A prime example of Post-Feminist beliefs

You have probably seen others share and like the post by "Christy" regarding her feelings about the Women's March. I'm not going to link to it. Many others have also responded to it (for example). It has been bothering me since yesterday morning when I first read it. And while the responses I've read have been good, they left me still bothered and pondering "Christy's" viewpoint.

As I re-read the material we will be discussing this week in class, it struck me that "Christy" is a prime example of post-feminism, or more aptly modern misogyny. Just because "Christy" is female (at least we assume so) doesn't mean she can't be a misogynist; misogyny isn't just the domain of men.

In Modern Misogyny, Kristin Anderson describes the post-feminist movement as the depoliticization of feminist goals. Post-feminism believes the women have achieved equality and feminism is no longer necessary. Importantly, post-feminism discourages collective social action. Anderson goes on to describe post-feminism as depending on coporatist doctrine and neoliberalism and placing women's empowerment in the marketplace. Women are encouraged to achieve equality through buying things. Moreover, women are encouraged to focus on their own selves and self-improvement and transformation. Post-feminism promises freedom and choice in individual decisions. In this way, post-feminism masks structural inequalities and makes women solely responsible for their own success and failure.

Now back to "Christy". Her lack of need to march, to feel like part of a movement stems from post-feminism. As a post-feminist, "Christy" has absorbed the rhetoric that collective action isn't necessary and that women are now equal. She tells us that her voice is heard, her vote counts, and she has control over her body. "Christy" distances herself as strongly as possible from victimhood. Post-feminism demeans victims through victim-blame. Your voice isn't heard - you must not be speaking loudly enough. You don't have control over your body - you must have made mistakes. Victimhood is seen as personal failure to post-feminists. As Anderson says, victimhood is associated with insufficient personal drive. To "Christy", she has achieved equality (of a sort) and doesn't need to march. All of us marchers declaring a lack of equality and rights are being victims. If only we tried harder and bought more things, we wouldn't need to be out on the streets causing a ruckus.

This individualizing discourse, as Anderson discusses, makes us misunderstand our own circumstances, causes us to fail to see structural inequalities, and decreases our empathy for others. "Christy" tries to prove her empathy with her list of "misfortunates" because she knows that no one can argue against those atrocities. But "Christy" fails to see the women and little girls in her own country who need help. Of course we can't ignore the plight of women around the world, but when we can't see the problems in front of our own faces, our farsightedness (inability to see close objects) and lack of empathy are hallmarks of our own privilege.

My assumption about "Christy" is that she has a lot of privilege. She has the privilege to ignore structural inequality. She has the privilege to ignore intersectionality. She has the privilege to ignore the struggles of her mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers. She has the privilege to post to Facebook and gather "likes" from equally privileged others.