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Alternative Feminist Media

Alternative Feminist Media. Julie Wagoner Alyssa Detert Jacqueline Doyle. An Overview. Feminism: Then and Now The Need for a Voice MScommunication through Advertising What are we up against? Why does this matter??. Feminism: Then and Now. What exactly is feminism? Put simply: a theory

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Alternative Feminist Media

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  1. Alternative Feminist Media Julie Wagoner Alyssa Detert Jacqueline Doyle

  2. An Overview • Feminism: Then and Now • The Need for a Voice • MScommunication through Advertising • What are we up against? • Why does this matter??

  3. Feminism: Then and Now • What exactly is feminism? Put simply: a theory of equality of the sexes Examined over various disciplines: political,sociological, legal,psychoanalytic, literary, philosophical

  4. Feminism: Then and Now • First Wave Feminism: Women’s Suffrage Movement of the Early 20th Century Considered a largely white, middle-class woman’s movement

  5. Feminism: Then and Now • Second-Wave Feminism Progressive thinkers of 60s and 70s, as a response to idealized 1950’s American lifestyle Radical, characterized by the term ‘Femi-Nazi’ Influential writers, such as Adrienne Rich, Gloria Steinem and Ms. Roe V. Wade

  6. Feminism: Now and Then • Third Wave Feminism: NOW! More inclusive to minority groups at home and abroad Looks to work for equality for all oppressed groups

  7. The Need For a Voice • During the late 60s women saw the wage gap enacted by many publications that employed them. • Evident their careers were restricted by “the glass ceiling”

  8. The Need for a Voice • At this point in time there was no sturdy platform for women to express their fury with these recurring chauvinistic practices.

  9. The Need for a Voice • An abortion case in New York state held legislative hearings in Albany, where 14 of 15 expert witnesses were men. • Outraged by the absurdity of this case, a group of women held the first feminine “speakout” in Manhattan. • The protest served as an opportunity for women to tell the truth about their lives in public

  10. The Need for a Voice • Gloria Steinem was one such woman in the crowd. • Seeing the need for a feminist publication, Steinem began meeting with journalists and activists to share her ambition.

  11. The Need for a Voice • In the winter of 1972 the first issue of Ms. magazine hit newsstands. • The issue promised stories on sisterhood, abortions, children, sex roles, and living as a housewife.

  12. The Need for a Voice • After the first issue: - 26,000 subscription orders - 20,000 reader response letters

  13. MScommunication through Advertising: Focus Groups • Ad agency, BBDO conducted focus groups to find out information about what products and ad images women thought were most objectionable and why.

  14. Mscommunication through Advertising: Resentment • The agency discovered that women resented advertising that reinforced the idea that women belong in the home.

  15. Mscommunication through Advertising: Results • Women obtained executive positions at advertising agencies. • Industry recognized that 85% of the nation’s spending power was controlled by women. • Career women became a new target for advertisers.

  16. Mscommunication through Advertising: Not Hiring • Advertisements lacked sensitivity to the women’s perspective was because of discrimination against employment opportunities for women in the advertising industry.

  17. MScommunication through Advertising: Counter-Stereotype • A new type of advertising created: Counter-stereotype ads reversed traditional stereotypes in order to be included in magazines like Ms. • Polished the reputation of the company featured in the ad

  18. Mscommunication through Advertising: Financial Struggle • Ms. became a nonprofit foundation to maintain control over its content. • Investors became more important to their survival. • 1989 - Ms. purchased by Dale Lang, owner of Working Mother and Working Woman. • Ms. Mag became ad-free.

  19. What are we up against? • Cosmopolitan’s “Fun Fearless Female” • Looking at their rates for advertisements, whose agenda is being served?

  20. What are we up against? • Advertisers push images of the ‘ideal’ woman! • Gender Based Assumption: A woman is always a work in progress • Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption

  21. What are we up against? “...to thumb through the Cosmopolitan now on the racks is to visit a matrix of ‘content’ and advertising that incessantly inflames--and cashes in on-obsessionswith seeking to measure up to media-driven images” (Solomon 2002).

  22. By contrast…. Ms. and Bitch do not look at their readers as consumers • Few advertisements, Lots of dialogue, Intellectual Respect • In the Pages -Advertisement Criticism, Mobilization, Advertisements for Each Other

  23. Why does this all matter? • Progress does not come instantaneously • Resistance is met with criticism • Women of today have more freedoms because activists in the past • Therefore, it is important to maintain discourse about today’s ideals

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