movement for feminism and why?
BM: Capitalism will always disadvantage the few for the many. There will always be a loser, but sure, white, affluent, Western women, for now can feel empowered through it.
KS: Is‘ femvertising’ new? Advertising has always targeted women to sell stuff to them and make them feel like they need this vacuum cleaner / lipstick / kitchen / car / moisturiser / laundry detergent in order to be a happier, successful and more fulfilled woman. Femvertising is basically a contemporary take on the same old stuff, with some positive messages, a bit of diversity etc., but I can’ t see that much has changed and advertising still feels exploitative and playing catch up( again a bit like Disney, until they’ ve figured out how to make the cash, they don’ t move very quickly). The only ad campaign that I have been genuinely impressed with that I think would fall into this category is This Girl Can, which was a public health campaign encouraging women to exercise, not( directly anyway) selling them products. 6. Do you think fourth wave feminism is beginning to happen? Why?
BM: I’ m not sure. The intersectional approach to feminism is promising.
KS: I do, there are changes taking place at the moment that are very positive. Feminists are connecting, making a noise and getting organised. In Birmingham alone, there are at least three feminist groups( including FWFC) that have emerged recently, and this is incredibly positive and indicative of the current feeling that change needs to happen and can happen.
7. Could you comment on the current Westminster and Harvey Weinstein sexual assaults?
BM: This has been happening for a very long time but I’ m glad that many men are feeling some kind of terror at being called up on their historic or current sexual assaults. Again, it’ s a shame that for trans women and women of colour, this amount of outcry won’ t be forthcoming.
KS: The women coming forward and speaking out about the abuse they have suffered in the entertainment industries and in Westminster has caused a shift that I sincerely hope is irreversible. But there is a long way to go. When women speak out about sexual assault( see �������) and are heard and believed in the way that they are currently being by some people, it provides a platform for rape culture to be discussed( and there is a rape epidemic globally) on a very public platform. This is complex, but I do feel the normalizing of rape culture in its varying forms exists amongst seemingly respectful men, which serves to maintain it. At the moment I think this is starting to be acknowledged, understood and may start to change- the discussion about men taking responsibility has at least begun. I would recommend Rebecca Solnit’ s‘ Mother of All Questions’ for essential reading on this subject. When the Harvey Weinstein stories started to break, so did so many more about other powerful Hollywood men and men in other industries, and so it will now go on. What we hear time and time again is that other people knew what was going on, but chose to ignore it, were complicit or worse. Other people normalized sexual assaults and wrote them off, they didn’ t want to allow this behaviour – even if it wasn’ t directed at them – to affect them in any way or mean they had to do anything or change anything in their own jobs or lives. In direct relation to this, one of the people now feeling the impact – finally – is the fashion photographer Terry Richardson, someone who for years people( particularly young female models – his prime target) within the industry have spoken out about but who for years, has continued to make a very decent living. Terry Richardson has always defended his behaviour, his consistent argument being that all the sexual activity instigated during his‘ edgy’ fashion / porn shoots was consensual. Despite American Vogue dropping him a while ago( British Vogue didn’ t), the fashion industry( agencies, luxury brands, designers etc), continued to want to associate themselves with‘ Uncle Terry’ and give him work, turning a blind eye to the prolific sexual abuse, in doing so endorsing it and allowing him to continue with it. The fashion industry seems very slow to move on any allegations of this kind – the blurry lines between‘ edgy’ and exploitation making it easy to make a decision on how to react to them when there is profit to be made. Let’ s not pretend that Conde Nast finally dropping Terry Richardson has anything to do with its concern for the young women