PSA: Your Girl-Power Consumerism Isn't Feminism

You have eyeliner so sharp it could kill a man. You have heels that let the world know you’re pissed off and ready to own the day. You came here to kick ass and put on lipgloss, and you’re never out of lipgloss. You are a “#girlboss.”
You are a capitalist, consumerist, feminist. Let that sink in for a bit. You are a woman that bought your way to confidence and power (or at least the illusion of it). Your restrictive diet and workout routine are helping condition you to the perfect size 24” waist (#thrive). You wear a shade of berry-mauve lipstick dubbed “Wifey” so that no matter how hard you work, everyone knows that you look good (#slay). You host wine parties with your girlfriends to binge-watch女仆的故事(#woke).
我（我怀疑大多数其他女性）被广告客户的消息淹没了，告诉我我在女性学习中学到的一切都是错误的。的确，我们可以拥有一切，“一切”不再意味着成功的职业和实现的个人生活。我们可以像弗兰肯斯坦的怪物式复合材料一样过着我们的生活Cosmo我们曾经读过的内容 - 短裙，果汁清洁，卷发棒，污垢的眼线笔，浴炸弹，腰训练师，美白条。它被以赋权，作为武器女性气质而被出售给我们的力量。
真是令人筋疲力尽。
近年来的某个时候，那些将女性推到黑暗的羞耻角的广告客户，因为不够瘦，没有足够的皮肤，没有足够的皮肤和足够的头发，在闪闪发光的，vamp-red，女权主义者下重新出现横幅。

在过去的一年中，我曾担任超级女权主义者艾玛·沃森（Emma Watson）作为被监禁的迪士尼公主的角色，患有斯德哥尔摩综合症的迪斯尼公主被推迟了。我有光滑的妇女在Pantene商业广告中告诉我不要这么说“对不起”。我什至看到熟人伴随着多级营销（阅读：金字塔计划）服装，这些服装使用女性赋权来试图招募更多的女性来兜售护肤/绑腿/指甲油。
How did we fall for this?
这是一个运动，以推动自己的利益而对抗霸权语言 - 抵抗，怀疑，个性的语言。好像世界各地的创意机构都参加了妇女研究101，整个学期都接受了双心笔记，然后回到工作中问：“我该如何用它来卖狗屎？”
It’s a not-so-distant relative of the low-contrast, soft-piano kind of Lite Feminism that Dove’s been peddling for the last decade. Sure, it’s more glamorous than Dove’s size-six, freckle-faced, “body positive” revolution, but ultimately it’s got the same message: buy this thing so that you will feel more empowered.
It’s the same kind of movement that tells you you’re “femme shaming” for preferring to watch football and action movies. It’s the shrill voice that pipes in to yell “We don’t tear down women!” when you declare that you didn’t like the latest Taylor Swift release. It’s the movement that took fat positivity and packaged it into a more palatable “body positivity,” epitomized in a Victoria’s Secret ad that featured about a dozen thin, clear-skinned women in bras and the unironic slogan “I Love My Body.”
And it all goes back into our Instagram feeds, our self-care, our daily affirmations. Consumerism has dawned a not-so-subtle veil and found another way to convince us we need stuff.
不，说真的，我们是怎么为此而堕落的？
Advertisements, for years, were the enemy of feminism (and our self-esteem). These were the ads and magazine covers that were criticized for driving us straight to the toilet to hurl up our lunch. We knew what the ideal woman was, and we weren’t her.
Then, something happened. Feminism became cool. It became mainstream. For every Hilton and Kardashian socialite we endured, there was a Tina Fey, a Lena Dunham, a Jennifer Lawrence, a Taylor Swift. It didn’t matter that some of the issues they were addressing were ones that could essentially be summed up as “I didn’t make as many millions as the other millionaires I work with.” They had the platforms, and we had the ears. And brands wised up — they knew they had to win us over.
因为女性仍然是消费者的强大。根据Boston Consulting Group, we drive between 70 and 80% of consumer spending and influence 91% of household spending. Even in categories like auto and home improvement, women are proven to have more purchasing power than men. Brands need us on their sides. To put a point on it, they’re not pumping us up now for the sake of being nice to us. It was never about us.

我之前曾在TFD上写过关于诸如诸如此类的术语的文章羞辱” and concepts like anti-femininity are often used to push us into being exactly what society has wanted us to be for the past century or so. Back then I wasn’t sure what the solution was, either. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still like fashion, makeup, and even pretentious, low-sugar, clear alcoholic beverages with limes on the side.
But I’ve stopped kidding myself into thinking that those things are inherently feminist just because I chose them.
Now, I have accepted that as a single consumer, I don’t have the power to take down the Misogyny Machine, and that even if I purchase a liquid eyeliner pen knowing very well it won’t help me defeat the patriarchy, that purchase is still mostly lining the pockets of powerful men. I can’t pat myself on the back for enjoying these things, even if I am more “aware” than I once was.
But detaching yourself is the first step. Knowing that you can’t buy your way to empowerment will undoubtedly curb the quest to simply consume, consume, consume. When you realize thatticketed wine eventisn’t just a middle finger at misogynistic judgment and shame, maybe you decide to stay home instead. When you realize after buying yet another tube of Smash The Patriarchy Red lipstick, you still feel afraid to go out without makeup, maybe you clean out your collection.
When you realize that brands are still trying to tell you which box to fit in — even if it’s a slightly different-shaped box — you become just a little wiser.
Bree Rody-Mantha is a business journalist and dance teacher living in Toronto. In her spare time, she enjoys sport climbing, lifting and running the vegan food blog, Urban Garlic. Follow her on Twitterhere.

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