21st Century Feminism: An Oxymoron?

Perhaps it is simply due to the coincidental fact that my two courses have me reading Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson simultaneously, but lately I have been forced to ask, "What has happened to feminism?" The movement that pushed for equality among the sexes seems to have stalled as we march into Post-Obama election America.

I will not use the primary loss of Hilary Clinton as it is an example both too narrow as well as unrepresentative of the nation's attitude as a whole. However, as I look at the nature of art, society, literature and pop culture, I find myself much more impressed with accomplishments for equality in the past than the prospect of furthering such ideals in the future.

I may not be in touch enough with the opposite sex to make statements with any sort of authority, but it seems to me that the peak of women in American culture was the late 1960's into the 1970's. The popularity of actresses and socialites the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Gloria Vanderbilt paved the way for pioneers of the feminist movement. They proved that women can be just as intelligent, witty, and business savvy as men, all while maintaining their undeniable feminine beauty. Jane Goodall's prominent scientific research proved that women could devote their lives to the pursuit of science, encouraging young girls to drop their dolls and to pick up books. Business, Academia, and the Arts all were being heavily influenced by the ideas and actions of women and it seemed that the "fairer sex" was finally going to be included in the events that shape our lives.

Then something happened. At the end of the 70's, people forgot about the values injected by the actions of women in the late 60's and early 70's. America got bored with striving towards a future that had become too far fetched to actually work, and decided it was time for a new ideal: $. This new generation needed a new figure to symbolize itself, someone who embodied the greedy and shallow nature of the 1980's. It may upset a lot of people when I say this, but feminism was brought to a screeching halt with the arrival of America's favorite "Material Girl".

To call Madonna the death of feminist progression may give her too much credit, however the new image of women changed. Instead of the quirkiness of characters such as Annie Hall or the perpetuation of the singer/songwriter artist, i.e. Carole King, America was headed down a near 30 year span of women portrayed on the public level in perhaps the most shallow sense. The freedom of sexuality that was attained in the 60's was kept while all the ideals of intellectualism, honesty, and equality were abandoned. Where women were once second class citizens in the first half of the 20th century, the last 20 years has seen women kept in the background, however paid to keep their mouths shut. Oppression caused the eventual rise of woman's rights in the 60's, so a new strategy was formed. Instead of telling women they were inferior, they were told they were equal, and still treated as inferiors.

America's representative of entrepreneurial women?

Advertisement, art, and culture have all led us to a shell of the former ideals once thought of. Is Paris Hilton really our generation's Gloria Vanderbilt? Is Hannah Montanna or Miley Cyrus or any other Disney promoted pop star really the examples we want our daughters to have of musicians? Even the film industry, which loves putting itself on a pedestal for equal rights, made it's most talented actress wait five nominations before scoring a best actress in a leading roll when Kate Winslet won for "The Reader" a story about a young boy's relationship with an illiterate former S.S. soldier. I would venture to say that the most feminist film made in the past 30 years might be 1995's Clueless. While the satirically powered comedy does a great job of poking fun at America's pop culture induced teenage girl power struggle over lipstick and handbags, it's worth noting that Alicia Silverstone's career was effectively over about 5 years later when her youthful looks began to diminish. In this America, it doesn't matter what you've accomplished, once the face starts to wrinkle and the breasts start to sag, any other quality you once possessed goes along with it as long as you're a woman.

I do not deny that times today are certainly better than before in that today's girl does have many opportunities to succeed. If you are inherently talented, you will have an opportunity to show it. However, this leaves us with a large middle area that can go either way and are almost subject to the will of society. When society promotes women who are strong and intelligent, it makes a difference. Just the same, when society bombards you with bombshells who don't know how to do anything aside from sit and look pretty, and then are given book deals and millions upon millions of dollars, it sends a negative message to the rest of the country and to the world about what it means to be an American woman.

Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps I have NO IDEA what it means to be an American woman. But before you call me any kind of names between a pompous, arrogant asshole and a liberal-tree hugger, I ask you one question: How progressive can a society be that still pays women 33% less than it will pay a man for the same job?