It seems with every turn we take; we often find ourselves face to face with some kind of ‘feminist’ propaganda. The popularisation of the ‘girl boss’ persona, and the constant use of female athletes on the face of every commercial, regardless of whether or not the collaboration makes sense for both parties. Every day we’re reminded to take back the power we’ve lost to our male counterparts, to speak our minds, to love ourselves, and to be self-reliant. As much as these messages are powerful, with empowering propaganda there comes a fine line that may be crossed in which the message becomes satirical.
Take this scene from Euphoria. They poke at the overselling of feminism in society, showcasing that they not only sound incredibly ridiculous and shallow but rather that such ‘feminism’ does not actually have the effect the propaganda was hoping to produce.
Sarah Banet-Weiser’s book ‘Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny’ explores the idea of feminism as placing an emphasis on solving problems women face through the ‘lean in’ idea — ‘lean in’, and you’ll be empowered. With the expansion of neoliberal capitalism, the ‘lean in’ idea is enforced by social media being so easily accessible, allowing the emergence of more and more content to be created and consumed, that associates female issues with discourses of empowerment that are both cultural and economic. This is often seen where companies and influencers overtly suggest a certain look, lifestyle, or ideology to their audience, resulting in the dissemination of popular ideas — hence, ‘popular feminism’.
Gillette “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be.”
In 2019, popular razor brand Gillette released a Super Bowl advertisement that tackled the topics of feminism and anti-toxic masculinity. With mentions of the #MeToo movement, ‘mansplaining’, the male gaze etc., there was a lot to unpack in this 2-minute video.
Essentially, the advertisement encourages men to hold other men accountable for their actions and to raise a new generation of men where “boys will be boys” will no longer be an excuse for misogyny in society.
The advertisement ended up receiving very mixed reviews. Backlash consisted largely of males who called for a boycott of the company, claiming that the company “hated manly men”, and that Gillette was racist for depicting white men as the main antagonists.
“Men are saying, we feel marginalized, criticized and accused rather than feeling inspired empowered and encouraged”
– Susan Cantor, CEO of RedPeak branding
While other viewers saw the advertisement as bold and brave.
Thank you, #Gillette, for taking a chance on attaching your tagline to something meaningful, important and real. This conversation needs to happen. Why are there is so many complaints when it’s showing the good and bad side of #masculinity?
– Twitter user @happyasbarry
But no matter where you stand in this debate, can we really say that feminism goes hand in hand with Gillette’s commercial interests?
For over 100 years, the company has traditionally catered to the male population. As much as the conversation needs to be had, it is rather nonsensical to use feminism to sell men’s grooming products. Closely following the values of neoliberal ideology, the creation of such propaganda is not only a form of entrepreneurialism, but an emphasis on the importance of an individual’s responsibility in a pressing issue, in turn, ultimately governing the popular idea of ‘feminism’ and ‘anti-toxic masculinity’.
Even though Gillette sells female-targeted razors, irony largely prevails as these specific razors are cladded with the ‘pink tax’. The brand’s female-marketed razors are often more expensive than their ‘male’ razors, despite being the same product.
Gillette has not traditionally branded itself as a company that particularly ‘cares’ for women. The advertisement itself aired in 2019, and the prices shown are current day, 2022 prices. If Gillette truly wants to advocate for creating a safe and fair world for women, they would’ve, and should’ve, started by evaluating their own brand values and products. With this advertisement, not only did they lose male customers by trying to appeal to females, but also managed to do so in such a way that almost makes their efforts look highly performative — ‘Popular feminism’, at its best, if you will.