CULTURAL STUDIES GROUP ASSIGNMENT

By 7th Group :

1. Nuruzzakiyyah Yahya (16320208)

2. Awatihif Nazlah Ajibah (17320036)

FEMINISM, QUEER STUDIES AND POST-FEMINISM

This paper focuses on three crucial thoughts that related each other. There are
feminism, queer theory and post-feminism. The first one is feminism that focuses on
woman empowerment movement. The second is queer theory. Queerness has been
defined as "quality associated with any expression that can be marked as contra-, non-,
or anti-straight" (Sardar, 1999). The last idea is post-feminism or
postmodern-feminism that can be defined as a form of criticism of feminism. After
knowing the concept of each thought, this paper will complete it with its application
in the real life.

A. The Concept Of Feminism, Queer Theory and Post-Feminism

Feminism was first conceived around 1550-1700. This movement exists because
of discrimination against women who are considered weaker, more emotional, and
less rational than men. Feminism has a place and a close relationship with gender and
sexuality. The reason for the emergence of feminism is the stigma that gender and
sexuality are important ideas to analyze. This idea becomes tricky because of the lack
of knowledge about the difference between gender and sexuality in the public. The
word “sex” depicts social construction as opposed to biological determination. While
“gender” is any social construction involving the male/female distinction. Meanwhile,
culture take a part as a place where where the social arrangement of gender can be
contested. It means, gender can analyzed refers to the social construction of the roles,
behaviors, activities and attributes that are determined by the community for certain
sexes.

Feminism consists of several types. The first is liberal feminism. This idea is
different from radical feminism and Marxism. Liberal feminism gives priority to the
importance of opportunity as important and crucial areas such as work, access to
education and child care. According to liberal feminism, women have the ability to
determine their own destiny. However, this ability is often limited by the heresy that
states that women are naturally weaker and stupid, when compared to men. This
assumption is what then encourages inequality of opportunity between men and
women. Men are often associated with roles in the public sphere, whereas women are
often associated with roles in the private sphere (or even not associated with roles in
any space!). For Wollstone, Taylor, to Friedan (at least when he wrote The Feminine
Mystique) for example, women must seize public space from men, by pursuing
careers like men, and proving that they can also do what men do. . In short, for liberal
feminism, structural intervention through policy is the key to alleviating gender
oppression. Liberal feminism has several strengths in solving problems related to
gender inequality. First, liberal feminism states that men and women have the same
opportunities. Second, liberal feminism encourages respect for individual rights, and
third, liberal feminism offers concrete solutions in overcoming gender inequality,
namely structural intervention.

The second is radical feminism caused by the oppression of women which is the
impact of a patriarchal system in which men are more dominant and have power over
women. For radical feminism, control over women's sexual, reproductive, and
self-identity is the oldest and most vicious form of oppression. But when discussing
solutions to these problems, radical feminism tends not to be of one voice. For
radical-libertarian feminism, the solution to the suppression of oppression can be
realized by encouraging the birth of androgynous individuals who have masculine and
feminine qualities. On the other hand, radical-cultural feminism, views that the
suppression of oppression can only occur when society adopts values that are often
associated with women (emotions, peace, life), and leaves values that are often
associated with men (hierarchy, domination, war). After going through differences of
thought, radical feminism succeeded in seeing the red thread between sex and gender,
when discussing the oppression that occurred against women. Radical feminism
rejects the sex / gender system, which assumes that the sex of an individual
determines the gender (both identity and expression) of that individual. For radical
feminists, sex and gender are two separate and independent things, as well as sexual
orientation. But despite its success in articulating the roles of gender and sex in
oppression, radical feminism seems ignorant of ethnic diversity and social class.
Radical feminism turns a blind eye to oppression based on ethnicity, race, religion,
and social class, because for them, there is only one oppression that underlies all other
oppressions, namely oppression of men against women.

The third is Marxist feminism. The women's revolt here is a consequence of the
dominance of capital over labor. Marxist feminism states that capitalism is the root of
all oppression that befalls women. The freedom of choice exalted by liberal feminism
is the fruit of false consciousness, which in practice makes women feel powerful over
their own bodies, when in reality they are not. The choice to become a housewife, for
example, is the result of economic inequality, rather than freedom of women's body
autonomy. Explanations related to how capitalism trapped women in false
consciousness, and mechanisms to liberate women were present in the work of
Friedrich Engels and Maria Dalla Costa. According to Engels, traditional societies are
governed by matriarchal values, rather than patriarchy. But in its development, men
(somehow, which are not explained in detail by Engels) became so good at breeding
livestock. This event then gave birth to the concept of private ownership; and the
presence of the concept of private ownership effectively shifts the position of women
in the social fabric. Engels's description above shows that capitalism is actually the
root of the oppression of the female body. The bad luck of women trapped in
monogamous relationships and carrying out the function of reproduction is the impact
of the desire of capitalism to inherit private ownership, and accumulate capital as
much as possible. Worse, women often consider bad luck as part of their noble duties.
For Engels, freeing women from the chain of class oppression can be done by
including women in the public sphere or in other words, integrating women into the
world of work; a view which was later criticized by Dalla Costa and James. For Dalla
Costa and James, the solution to the oppression of women is not the integration of
women into the world of work, but the recognition of domestic work done by women
that so far they have worked, and deserve to be paid; that the definition of 'work'
which only includes work in the public domain is problematic and gender biased.

The latter is a dual-system theory which is a combination of liberal and Marxist

feminism based on the belief that the oppression of women is a product of the
complex articulation of patriarchy and capitalism.
 The next thought is post-feminism. Post-feminism can be interpreted as a
movement that rejects and is opposed to feminism. Post-feminism itself is defined as a
movement or understanding that does not see gender and race as having a definite
meaning. Think of it as an act of criticism of the second wave of feminism, which was
marked by a redefinition of the concept in feminism. According to them feminism has
racist and ethnocentric concepts that only represent middle-class white women and
marginalize women from ethnic groups and other classes. In addition, the second
wave of feminists was considered not enough to voice the issue of "sexual
difference." Along with this, postmodenrnism, poststructuralism and postcolonialism
theories developed which then coincided with the development of feminism.

Of course there are conflicting elements within themselves according to the

context. But apart from the various contradictions in defining post-third feminism,
Genz and Brabon see that third-wave feminism and post-feminism have many
similarities. In fact both of them are often used as a term that underlies the entire
development of feminism after the 1970s. For example, Brooks (1997) and Genz and
Brabon (2009) use the term postfeminism to cover third wave feminism, while
Zaslow (2009) and Budgeon (2011) use third wave feminism to cover postfeminism.
Both oppose the anti-popular culture agenda in the second wave of feminism and
recognize popular culture as a fertile site for articulating feminism and empowering
women. And by sticking to the postfeminism formula proposed by Brooks (1997) and
Genz and Brabon (2009), both are influenced by postmodern theories and both
embrace differences. Femininity and masculinity are socially constructed and are a
site of political struggle about meaning.

In the end, attempts to distinguish post-feminism and third-wave feminism are

considered futile because any attempt to distinguish between third-wave feminism and
post-feminism may be nothing more than a small juggling with semantics. According
to Genz and Brabon, the difference between post-feminism and feminism in the third
wave of the inevitable phenomenon of the socio-cultural life of Western societies that
are vulnerable to contradictions (2009: 162). Although this opinion tends to underline
third wave feminism as a development dominated by the Western world, feminism
awareness to acknowledge differences and embrace pluralism becomes its own capital
for non-Western women to develop feminism with the belief that post-second wave
feminism is committed to embracing feminist schools that different.
 The last thought is a Queer theory that arises after the emergence of feminism.
The relationship between feminism and strange theories is not a direct relationship. At
face value, they appear to be in pairs because both at some level are trying to
deconstruct identity categories and register differences. But this Queer theory has
been opposed by some feminist critics because it seems to ignore political theories
that support a focus on gender and sexual violations. This said, there are many fruitful
intersections between feminism and Queer theories, so this theory is defined as
counter or anti-straight feminism. In addition, this theory can be described as
anti-racism, feminism, and post-colonialism which critically highlights that humans
are not of one ideal type.

The Queer theory consists of three phases of representation. The first phase of
Gay and Lesbian intellectual culture covered 1968 to 1975. In this phase, they looked
at homosexuality in two terms namely; homosexuality as a psychological disorder and
homosexuality as a natural or normal desire present at various levels in everyone. The
main objective of strange politics during this period was to increase public visibility.
As Geltmaker points out: 'Our refusal to stay in the closet is one way of saying no to
the world, the country, and regional cultures that intend to close borders with those
who are' different '' (Genz S. and B. Brabon, 2009) The goal here is breaking down
barriers through recognition of diversity. The second phase is around 1975-1980. this
phase focuses on gay and lesbian "community building" in intellectual events. The
third phase occurred in the mid 1980s when the emergence of the AIDS and anti-gay
epidemics resulted in age restrictions on homosexual tolerance. Besides al, the strange
theory has been criticized for "covering" its own ethical base. In the 1990s, Queer
theories marked the radical configuration of the intersection of sexuality,
representation and subjectivity. Against the politics of difference, Queer theories
disrupt the subject's binary configuration by advancing identity destabilization.

B. The Application of The Concept And History of Feminism

To ensure the reader's understanding of feminism which will later relate to

queerness and post-feminism, the authors include a description of women in gender as
a basis for the emergence of rebellion and the existence of feminism understanding. In
Javanese proverb mentions the task of women is 3M (Masak, Macak, Manak). We can
see in some advertisements for kitchen spices and dish soap products, etc., women are
often shown in the cooking section in the kitchen, washing dishes, mopping the floor
and even serving her husband in all matters. Whereas if we look again at some
advertisements, men are often portrayed as strong, assertive and hardworking. Why
did this happen?

The proof that many women currently work in government, parliament and
companies, but not many women are trusted to sit in the chair of decision makers.
Once again why did this happen? in our opinion, this is happen because of error in
understanding the meaning of feminism and gender equality. If gender equality is
limited to providing opportunities for women to work and earn a salary, we think it is
too narrow because the target of feminism itself is the mindset and perspective.

C. Review of The Relevant Studies

Given that the second wave of feminism that emerged in the 1960s had a big
theme "Women’s Liberation". Early emergence marked by the publication of the book
The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan (1963) is an important text from the
understanding of liberal feminism that examines the role played by the media in
socializing women into limiting feminine images. The 'feminine mystic' ideology
convinces women that they should 'not want a greater destiny than to glorify their
own femininity' and he uses the media to foster consumerism and related forms of
advertising and spending and fashionable psychoanalysis to produce 'sexual sales'. In
addition to publishing a book, Betty Friedan also founded the "National Organization
for Women (NOW)" movement in 1966. This organization houses the flow of liberal
feminism that aims to fight for women's participation in all social life (in America),
with the same rights and obligations as Male.

However, this theory emphasizes that women must seize public space (the media).
Humans are now referred to as human information, where humans get various
information in a variety of diverse packaging. The information presented is
increasingly developing, adjusted also to the needs and segmentation of the
information is an answer from the culture and lifestyle of urban communities that are
no longer a tertiary need. In other words, the theory of liberal feminism can be studied
in the sphere of culture such as the following journal with the title
"REPRESENTATION OF FEMINISM IN MEDIA FOR MEN TALKMEN.COM".
 The purpose of this paper is to look at the representation of masculinity and
femininity in the media for TalkMen.com men through the signs displayed in the
rubric of The Talk and Lovely Ladies. The author uses the view of liberal feminism to
find out how the TalkMen.com media construct women in online media by using
qualitative methods of semiotic analysis by Charles Sanders Pierce. Based on the
object, Peirce divides the marks on icons, indexes, and symbols. Icon is a sign that
brings back the object or reality that is marked. Index is a sign whose presence
indicates a marked relationship. Symbol, is a sign that the relationship between
signifier and signified is merely a matter of convention, agreement, or regulation. The
final analysis stage is the Interpretant which can be said to be the concept of thought
of someone who uses a sign and translates it into a specific meaning about an object
that is referred to by a sign.

The online magazine TalkMen.com is one of the men's online media portals that
presents information on lifestyles and trends that are tailored to the needs and culture
of men in Indonesia. As with other male-only media such as Sooperboy, Esquire,
Malezones and others, TalkMen.com also presents the female figures presented. Some
of these men's media portals provide photos and even videos of sexy, beautiful
women who are able to satisfy views. Through the rubric of The Talk and Lovely
Ladies, TalkMen.com magazine comes with a desire to place women in the same
position as men. In this rubric information is presented on how the characters are
trending and popular, which information is packaged exclusively. This is because all
male and female figures in the two rubrics are chosen because they have a great
achievement or influence on society, and are able to inspire many people.

According to Hollows (2000: 30), previous researchers found problems regarding

the image of women in the media displayed not in accordance with the actual changes
in society. Furthermore, Hollows also explained that the media in this case tried to
construct the meaning of gender. At the stage of observing TalkMen.com's personal
documents, the writer makes a description of how this media constructs the meaning
of femininity through the Lovely Ladies rubric. The Lovely Ladies rubric presents the
profile of women who are portrayed as women who in addition to having a beautiful
face, a pleasant personality, also inspire the public through the achievements they
have achieved in their lifetime.
 The author's explanation in the scope of meso is carried out to find out the
impressions generated in feature writing in various aspects by analyzing the topic,
character selection, appearance, makeup, gestures, concepts, writing rules, and
language style of feature writing that will be arranged in the Lovely Ladies rubric .
TalkMen.com selects characters that are suitable for what they will feature in Lovely
Ladies. The selection of these figures is not haphazard, because TalkMen.com really
chooses leaders who have a big contribution in society, achievements in society, and
also has a great influence on the community. Meanwhile, the context of the
appearance of the model chosen both in Lovely Ladies is able to shape the social
construction in society about someone, both negative and positive social
constructions.

Socio-cultural, the role of women only exists in the domestic space where they
are required to take care of children, and other household activities. This arises
because of a patriarchal culture in which men dominate their existence compared to
women. A patriarchal culture is a culture in which people perceive correctly and
naturally from the point of view of men. It is not uncommon when all things are taken
from the point of view of men. In this regard, women are often described as being
weak, gentle, kind, beautiful, sweet, and other adjectives that indicate the female side.
Likewise in the media, it is not uncommon for the media to describe a woman with
words that contain praise or glorify a woman.

The form of freedom given by TalkMen.com to female characters in Lovely

Ladies can be seen from the choice of words, photos, facial expressions, concepts,
topics, and other elements that have been analyzed using Peirce's semiotic analysis
through the elements of the sign (icon, index, and symbols), objects, and interpretants.
Through semiotic analysis, female characters in Lovely Ladies can be interpreted in
more than one meaning. The female figure in Lovely Ladies, besides being portrayed
as a beautiful woman in general, can also be symbolized as an accomplished woman
and is able to inspire many people.

The conclusion is that gender in the media always seems to be an important issue.
Based on the main goal of liberal feminism which has the same position as men in the
public eye, TalkMen.com appears funds represent feminism in their media as a tribute
to women by giving freedom to female characters in their media and giving the same
portion of news through The Talk and Lovely Ladies are in accordance with the
understanding of liberal feminism that fights for freedom in both the private and
public sphere.

LINK VIDEO

1. https://youtu.be/8uHrNK0AX30 by Awathif Nazlah Ajibah

2. https://youtu.be/mpGugGYko5E by Nuruzzakiyyah Yahya

REFERENCES

Genz S. dan B. Brabon. 2009. Postfeminism: Cultural Text and Theories. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press

Sardar, Z & Van Loon. B. (1998) INTRODUCING cultural studies. Icon books UK.

Suwastini, Ni Komang Arie Suwastini. April, 2013. “Perkembangan Feminisme

Barat Dari Abad Kedelapan Belas Hingga Postfeminisme: Sebuah Tinjauan
Teoretis”: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora Vol. 2, No. 1 (hlm.198-208).
https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/22877-ID-perkembangan-feminisme-bara
t-dari-abad-kedelapan-belas-hingga-postfeminisme-sebu.pdf
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