kasia.lomanczyk
05.06.03, 13:04
Katarzyna Łomańczyk
Post-feminism – a fact or a fallacy? Some thoughts on the present-day
feminist movement.
1. Is It the End?
In the first half of the eighties in the United States of America a
controversial issue was on the agenda. It was the issue of whether producing
or distributing pornographic materials should be forbidden by the federal
law. Regarding pornography as an expression of sexual discrimination against
women, radical feminists opted for making it illegal. On the other hand,
liberal feminists opposed to this view by claiming that people should be
allowed to choose for themselves. The radical anti-pornography campaign and
the lack of support for it from the side of feminist liberals, together with
the general discussion on the issues of human (and especially female)
sexuality, was a reason for deep dissent within the women’s movement1
Some interpreted this dissent as the finale of the feminist movement at all.
Kazimierz Ślęczka in his major work on feminist theories mentions various
sources which describe feminism as a movement so fossilized that it is
actually dead. The same sources claim that what we are facing nowadays is
already post-feminism.2 Agnieszka Kołakowska in her article Brygady
politycznej poprawności (The Political Correctness Squads) says: „There are
some symptoms that feminism, at least in its most radical forms, starts to
die a natural death. […] Radical feminism is dying out not only because it
has already bored everybody to death; it is dying out also because of being
brought to reductio ad absurdum.”3
Kołakowska is not the only one, and not even the earliest, to anticipate the
decline of the movement. One of the pioneer feminists, Betty Friedan,
suggests that feminism has already served its purpose and a next stage in the
development of the society is coming, the stage being the fight of women
together with men for changes in the social functioning of the sexes.4 Even
as early as in 1982 a journalist Susan Bolotin in her article entitled Voices
From the Post-Feminist Generation published in the New York Times Magazine
claimed that the floor had been taken by “a new post-feminist generation”.5
Later on (in 1986) on the pages of the same magazine another journalist Ann
Taylor Fleming wrote that any trace of the women’s movement had disappeared.6
It is true that in the eighties feminism was not as visible to the public as
it was earlier. The battle against pornography was lost, the public opinion
research was showing that American women did not feel discriminated and,
therefore, they did not regard feminism as something necessary. The movement
started to lose influence. Ślęczka gives the numbers of the members of the
biggest and most popular feminist organization in the USA called the National
Organization for Women (NOW): in 1985 it had only 130 thousand members,
whereas before the numbers exceeded 200 thousand.7
However, some voices appear which claim that feminism still has not spoken
its last word.8 In fact in the nineties one could notice that feminist
actions and organizations gained publicity again. Can we speak of the end of
feminism and the oncoming of the post-feminist era then? This is the question
which is going to be discussed in this paper.
2. What Is Feminism Nowadays?
There is great difficulty in establishing what type of social activism of
women can be qualified as feminist and, therefore, whether any form of
feminist activism is still present in the society. But is it really a
completely new problem? In fact in a piece of writing now regarded as the
first feminist manifesto, which was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
(1789) by Mary Wollstonecraft, the notion of feminism was non-existent at
all. However, nobody would argue against the statement that this work belongs
to the canon of feminist writing. The whole suffragette movement, now treated
as a base and at the same time a point of reference for the so-called Second
Wave Feminism9, did not use the word ‘feminism’, either. There is also
another thing that adds a different dimension to this problem: some women
whose opinions or lifestyles do represent feminist attitudes repudiate being
feminists.10 One may only speculate about the reasons for such behaviour.
Kazimierz Ślęczka gives the one he thinks is the most plausible: since the
notion of feminism started to be identified with the extremely radical wing
of the movement, which is the separatist-cultural branch, these women do not
want to be seen as fanatic bra-burning man-haters.11 Christina Hoff Sommers
in her Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women says that radical
feminism actually stole feminism, usurped the right to it. She also notices
that not every woman wants to take part in the war between the sexes.12 On
the basis of these observations I have decided to submit for discussion not
only those aspects of the present-day activism of women in society that are
openly defined as feminist in character, but also those which are connected
with the fight for women’s liberation and equality of the sexes, but not
necessarily ascribed to feminism in the everyday use of the word.
3. Trends In Today’s Feminism
Even though from time to time some voices announce the decline of women’s
liberation movement, the truth is that in the nineties many things indicate a
considerable enlivening within it. New ideas appear; new authors present
their works to the international audience, both in the field of social
sciences and literature. Ślęczka describes the main trends in the present-day
feminist thought of Western Europe and the USA. The most noticeable of them
is the radical branch, claiming itself the only true feminism, and often
regarded so by the public opinion. Radical feminists see the society as
divided into mutually opposed classes. Their vision is very much like
Marxism. However, to them one of the factors in the social division is sex.
Women are the oppressed class and men very cleverly sustain this situation.
The only way to change it is in fact a global sexual revolution and this
should be the objective.13 Another feminist trend, sometimes treated as a
part of the radical feminism, is cultural feminism. Developing mostly in
academic and artistic circles, it postulates creating a separate women’s
culture alternative to men’s and concentrates on women’s achievements in
arts, sciences and humanities in order to provide a counterbalance for the
domination of men in these fields. This is connected with the domain of
gender studies: studies describing social functioning of the sexes.14 The
least revolutionary feminism is liberal feminism. The liberals want to change
the status quo not through revolution but by means of reformatory activity to
eliminate any forms of sexual discrimination. Involving the state in the
Cause, they concentrate on legal issues and the education of new generations
towards the liberation of women.15 Liberal feminism is the most active one
nowadays. Moreover, it produced a completely new kind of feminism, often seen
as the future of the movement, that is power feminism. Radical and cultural
feminism have become somewhat marginal because of their sub-cultural and
orthodox character, whereas power feminism gains considerable popularity for
its lack of both ideological stiffness and hostility towards men, as was the
case with radical feminism.
4. Power Feminism
Power feminism, as one may conclude from the very name of the trend, is a
movement that focuses its attention on women’s participation in wielding
power. It emerges from the conviction that there exists hidden discrimination
against women as to the access to government, parliaments