Oh My God... What Have You Done?

This week, with a pounding disconnected head after the midterm, I would like to connect Kipnis and White to feminism and women portrayed in the media. Kipnis argues that the dominated classes are kept down by the dominating class through the appropriation of the dominated culture. This culture is then refunctioned, transformed, and spit out as a not antagonistic watered down representation. This links to feminism and the feminist movement through the portrayal of “feminism” in commercials geared towards women. We often see commercial which incorporate feminist values or concepts previously used. You all know what I am thinking of; the pad commercial urging women not to let their period stop them, the tampon commercials compelling women that they can still be active even while on their rag, the allesse commercials telling women to be a unique individual and to chose their own life, the examples go on and on. This use of feminist discourse (choice, men as active, and women needing to fighting back) waters down feminism into ads for sponges and pills. Feminist goals are seen as achieved and feminists are supposed to be felt to be represented; the antagonism is lost.

Additionally, White explores the idea that shows introduce many perspectives, only to reframe them into one point – the dominant ideology. There is a reason I used the examples I did. Pads, tampons and birth control are all selling women’s reproductive cycle. Not only are women made into passive objects upon which their periods unfortunately happen; women’s major role is defined as reproduction. While using ‘feminist’ view points, women have been reduced to passive objects and feminism has been reduced to the fight for more absorbance.