One of the most discussed topics in the past few weeks has been the debate over essentialism versus post-structuralism. This debate not only looked at what each of these concepts entailed, but also which one we, as feminists, felt was the best for the future of the women’s movement. Yet, the fact remains that essentialism, in the form of cultural feminism, is what is popular in America at this time.
There has been a resurgence in the concept of feminism in popular culture and it can be seen in TV, movies, and music. New shows like Ally Mcbeal have characters that show the smart, beautiful, confident, working woman of the 90’s. Yet, I have to believe that the most influential events in popular culture in America to effect feminism in the 1990’s has to be the Lilith Fair. It has brought the ideas of cultural feminism to women all over the country. Women were uniting to celebrate music and their femininity.
Alcoff discusses essentialism in her article. She is not too fond of essentialism, but she does help to define it. She believes it is a unifying attempt by White feminists, which does not include women of other cultures and races. She believes it is an ahistorical concept, which has not changed, and measures everything up to one true woman. While essentialism does not have the theoretical base that social construction possesses, essentialism has an empowering quality that is uniquely it’s own. Essentialism celebrates the idea that all women are inherently different because of biology. Because of this fact, they can unite in the spirit of womanhood. It values what patriarchy has traditionally devalued. It also believes in an unchanging female nature. I have been to Lilith Fair both in 1997 and 1998 and I felt that these ideas permeated the event. It was a celebration of women in the music industry. Yes, it could be criticized that it basically consisted of white women, but on a whole it brought together a diverse crowd of people. The only thing that connected all these performers was that they were women and the fact that they expressed feminist ideas in their music. The booths that were set up around the area pertained to organizations and issues that effected women, such as Planned Parenthood and the need for women to register to vote.
The Lilith Fair was originally put together to promote women in the music business who are usually disregarded for boy bands. Lilith Fair was so incredibly popular that Sarah McLachlan and many of the tours performers were on the cover of every major magazine as well as the talk of numerous television shows. But most importantly what it has done is it has sparked a whole new promotional campaign. It seems like there has been a barrage of commercials that aim towards young women. They all promote female power and yet also include femininity. These products range from Tampax, to Nike, to Special K. Everybody is cashing in on cultural feminism. What does this mean for the future of essentialism? As stated before essentialism took what the patriarchy devalued and put value back into it. Yet it seems that now that businesses realize that essentialism is something that they can make money on, essentialism will gradually become the property of the patriarchy. In a way essentialism has always been part of the patriarchy because it does not try to change women’s position. Essentialism basically was created to push women to feel that they could do whatever they wanted, but they as individuals had to go out and do it. So, I suppose the more commercials and the push for the spirit of womanhood will create a bigger base of women who are influenced by feminism, as well as men. While it will not further the theoretical aspect of feminism in the beginning, with the more people influenced by cultural feminism, the more people that will eventually break into the realm of theoretical feminism. Once they learn the basic ideas of feminism, they will delve into its theories. Essentialism has definitely received an incredible amount of publicity from the creation of Lilith Fair and the marketing that has resulted in it. While theoretical feminists such as Alcoff, might not approve of essentialism, it is here to stay.