In a long article in the "New York Times" entitled Feminism Made a Faustian Bargain With Celebrity Culture. Now It's Paying the PricePulitzer Prize-winning journalist Susan Faludi, who is preparing a book on contemporary feminism, takes into account the recent events that have shaken feminist activists (the overturning of the Roe vs. Wade sentence and the sentence of the Depp-Heard trial) to reflect precisely on the movement's methods of action.
Undoubtedly, the Depp-Heard process put the movement in a bad light #MeToo and, more generally, feminism, but it must be remembered that the problem has never been the sentence itself, but rather the way in which the media have talked about it. This is a very private matter that has unnecessarily become the symbol of a larger movement.
Also for this reason I find it exaggerated to refer the overthrow of the Roe vs. Wade ruling to the sentence of the Depp-Heard trial, which may be true in part but is still an incomplete analysis of the context that has led us up to here. Instead, the reaction of society can be considered more indicative, which in turn is indicative of a culture that is still too distant from the feminist movement.
Celebrity feminism sets back female progress
According to Susan Faludi, celebrity pop feminism is primarily responsible for the forced retreat of the female progress. And here, too, I don't entirely agree. Perhaps yes, “celebrity representation of feminism is a double-edged sword,” but I think the benefits far outweigh the dangers.
Fourth-wave feminism had the great advantage of spreading the movement globally, reaching unprecedented power even in the most marginal and least developed areas of the world. As a result, it has broadened its scope, becoming intersectional and involving every oppressed section of society in the struggle.
Celebrities and social networks they don't always spread the perfect form of feminism, but feminism wasn't perfect even in the days of the second wave (which was mainly white and middle class). Now all people who have the Internet can have access to thousands of different ideas on the subject and participate in discussions by adding their point of view. It is almost impossible to use social networks on a daily basis or read the online newspaper without ever coming across the word “feminism”.
Moreover, celebrity feminism certainly hasn't forgotten the teachings and habits of the second wave: feminists are still descending in the square to demonstrate and they still create collectives or organizations to come together.
Probably (and unfortunately) it has not yet led to significant political victories, but it has certainly had an important impact on the social and political debate, and above all on the education of the new generations. One cannot expect to see results immediately, also because the world is still governed mainly by old, white, straight men who make decisions and carry out their business. conservative thinking.
Women's rights are always in danger if patriarchal society holds up
I women's rights they are and will always be in danger if the foundations on which society rests do not change. But subverting the patriarchal structure that has always characterized and organized society requires constant commitment and the awareness that it will take a long time, because it involves radically changing culture.
Therefore, Susan Faludi and I do not share the same point of view, but the article offers us important food for thought that I invite you to study further.
Cancel cultures
Continues - https://www.stralci.info/home/cancel-culture/
#Me Too movement
It is a feminist movement born in 2017 (against the film producer Harvey Weinstein accused of harassment) as a hashtag on social media with the aim of denouncing and combating violence against women, especially in the workplace. The hashtag was shared by millions of women around the world so as to generate a real movement of liberation and awareness of the problem. Several men were subsequently investigated, even after decades of committing the alleged harassment, and convicted.
The #Me Too movement also tried to prevent the Santiago de Chile airport from being dedicated to the Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda because in one of his books he had described a sex scene he had with a Ceylon waitress, then a self-confessed rapist. But there was opposition because "a great artist cannot be judged by his actions, but by his works".
Maestro Riccardo Muti in an interview with Corriere della Sera also declared that he did not share the #Me Too movement and the "cancel culture". According to Muti, the poet-librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte and Mozart would end up in jail while Bach, Beethoven and Schubert are considered authors of "colonialist music". Muti also contested the "rainbow" quotas in musical events because the choices must be made based on meritocracy and not on gender quotas...