Living in the era of social justice, we are constantly being bombarded by female- empowerment messages in social media campaigns, ads, and pop music. However, let’s not be too quick to categorize this as a “win” for the female community; in today’s post, I will be looking into the concept of popular feminism that has gained a lot of traction in the 20th century. Before I jump to dissect the term let’s investigate the political and economic sphere that permits for the circulation of such ideologies. In today’s neoliberal capitalist world, the notion of entrepreneurialism, individualism, resilience, consumerism, and meritocracy are heavily promoted. These notions have been deeply rooted in our generation; it’s very evident as studies revealed a surge in the percentage of entrepreneurialism in 2021 11 Entrepreneur Statistics, Facts, And Trends in 2021 (markinblog.com) These notions serve as the playbook for success in today’s capitalist society. They emphasize the responsibility of females to make a success of themselves. The heavy circulation of these messages in media texts is defined as “popular feminism”. In our economy of visibility, media platforms are congested with feminist manifestos. Big corporate companies believe that their products can provide all the answers to the issues facing women. Is it ever okay to use Feminism as a marketing ploy? – nichemarket
“You’re More Beautiful Than You Think”- Dove.
Dove is notoriously known for its spine-tingling ads about body positivity. A campaign that has gained virality on the internet is Dove you’re more beautiful than you think. This ad has an emotional appeal that directly taps into the idea that confidence highly depends on appearance. The Dove advert claims that happiness and success will follow if women become more confident. Dove promotes the concept of real beauty and the solution that Dove envisages for females is that with the right Dove product, you will find real beauty. The explicit message is that if females start being more confident, they will be empowered. This ideology is rooted in neoliberalism as it places the burden on women to reform sexist beauty standards imposed by a patriarchal society, giving them the choice to either remain stagnant or slay.
Moreover, Dove published an article titled Five tips to feeling beautifully confident, “Your 5 tips for beauty confidence – Dovfive“, which is a shortcut manual for women to gain confidence overnight instantly. It included stepping out of our comfort zone by wearing daring outfits and replacing clothes that didn’t fit. However, what is evident is that Dove’s five-step manual is meant to promote empowered female consumers rather than empowered women.
Femvertising: A Profitable Marketing Tactic for Dove
Dove is one of the many brands manufactured by Unilever, ironically it is the same multinational company that manufactures Fair and Lovely which raised questions about inclusivity and diversity. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53178088,It may seem like Dove is taking a feminist stance and is determined to contribute to social change, however, it’s in Dove’s commercial interest to encourage women to reconcile their relationship with beauty, as it happens to increase their annual profits. Dove, along with many companies entertain these neoliberal notions that investing in one’s human capital is an individual priority and responsibility. This applies to gaining the necessary confidence to become better economic subjects, significant others, and mothers. As Sarah Banet-Weiser explained their commercial interest, doesn’t lie in addressing the society that instils insecurities in women, or the patriarchal structures in place as that poses too much of a commercial risk. Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny. This is the reason the packaging of Dove products contradicts their campaigns and downscales the feminist movement to hashtags.