Feminism and Media
Just as the few women I recognized, activists, too, have a responsibility to create works that will question society-- gender-- as it is, today. Fiction is a way we can do that.
Having said that, I’m not delusional. I know reading a book is not a popular way for most people to spend time. I’m an English major and I rather watch Netflix than read most days. Most people today would probably say the same. And that is why media does play such a vital role in the progression of feminist literature. But how, exactly? Well, it’s important to think about how these forms of media, which consume the majority of our day, originate. The first step is almost always writing. In nearly every single instance. So, I’d argue writing, primarily fiction, holds a lot more power in terms of societal influence than you’d originally guess.
In 1985 Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was published. In 2017, 32 years later, it was adapted into a Hulu original television show. It went on to win 5 Emmys. It is the most-watched show ever to debut on Hulu. Although, Hulu doesn’t release viewing numbers, it is thought that roughly 7.5 million people watched the show. 7.5 million. Men, women, conservatives, liberals, maybe even the president, who am I to know? Those viewers talked. Those conversations sparked questions. Those questions led to knowledge, to awareness. That show meant something tremendous for what some are calling the “4th wave” of technology-based feminism.
It was written in the 1980s… viewers and critiques took note of its contemporary relevance, but it was written in the 1980s… One more time, it was written in the 1980s…This is both important to note because it means writing has a way of transcending time, finding a way to survive and adapting to our age of technology. That’s part of the attraction for many Literature scholars and writers—the idea of leaving some sort of legacy. But it’s also important to realize how problematic this could be through the feminist perspective. Issues that were prominent for feminism in the 1980s are still applicable, today. Which just goes to show we may not have progressed as much as we’d like to think, in some ways. What do we do with that? Where do we go from here?
Well, I don’t consider myself a technological gal by any means, but… I do understand how influential the media is in our day and age, and I wouldn’t predict that to slow down. The majority of the media we have now—TV shows, movies, music, etc., is more harmful than it is beneficial to our society. In short, it tells women that we’re sexual objects who exist for men, and it tells men that about women, but it also demands men to be emotionally numb and hyper masculine. (Side note: if you want further information on this you should check out the documentaries Miss Representation and The Mask you live in, they are both on Netflix) Anyway, I’m suggesting the best way to change these media induced expectations is through writing. Writing more culturally aware and culturally progressive novels, stories and screenplays because these are where the TV shows and movies come from.
Yes, supply and demand is a popular argument to stop damaging forms of media, and that’s accurate. If we don’t watch a given show, it won’t continue to exist. But, how is that working out for us? Does it cease to exist, or is it replaced with an equally or more damaging show? In truth, we haven’t really tested this theory because right now, there aren’t a lot of healthy examples to be the supply to meet any potential demand. We watch what we know and what we’re most exposed to. And, adaptations aren’t consistently made, in part, because there aren’t tons of works to adapt. Because of The Handmaid’s Tale we know there are at least 7.5 million people who might just fill the demand for any potential supply. We need something to replace the damaging forms of media, so let’s create it.
Let’s write stories of empowerment for marginalized groups. Let’s work educational theories into our creative writing. Let’s produce more intersectional feminist literature, because although the women I’ll show you are amazing, there is still not enough feminist writing circulating in our market. If writers do this, I am almost positive the media will start to mirror the shift. It will have to.