Examples Of Celebrity Feminism

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In popular culture right now, there has been a lot of buzz about celebrity feminists. Women like Taylor Swift, Lena Dunham, and Amy Poehler are being lauded as “feminist icons” in a multitude of Internet articles which are then shared by college-aged white women who love Parks and Recreation. Terms used to describe this type of feminism include white feminism, Daisy Duke feminism, and Liz Lemonism (Calafell, Boyle). For my rhetorical intervention, I am arguing that these particular brands of celebrity feminisms are politically dangerous for the women they do not include and that they create unnecessary roadblocks for the women that are included. There are a multitude of examples of celebrity feminism. We see this in Taylor Swift’s girl power rhetoric as well as her “feud” with Nicki Minaj on Twitter, and it’s also visible in Lena Dunham’s memoir. Watered-down celebrity feminism is also present in the humor of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. These white female celebrities ascribe to very limited feminist ideologies and this is visible in their work and social presence. It’s important to intervene in this discourse, because it actively harms women of color, working class women, differently abled women, and LGBTQ women. The research I consulted for this project resulted in me finding two overarching themes that will aid in making feminism more inclusive. …show more content…

Diaz makes an argument very similar to Calafell’s in “Postcolonial Theory and the Third Wave Agenda.” She argues that we must reject “a universal definition of womanhood – predominantly ‘middle class, white, able-bodied, and heterosexual’ – that is authored by Second Wave feminism (2003, 10). At this point, it is clear that feminism must rally around women of color, LGBTQ women, working class women, and differently-abled women. However, there can be problems with inclusiveness. Diaz

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