Selling out feminism

The commodification of feminism fails to address the issues suppressing women

by Emily Liu opinions staff

Just a couple years ago, a quick scroll on social media would have led to unending posts of pastel pink affirmations or women in powersuits, all donning a common hashtag: #Girlboss. This, in and of itself, exemplifies the commodification of feminism as a secondary element to a picture and a catch-phrase meant to be slapped onto t-shirts or mugs. While the term “girlboss” itself has fallen out of favor from popular media, instead being replaced with other slogans such as “Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss,” or “I think I may have girlbossed a bit too close to the sun,” this mockery has done little to staunch the rapid dilution of meaningful feminism.

The idea of the “girlboss” is widely considered to have devel oped from “choice feminism” that emerged as a part of a 90s feminist movement, which was built upon individualism with an emphasis on financial empowerment. Over the years, “girlboss feminism” has proven to be especially marketable, seeking to prosper under the constraints of capitalism rather than advocate for all women.

As a result, the female strife has been transformed into cheap

Statistics on female employment

of Fortune 500 CEOs are women and are women of color.

8.8% 1% Following COVID recovery, Black and Latinx women’s unemployment rate was 2 and 1.5 times higher than their white counterparts.

Sources: Women Business Collective, University of New Hampshire goods with vaguely feminist text. Huge corporations, often backed by white men, have begun to use feminist beliefs to garner a major profit. Several international companies, such as Always with their #LikeAGirl campaign, have bought into this, creating promotional advertisements meant to exploit female empowerment for financial purposes under the guise of female empowerment. Rather than addressing any underlying issues, like those within the patriarchy, politics or capitalism, these products and campaigns merely serve to operate within these systems.

In addition, the mainstream version of the “girlboss” has become increasingly individualistic, with too much emphasis on personal successes and perpetuating the false idea of a capitalist meritocracy. The issue arises when this pursuit of financial success comes at the expense of other women, as “girlboss” feminism no longer seeks solidarity with all women but instead to rise above them.

While there has been a rise in female CEOs, the fear is that women in positions of power will be automatically scrubbed of their criticisms due to appearing as a feminist icon or leader. In truth, being female alone is not enough to make you feminist, and simply glorifying female leaders without any regard for their previous actions is dangerous. To this point, Sophia Amuroso, who coined the term “girlboss” herself, has been found to have fired multiple pregnant employees while still advocating for the feminist cause.

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Popular feminism has only come to restrict women of marginalized groups, often portraying an image of a young, white and attrac tive woman who is likely already very wealthy. Systemic inequalities women face based upon race, gen der, sexuality and socioeconomic status are entirely disregarded.

With its negligence to address systemic issues, one is inclined to wonder that perhaps this commodified form of feminism became mainstream on the basis that it does not actually challenge any of society’s norms nor power structures. Even so, to enact true change, we must take an active stance. It is no longer enough to push for female empowerment on the individual level or from behind corporations and singular individuals we blindly trust. Instead, we must take a more active stance. It is only in this way that we may pro-