By Jui Bhatia, Co-Opinion Editor
The feminist movement goes all the way back to the 1800s, starting as the fight for suffrage: the right to vote. Today, the increasing commercialization of feminism is only hurting the movement. Feminism seems to have lost much of what made it a radical movement in the first place, and it’s important for feminists to find those roots again.
The commercialization of feminism is not a new problem by any means. The use of the color pink in advertising products for women is a common example of this, as are the vaguely feminist phrases used in these advertisements. In recent years however, people have been increasingly using feminism as a trend.
The biggest indicator so far of the commercialization of the movement has been the “Barbie” movie. It was a great movie on the surface but ran under the banner of promoting a feminist agenda while actually just making points that other media has made before.
Moreover, it did not do anything to further the movement: Feminism today is at the same place it was before, and all that changed is that people wore a bit more pink.
This is not to say the “Barbie” movie or this commercialised version of feminism is ineffective — it is a great starting point to bring people into feminism in a convenient way. However, it is distracting from the actual goal of feminism, which is equality and eradication of hurdles for women today. Supporting or defending the “Barbie” movie does not make someone a feminist; actions are what make someone a feminist.
The obsession with commercial feminism also leaves women of color without the spotlight they deserve. In the buzz that followed the Oscars snubbing Greta Gerwig, the recognition of Lily Gladstone as the first Native American woman nominee in all of Oscars history went largely unnoticed — something that people should have celebrated more than they did.
A simplified and pink-focused idea of feminism is also misleading in its ideology, often pushing an “I hate men” narrative that really only serves to cause fights and alienate any men who would be willing to be a part of the movement.
It is crucial at this point that feminists recognize where the movement is and where it must go. We have to move away from this commercialized idea of feminism and consciously recognize when someone or some group is misusing the movement for a company or individual’s gain.
Jui Bhatia can be reached at [email protected].
