Feminisms Today: Moving from Sisterhood to Girl Power

What is it about?

In this chapter, I compare second-wave feminist visions of a collective sense of common cause to contemporary media translations of empowerment and autonomy through girl power. “Sisterhood is powerful” and “the personal is political” served as key mantras in the second wave of feminism. In the 1990s and 2000s, fueled by sociocultural shifts and a market skilled in turning social change movements into profitable trends, feminism has become a mainstream, marketable commodity that no longer shares the values of the second wave. At its core, girl power reconceives both of the fundamental concepts of second-wave feminism: Individual achievement now trumps collective struggles and an individual’s choice has now replaced the structural system as the focus of critique. Now, energized by a neoliberal discourse, a girl power feminist is celebrated for her individual choice to objectify herself rather than encouraged to explore the structural normative femininity that she has internalized. Rather than a movement for social change, popular feminism has become a depoliticized demonstration of an ambiguous empowerment and autonomy. In a time when women’s rights are still very much under attack, this depoliticized, personalized feminism offers a weak and insufficient path to justice.

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Why is it important?

This chapter provides a critical and accessible introduction.

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