Instagram feminism. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s here - and it’s on the rise. No doubt we are experiencing an influx of consistent online educational content, containing aesthetically pleasing infographics and illustrations on our insta timelines letting us know that ‘’We need to talk about…’’. Now, this is not to invalidate the idea that utilising our social media platforms to highlight important social issues and hold meaningful discussion is a productive use of our time, because to some degree, it is. Rather, the hyper-fixation of online activism has resulted in people who are now commodifying their feminism as their ‘brand’. The way feminism is portrayed within certain online spaces is often watered-down theory curated in order to make it seem more palatable, ignoring the more nuanced and ‘messier’ complexities that exist beyond basic popular feminist thought. Social media continues to serve as an aid in the making of certain feminist ‘influencers’, alongside the capitalist creation of counter-active, neo-liberal marketplace feminism.
The idea of the ‘feminist icon’ is ultimately flawed. The recent criticism faced over influencer Florence Given’s feminist self-help book ‘Women Don’t Owe You Pretty’ is a prime example of the turbulence that can arise from the large-scale promotion, marketing and over-representation of certain types of online ‘activists’ (using that word extremely loosely). This begs the question of why we are so quick to label someone who is in reality, doing the bare minimum for feminist organising and praxis, as ‘the face of modern feminism’? All too often, the labour that some minoritized people employ is not valued as labour, but free public material. Marginalised voices that began the conversations long before the digital age, that these online mainstream feminist spaces are only now encountering are being overpowered on white digital platforms through the creation of white, ‘relatable’ liberal feminist ‘icons’, such as Given. We should discontinue the phenomenon of consuming public feminists’(who are usually white, cis-gender, able-bodied and ‘conventionally attractive’ women) work without practicing necessary critique. It is not news that most online feminist discussions are being centered around those who advocate for change solely by using distilled feminist theory to promote their new-found brand as a quirky, mainstream feminist leader. Feminism is not a personality trait.
Rather than completely devalue the work and expression of online feminist influencers, we should simply think more carefully about how we consume feminist bodies of work and to whom we give praise in order to move past the commercialized online activist culture of feminism. Perhaps we should be more wary of those who tie their feminism to their public persona without even attempting to incorporate some level of authenticity and meaningful accreditation of their sources. There is certainly a way of holding public feminists accountable without reenacting the power plays we claim we wish to dismantle. The element of paying homage to feminist ‘icons’ is also embedded into Newnham’s ethos as a womens college. Yet, these ‘icons’ and changemakers that are heavily promoted by the college are usually that of white, cis, middle-class women. Additionally, we must acknowledge that the continuation of the ‘Strong, Witty and Rebellious Women’ rhetoric is indeed problematic and exclusionary, and reflects the need for the college as a whole to engage more critically with gender.
It has become all too evident that we must allow space for the complexities of the feminist movement to be explored. Propping certain public feminists up on pedestals with the help of the publishing industry, marketing teams and influencer agencies does not help the cause for meaningful feminist discussion in activist spaces.
Perhaps it’s best we fall in love with the truth, rather than the truth teller.
{image description: on the left hand side is a photo of Chidera Eggerue holding a bunch of flowers with her left hand waving as they smile at the camera.}
{id: on the right hand side is a photo of Florence Given holding up a sign with the text reading 'women don't owe you pretty, june 2020'.}
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