbow List and a highly influential woman. Her omission showed that it was a
cis list and we there is still some distance to go before all women are
included in such polls.
Yet, it was an informative and useful list.
Combining the information about the 100 women in the GQ list with the survey
data in Elle and the information in Christianity gave an informative an
interesting snapshot of where Feminism is today and to an extent some of the issues women
today face. Looking at the three magazines aimed at their differing
readerships, one mixed gender, one a female audience and one a male audience
also shows the complexity of the Feminist movement today and its relationship
with the media and potential allies who may not seem natural for those who
might more naturally and easily describe themselves as feminists.
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