Introduction to research (Literature)[Escriba texto]

Laura M Rejn Lpez

ACTIVITY 1: ARTICLE ANALYSIS

The title of the article I have chosen is Post-Feminism and Popular Culture by Angela
McRobbie. This article was published in the Feminist Media Studies Vol.3, No. 3 in
2004. It is a journal which provides a transdisciplinary, transnational forum for
researchers pursuing feminist approaches to the field of media and communication
studies, with attention to the historical, philosophical, cultural, social, political, and
economic dimensions and analysis of sites including print and electronic media, film
and the arts, and new media technologies1 and covers at least 6 issues per year in its
online version. The aim of this journal is to offer a place (printed version or online
reading) where scholars, professionals or any other person interested in feminist studies
can engaged themselves in debates, discussions and encourage the diffusion of feminist
issues.
Reading the title of the article, Post-Feminism and Popular Culture, you can anticipate
that the time location of its main topic will be between 90s and present time, due to the
fact that the post-feminist movement belongs to a third wave of feminism which started
more or less at the beginning of the 90s and extended until the 21th century. The other
part of the title, popular culture, will probably refer to facts or issues that have become
famous and influential, or popular, among common people during 90s and so on; in this
particular case, aspects that are related or influenced by different feminist perspectives
which have changed along the years, like women behaviour, education, etc.. The
audience of this article is a specific group of people who share an interest in feminist
issues, because the terms feminism and post-feminism are not always distinguished by
most people, or the meaning is not clear. After reading this article, my expectations have
been highly fulfilled, not only because the information given has been useful, clear and
to the point, but the author has explained and clarified her arguments with a perfect final
example.
At the beginning of the article there is an introduction where the author states the basis
of her article and her intention. In the first sentence, the author says that her aim is to
present a series of possible conceptual frames for engaging with what has come to be
known as post-feminism and also give reasons of why this movement has been
attacked and undermined in many ways. She proposes a complexification of the
backlash thesis by Susan Faludi in 1992, letting people to examine the struggling fight
of feminism nowadays.
Applying post-feminist theories by different authors such as Susan Faludi, Judith Butler
and Anthony Giddens, and using what she calls a double entanglement, the author
explores what post-feminism has become after the dissection of the movement and its
free interpretation by the modern world and young women. This double
entanglement claims that neo-conservatives values in relation to gender, sexuality and
1 http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?
show=aimsScope&journalCode=rfms20

Introduction to research (Literature)[Escriba texto]

Laura M Rejn Lpez

family life coexist with the freedom to choose and accept diversity in relation to
domestic, sexual and kinship relations. After the introduction, the author presents
several situations and facts which she considers are the causes of the decline of
feminism in the last twenty five years, each one developed in a different section. Finally,
all these ideas are showed in the last point where the author relates them to Bridget
Jones, the main female character of Bridget Joness Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)
which was brought to the big screen in 2001.
This last point acts as a conclusion itself, showing the reader how all these feminist
theories discussed previously can be applied in a real example. The author concludes
that the way people understand feminist and post-feminist ideas are a contradiction, or
are combined in a very struggling way. The double entanglement the author mentions is
clear in Bridget Joness character: she wants to be an independent, sophisticated,
modern woman but she also wants to get a husband and a family with traditional values.
This re-invented feminism is a well-regulated liberty that is defined by the same
young women who want to liberate from the manhandling their predecessors have been
subjected, but also want to find a good catch to avoid loneliness in the future.
Bibliography
McRobbie, A. (2004) Post-Feminism and Popular Culture, Routledge:
Taylor & Francis Group, Feminist Media Studies Vol.3, No. 3