Susan Douglas speaks to launch Women's Week

University of Michigan professor Susan Douglas gives a keynote address. It kicked off Women’s Week, which will end with the Vagina Monologues this weekend.

The presence of female stars on shows like 30 Rock, Ugly Betty and Sex and the City may say something about women’s prominence in media, but according to the Women’s Week keynote speaker, the message is not always positive.

Susan J. Douglas, a University of Michigan professor of Communication Studies, delivered a keynote speech on the myths of feminist equality at Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall. Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women co-sponsored the event, which launched Penn’s Women’s Week.

Douglas — author, columnist and cultural critic — first garnered attention in 1994 when she published her book, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. Today, she continues to analyze the normalization of anti-feminism and the mixed messages women receive in mass media.

“Effectively feminism has been … vilified in the media,” Douglas said. In fact, feminism in the media is the “ideological equivalent of anthrax,” she said.

Douglas said a stigma still exists around feminists, who are dismissed as social pariahs and wrongfully cemented as extremists and man-haters.

“I grew tired of seeing the attitude of ‘I’m not a feminist, but …’” as though it’s something to be avoided, said College senior and PCUW chair Meg Hlousek. Douglas addresses that in her work, which is why the group chose her to speak last night, Hlousek said.

Douglas also chronicled the development of “girl power,” beginning with the Spice Girls in 1994 to the notable yet unsuccessful political campaigns of female candidates like Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in 2008.

According to Douglas, women’s achievements are overrepresented in the media as a way to promote fantasies of power. These attempts are transparent, she said, because gratifying images of success “mask how much still remains to be done for women.”

This speaks to the relationship between embedded feminism, the desire to highlight women’s success in the media, and enlightened sexism, a more subtle form of sexism that embraces achievements on the surface but ultimately repudiates feminism.

“Hearing Douglas speak about enlightened sexism made me realize how prevalent it is on our campus,” College junior Yunica Jiang.”

A member of the predominately male Glee Club, Jiang said she experienced firsthand how large groups of guys objectify and put down women.

“But then the guys always say to me: ‘Don’t worry, we’re not talking about you —you’re one of us,’” she said.

Jiang said she was glad Douglas highlighted that sort of contradiction.

Douglas showed students statistics that placed women’s median income at $32,000 a year, below the male median income. The United States also fell drastically in the global gender gap index in recent years.

“Women are promised they can do or be anything,” she said, yet double standards still exist and full equality has not been achieved.

Comments (5)

“Effectively feminism has been … vilified in the media,” Douglas said. In fact, feminism in the media is the “ideological equivalent of anthrax,” she said.”

It IS, IN FACT, the ideological equivalent of anthrax…and deserves to be (but rarely is) vilified in the media. No other group, in America anyway, is coddled for spreading bigoted hatred as a matter of ‘equality’ or ‘justice’. The totalitarian twits (gender-feminists) who shill this swill need to banned from civil discourse, ridiculed as the rhetorical rapists they are, and scorned as ugly cultists who have no business holding forth in the public realm.

‘According to Douglas, women’s achievements are overrepresented in the media as a way to promote fantasies of power. These attempts are transparent, she said, because gratifying images of success “mask how much still remains to be done for women.”’

‘Heads we lose, tails they win.’ With feminists, they are always (claiming to be) losing in some way. They use this then to justify their insistence on using fascist-like tactics to attempt to silence others who point out their ludicrousness. Failing to succeed they attempt to get the gov’t (ie, men) to do their dirty work, then have the nerve to complain that the gov’t is made up mostly of men. This is not unlike how certain people complain about the trash collectors (who happen categorically, ie, with very rare exception, to be men) who remove their garbage because they come too early in the AM and it disturbs their sleep, all the while not thinking about the “garbage men” who had to get up at 3:00 AM to do the dirty work the homeowner didn’t want to do for him- or herself.

Feminists are not categorically ugly, awful, man-hating witches. However they are categorically bigoted, self-absorbed, and hypocritical. Anyone who actually follows their lines of so-called reasoning may be any number of things, but for sure they are missing the skill(s) of analytical thinking. But the good news is that for such a person, there is always hope they will learn it and then recognize feminism for what it is: bigotry.

The antidote to feminist malarky: ncfm.org

“… may say something about women’s prominence in media, … , the message is not always positive.”

Is it supposed to always be positive? Is it acceptable to portray men as dictators, rapists, abusers and pedofiles in virtually every feminist driven campaign for women’s issues out there, but heaven forbid there ever be a negative portrayal of women… is THIS feminist equality?

““I grew tired of seeing the attitude of ‘I’m not a feminist, but …’” as though it’s something to be avoided,”

When radical feminists are relegated to the extreme fringe of the movement, but truely egalitarian and self critical feminists, like Christina Hoff Sommers, actually get cast out and attacked, (IE, she is seen as more of a threat to feminism than the likes of Dworkin, MacKinnon, Solonas (and her Sweddish government sponsored theatrical performers) and Valenti)… Is it not reasonable to consider, maybe feminist’s are something to be avoided?

“According to Douglas, women’s achievements are overrepresented in the media as a way to promote fantasies of power.”

How is this different than feminist promotion of male power, overrepresenting the male power of the top 1% to promote fantasies of male power/privilege?

“she said, because gratifying images of success “mask how much still remains to be done for women.””

In much the same manner as gratifying images of male power mask how much suffering, oppression and discrimination men face?

“ and enlightened sexism, a more subtle form of sexism that embraces achievements on the surface but ultimately repudiates feminism.”

Perhaps if feminists could point to a benchmark of “achevable” success that people could look to to say “hey, goal achieved”, instead of expecting people to take feminist’s word on what is a success, which has been shown to be unreasonable (such as the fact that 50 years ago, 44% female attendance in college was unacceptable and proof of discrimination. Today, 60% female attendance is still unacceptable, and efforts are being made to ensure MORE women enter into the only remaining male dominated course, the STEM fields. Is success in education only gained when men are completely removed?), then people wouldn’t be forced to measure success on their own, in a manner that feminists don’t like.

“Douglas showed students statistics that placed women’s median income at $32,000 a year”

I pesume that statistic is based off the math of comparing female dominated part time jobs against CEO’s, entrapanuers, engineer’s, etc?

“It kicked off Women’s Week, which will end with the Vagina Monologues this weekend.”

The original version of the Vagina Monologues actually promotes the rape of a young girl by an adult woman. No man promoting such a blatant piece of child porn would walk free, he would be sent to jail for quite a few years.

Susan J. Douglas is right when she says “yet double standards still exist and full equality has not been achieved.”

Thanks for pointing that out to us nasty Patriarchs.

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