#consumerism and feminism

[haggishlyhagging]

The history of drawing on feminist language and theory to sell products has been driven by the idea that female consumers are empowered by their personal consumer choices—indeed, that choice, rather than being a means to an end, is the end itself. The idea that it matters less what you choose than that you have the right to choose is the crux of "choice feminism," whose rise coincided with the rapid, near-overwhelming expansion of consumer choice that began in the 1980s. Consumption, always associated with status, became elevated as a measure of liberation and swelled with the self-obsession of the privileged but insecure. Tom Wolfe identified this dynamic in his coinage of the term "Me Decade," and later satirized it in his 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. Historian Christopher Lasch, author of the 1979 bestseller The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations, laid the enshrinement of a cycle of consumption and neediness at the doorstep of the advertising and marketing industries, but also excoriated left-wing movements, feminism included, as enablers. (The temperamentally antifeminist Lasch would later target burgeoning marketplace feminism in his posthumously published collection Women and the Common Life, writing that "the feminist movement, far from civilizing corporate capitalism, has been corrupted by it. It has adopted mercantile habits of thought as its own.")

The feminist cultural historian and media critic Susan J. Douglas has noted, for instance, that the success of advertising to women in the 1980s hinged on its effective pairing of status and power with liberation. As neoliberal, greed-is-good, if-I-have-an-umbrella-it-must-not-be-raining rhetoric became the common tongue of the overclass, luxury beauty products, designer labels, and exercise regimens (Buns of Steel, anyone?) became liberatory achievements, rather than mere consumer goods. "For women in the age of Reagan," wrote Douglas, "elitism and narcissism merged in a perfect appeal to forget the political already, and get back to the personal, which you might be able to do something about.” The representations of choice in a time of tacit postfeminism translated neatly into what could be called "empowertising"—an advertising tactic of lightly invoking feminism in acts of exclusively independent consuming.

Take the infamous 1994 billboards for Wonderbra that featured model Eva Herzigova looking down in delight at her suddenly pneumatic breasts swelling out of a scalloped black bra, alongside the words "Hello Boys." The Wonderbra had been sold in the UK since the mid-1960s, but sales rocketed up thanks to the billboards. The ads worked so well in part because they were tongue-in-check (others in the series read "Look me in the eyes and tell me you love me" and "... Or are you just happy to see me?"), but also because they assumed a level of what feminist theorist Angela McRobbie calls "feminism taken into account"—a belief that the movement's success has rendered it irrelevant as something to be considered in shaping culture. You can almost hear the rationale proffered in the Wonderbra billboard concept review: "This would seem sexist if we didn't know better, but we do know better, and because women know we know better, this is, in fact, empowering." If Herzigova, Kate Moss, and the millions of other women who sent Wonderbras flying out of department stores were making the choice to wear this underpinning, and they’re exhibiting sexual agency in doing so, such logic went, what's more feminist than that?

There are no concrete numbers on how many consumers indulged that postmodern reading of the ads, but based on Herzigova's own reflections twenty years later, probably not a ton. Recalling the billboards (which, in 2011, were voted the most iconic ever by Britain's Outdoor Media Centre), she initially told the UK's Mail Online, "My Wonderbra campaign empowered women.... It didn't degrade them like some said." But in the same article, Herzigova complained that when she tried to shift from modeling to acting, Hollywood executives wanted to check out her underthings first: "I met people who said, Yes, we can talk about the movie over dinner. I was, like, What dinner? I can just read the script here." The fact that the supposedly empowering ad did nothing to chip away at the routine sexualization of women—that it might have further galvanized it, even—didn't seem to register.

-Andi Zeisler, We Were Feminists Once

[6-beez]

One facet of female solidarity that needs more discussion is anti consumerism and anti consumption. Our current western mindset is one of obtaining as much as possible, both as a show of wealth and for personal comfort. However, much of what we buy (for example, fast fashion) is produced in a non-transparent supply chain that frequently relies on female and Global South labor to make goods cheap and easily affordable, and thus more tempting for the consumer. These low wages that are paid to workers result in economic desperation and trap women in poorly paid, often abusive positions. Additionally, women and children are the most at risk from the negative effects of climate change, which is exacerbated by industrialization and over production.

By consuming less we reduce support for these predatory supply chains and their deleterious effects on the environment. Ideally if we buy goods, they are from female owned businesses whenever possible. Personally I also avoid spending money on items that enforce the beauty standard (this includes makeup, uncomfortable or impractical clothes or shoes, and cosmetic procedures). Essentially, what ways could you support female solidarity through consumption habits?

[possiblyunhinged]

I'm sorry but this Labubu shit is insane. We went from pretending to care about the environment to full-blown consumerist hysteria via TikTok—people queuing round the block for plastic tat they’ll forget about in six months. Straight to landfill. Incredible stuff.

And the worst bit? It’s giving pick me apocalypse. Like—look at my quirky little gremlin bunny dangling off my £2,000 handbag. I’m not like other girls, I’m financially irresponsible and spiritually bankrupt. The brain rot is truly Olympic-level at this point.

Honestly, our generation needs to give its collective head a wobble. When are we going to have a real conversation about how influencers are just pipeline-to-landfill machines with a collagen discount code? There is no way you can argue they’re a net good. We’re being sold back our own insecurities in packaging made from delusion.

Here—have some body image issues, a fast fashion haul made by the hands of exploited workers, and a cocktail of microplastics disguised as a wellness routine. But don’t worry, I’m transparent about the Botox, so it’s empowering actually. And if you dare question it? Apparently you're anti-feminist—because feminism now means centering yourself, girlbossing, and yaaasifying your way to wealth... while a global femicide quietly ticks on in the background.

Duh.

Whatever you do, don’t look at the climate data. Don’t think about how fascism, consumerism, and misogyny have formed a polycule. Just slap that haunted bunny to your handbag, switch on the ring light, and let’s march into the end of the world together in matching y2k clothes made from polyester hehe xx

[bitchesgetriches]

Here's an excerpt from our most recent post:

To Hell and Back for Cheap Groceries: The Epic Investigation (and Shocking Results) of My Grocery Store Price Comparison Quest 

[a-griffin-in-the-sky]

Okay....im going to takena deep breath ans explain why I rolled my eyes at this.

No hate to this creator, this is just a deconstruction to flex my brain muscles a bit more. I’m sure she meant well, but I think the main point got lost somewhere along the way.

The rise of conservative movements happend because men view women's rights and independence as threats to traditional power structures.

Demonizing seed oils misses the point seed oil and tallow are both just fats; the real issue is often the overconsumption of ultra-processed, fried foods. It's about balance, not moralizing ingredients.

"Misandry" as an organized societal force isn't real there's no matriarchal drow society oppressing men. Women being angry at systemic male violence isn't the same as hating men.

productivity gets equated with worth because under capitalism, survival depends on output. We know it’s toxic, but with individualism replacing real community safety nets, hustling becomes the only way to stay afloat.

Any product that claims to "detox" your body is usually a scam your liver and kidneys already do that. Most of the time, it’s just overpriced laxatives so yhea I agree with that point.

Proving your health through obsessively avoiding pesticides or chasing "clean eating" often masks deeper anxieties it's wellness rebranded as virtue. It circles back to hustle culture: in a world where survival feels precarious, health becomes another grind to control the chaos.

Bigger companies are leveraging AI to replace workers, worsening an already tough job market. Relying too much on AI risks devaluing human skills and deepening unemployment problems. Not to mention the environmental impact of massive AI infrastructure, but like greenwashing, it’s the big corporations pushing this, not the individuals.

Performative allyship....you just said women's anger isn’t valid after the rise of conservative ship!?

Age = decline of worth...she’s talking about a woman’s worth as she ages, not just about how her body changes. I feel like that point got missed what the body can do compared to youth.

Also, I hate to point this out, but she’s in a Barnes & Noble,not even in the book section, but the journal section. Look, I love Barnes & Noble; it’s the last good chain bookstore. But why not do this at a local bookstore instead? Why not do it in front of actual books instead of just buying a new journal? Why not show people how to bind a journal while doing it?

She says she won’t fall for propaganda, but this tiny 8-second video is propaganda.

In fact, this whole trend is propaganda wrapped in a “I’m so much holier than you” vibe for not falling for it.

And maybe I’m nitpicking, but these types of videos create the same mind-numbing effect as ChatGPT they’re quick, flashy, and polished, but don’t encourage real depth or critical thinking.

Also, here’s my Ko-fi link, sorry, but I gotta hustle myself to stay afloat. I don’t have any income right now because my boss was abusive and the company protected him. If you like my writing, spare a crumb. Thanks, stay cool. 😎

[sunbeamedskies]

I love Taylor Swift, but you all have got to stop falling for the media pitting women against each other.

Billie was most likely not shading Taylor- she was talking about how she personally does not want to do a 3 hour show, and she believes her fans don’t want her to do one either. She also emphasized releasing multiple versions of physical albums that aren’t eco friendly is a systemic industry issue.

I’m a huge Taylor fan, but not every comment another artist makes is specifically about Taylor.

The amount of people here who see anything that could vaguely be criticism of Taylor as a personal attack is not healthy. If you are prone to jumping to conclusions, you need to take a step back from the internet and chill. The media LOVES framing quotes from someone like Billie as being 100% about someone like Taylor because it gets them clicks.

Taylor is also not flawless. She is one of MANY musicians who release multiple versions of albums as part of cash grabs. She doesn’t need to do it- she’s the hugest musician on Earth- but there’s such a pressure to do so that she does. There’s nothing wrong with wanting her and all the other musicians who do it to do better

[barbiebutgayer]

🚨FUCK THE SUPER BOWL AND TAYLOR SWIFT!!! THE CITY OF RAFAH AND THE REST OF THE GAZA STRIP ARE UNDER ATTACK!!! MARTYRED CHILDREN DANGLING WITH THEIR LIMBS TORN, TENTS BEING BOMBED, AND THE SMELL OF DEATH EVERYWHERE!!!🚨#freepalestine and start holding ourselves and our governments accountable!!

[karl-marxs-ghost]

Express your individuality by buying our product. You’re such a maverick for buying this thing. You’re not like the other sheeple you’re an individual along with the 5 million other people who also bought our product. Doesn’t buying things make you feel good? Buying things is empowering. Keep buying things. You may think the makeup and self-care and body image industrial complex has cooped aspects of feminism and capitalist critiques and repackaged and sold them back to you but what if our marketing team added #girlboss in ads about our very expensive eyeshadow palette? Would that make you feel better? Yes you’re pretty without makeup. But you still buy our makeup. You can connect with your spirituality for the price of our monthly witch box subscription complete with everything you need to have a personal relationship with the divine.

[gay-classics-student]

Yall do know your systematic prejudices were set up to distract us from remembering there's strength in number right ?

Like the neighbours you're calling slurs are the people who would have fought in your corner and the billionaires you're defending don't know your alive

[thesecretthirdoption]

I think somewhere along the way, “we shouldn’t have to learn this just because we’re girls” turned into “we shouldn’t have to learn this” and I think that’s part of the reason consumerism is so prevalent.

I agree—we shouldn’t have to learn how to mend clothing, how to cook, how to clean a house because we’re women, all of us should learn important life skills because we need them. Because I don’t want to throw out my favorite sweater because it has a tiny hole, and I don’t want to get fast food when I have ingredients at home, and keeping house with tricks my grandmother taught me is so much more effective, and so much less expensive, than the products that TikTok would have me buy.

[celly---art]

a reminder that you can use makeup in creative ways!

want an inbetween of your summer and winter shade? use a palette and mix a bit together!

use eyeshadow as highlighter and highlighter as eyeshadow!

run out of lip balm? whatever it's just a worse version of any petroleum jelly! Or you can even make lip balm yourself by melting down a beeswax candle!

most makeup 'types' eg: mascara, blush, eyeshadow etc boil down to just liquids, creams and powders that can do so much more than what they're labeled.

[italianpawg]

it's kind of wild how a woman cannot become famous for anything anymore unless she's conventionally attractive regardless of how talented she is in her field

[areniscaa]

The message of Sabrina Carpenter's new aesthetic has several things wrong (especially in Espresso and Please Please Please)

To clarify, in general, straight white American women making pop are not my thing, but Sabrina Carpenter is on another level. This is not a criticism of her as a person, but of her as a product, mind you, and I'm going to try to make a constructive criticism, so if anyone responds to me, please do so with respect.

I find it absurd that feminism and human identity in general are all about revolution, social change, and looking beyond capitalism and consumerism, and now Carpenter comes along to hypersexualize herself with an aesthetic that includes pastel colors (including the horrible baby blue, which many people might think I'm exaggerating, but the idea of ​​sexualizing herself with a color traditionally associated with childhood gives me the creeps), pretty, generally "adorable" things, plus perfect hair removal, makeup, and all that. I'm not saying that makeup is bad and that in general it's bad to have a certain self-expression of image, but in this case all of this is encompassed within an aesthetic of "Oh, I'm just a girl, my boyfriend is a bad boy but I'm not going to leave him, long live makeup and consumerism, I'm blonde and American."

I find it very unpleasant and as much as that "I'm just a girl" thing was created by girls as a way of claiming that women can be traditionally feminine without being a vase, as opposed to the idea of ​​a super aggressive "girl boss" that, well, basically rewarded women who had traditionally masculine characteristics, I think it's gotten out of hand and I feel that, although the album may have a deeper intention and all that, the message that all of this aesthetic conveys is that life is much easier if you don't think and look for a hegemonic man and that worries me a lot.

For example, in the espresso video, all the girls are the same, with the same bodies, equally shaved, and they give their perfect boyfriends their credit cards to fill them with whims and that turns my stomach.

One last note is that this whole text is written from the perspective of gender binarism, but of course gender is a spectrum and I feel aesthetics like Sabrina Carpenter's can cause dysmorphia.

[hadesoftheladies]

"No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do."

-Dorothy Day

[summercoldd]

The consumerism related to pets is a disgusting outcome of capitalism no one talks about.