Postfeminist media culture: Elements of a sensibility
Open accessAbstract
The notion of postfeminism has become one of the most important in the lexicon of feminist cultural an alysis. Yet there is little agreement about what postfeminism is. This article argues that postfeminism is best understood as a distinctive sensibility, made up of a number of interrelated themes. These include the notion that femininity is a bodily property; the shift from objectification to subjectification; an emphasis upon self-surveillance, monitoring and self-discipline; a focus on individualism, choice and empowerment; the dominance of a makeover paradigm; and a resurgence of ideas about natural sexual difference. Each of these is explored in some detail, with examples from contemporary Anglo-American media. It is precisely the patterned articulation of these ideas that constitutes a postfeminist sensibility. The article concludes with a discussion of the connection between this sensibility and contemporary neoliberalism.
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The bourgeois reference to spendthrift chicks is reminiscent of the 'post-feminist masquerade' critiqued by Western feminist scholars.
“The bourgeois reference to spendthrift chicks is reminiscent of the 'post-feminist masquerade' that feminist scholars in the West have critiqued (Gill 2007, McRobbie 2007, 2009, Ringrose and Walkerdine 2008, Banet-Weiser 2012).”
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- Authors
- Gill, R.
- Affiliations
- London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gill, Rosalind
- ORCID
- Gill, Rosalind
- Venue
- European Journal of Cultural Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 147-166
- ISSN
- 1367-5494 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-3551
- OpenAlex
- W2100153433
- Cited by
- 2,302
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 225 · 2025: 201 · 2024: 197 · 2023: 179 · 2022: 187 · 2021: 200 · 2020: 177 · 2019: 141 · 2018: 142 · 2017: 157 · 2016: 125 · 2015: 95 · 2014: 89 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 58
- FWCI
- 32.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- eprints.lse.ac.uk
- Locations
- European Journal of Cultural Studies (publishedVersion)
- Goldsmiths Research Online (acceptedVersion)
- Open Research Online - ORO (The Open University) (acceptedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Social Science Open Access Repository (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) (submittedVersion)
- Trinity's Access to Research Output (TARA) (Trinity College Dublin) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Media, Gender, and Advertising
- Keywords
- postfeminism, self-surveillance, self-control, individualism, empowerment, sexual difference, neoliberalism, media culture
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