“You'll never get a boyfriend if you look like you wandered out of Auschwitz.”
Feminism itself began in the nineteenth- early twentieth century when women were ridiculously unequal to men but this movement focused on the political aspect in particular, where women strove for the right to vote, a right to an education and the right for females to have access to all professions. As Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the suffragettes, states in her autobiography- “it was made clear that men considered themselves superior to women and that women apparently acquiesced in that belief” (Pankhurst, 2015, p. 14). This became known as first-wave feminism. Second- wave feminism prominently in the U.S. in the mid-60s to early 80s. This wave fought for equal pay, liberation from male oppression, equal access to jobs and the right to birth control. It ended due to women of colour and lesbians believing it was “privileged, white, heterosexual women” that determined the wave’s goals (Laughlin, 2011, p. 2). As a result of this, third-wave feminism (late 80s- early 90s) came to light and this focused on more marginalised groups.
The term Post-feminism means that all or most of the goals of feminism have been achieved and therefore, the need to expand or work on the movement are obsolete. As the word “post” suggests, post-feminism means to move on from or go beyond feminism itself. The fact this may have happened is unknown as there are multiple contradicting definitions of it but from what can be understood, post-feminism started because it was believed that both genders, male and female, had achieved equality. Since the 1980s the term has been theorised as “a historical shift within”, “a backlash against”, “an epistemological shift in” feminism (Thouaille, 2019, p.496). Post feminists endorse consumerism and the powerful female figure who believes they have achieved equality to men and can express themselves in any way they desire. Women are aware that femininity is just a social construct but play on this, as men do, to be placed into a position of power, using stereotypical feminine items such as handbags, high heels and make-up. “Writers do not even agree whether post-feminism is an anti-feminist stance, a critical stance within feminism, or some combination of the two—an unsurprising result, given how many post-feminists simultaneously applaud some of the social changes achieved by second-wave feminists, criticize other changes, and dismiss the need for further activism.” (Weitz, 2016, p. 219). “Post-feminism posits that individuals are free to make their own choices unburdened by structural constraints based on gender, race, class, or other factors.” (Weitz, 2016, p. 220). Post-feminism also gave women sexual liberation and the freedom to have casual sex without stigma and also allowed women to feel like they could be an individual. “postfeminist culture emphasizes educational and professional opportunities for women and girls; freedom of choice with respect to work, domesticity, and parenting; and physical and particularly sexual empowerment.” (Tasker & Negra, 2008, p. 2). In Rosalind Gill’s post feminism article, she states that “post-feminism 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.” (Gill, 2007, p. 147). Regarding the topic of post-feminism, the aim of this essay is to discuss to what extent Bridget Jones’s Diary (Maguire, 2001) can be seen as a paradigmatic post-feminist text. The film is based on Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel of the same name and follows single Bridget who writes a diary, fantasising on the things she wishes would happen to her and then her life suddenly changes when two men fight for her affection. “Bridget Jones’s Diary is exemplary as a women’s genre film, reinvented to bring back romance in a specifically post-feminist context”. (McRobbie, 2007, p. 37)
The film’s equilibrium starts with the narration of Bridget Jones, Renee Zellweger, saying “it all began New Year’s Day in my 32nd year of being single.” While this is being narrated, we see Bridget walking to her mother’s house for a buffet alone. This immediately sets the text up as being post-feminist as Bridget is an individual and she is independent although her mother tries to set Bridget up with a “bushy haired middle-aged bore” presenting the fact it is common for a woman to find a man. When she enters the house, Bridget removes her coat revealing turtleneck and altogether ill-fitting clothes. Her mother then says, “you’re not going to get a boyfriend if you look like you’ve just walked out of Auschwitz” and then orders her upstairs to change. This is an example of post-feminism as this movement is about looking good and using consumer culture- “post=feminism also perpetuates women as pinup, the enduring linchpin of commercial beauty culture.” (Thouaille, 2019, p.3). We are also introduced to Mark Darcy, Colin Firth, who Bridget’s mother is trying to set her up with. He is the perfect example of a “metrosexual” (p.3) male who fits into post-feminism also, due to the fact he is well groomed and takes pride in his appearance which wasn’t something that appeared really before this movement. Another character we are introduced to in this scene is Bridget’s uncle Jeffrey who gropes her in this scene and throughout the film. Although this is highly inappropriate, Bridget just accepts this instead of fighting back which shows how the “feminist gains of the 1970s and 1980s are actively and relentlessly undermined” as feminism has apparently been achieved so fighting back isn’t necessary. (McRobbie, 2007, p.27).
After this scene the title sequence begins with the redundant music of All by Myself- Jamie O’ Neal plays. In this sequence she says that if nothing changes soon, the only relationship she will have is with a bottle of wine and she will die fat and alone. She also clicks her answer machine and it says “you have no messages” and she mouths the part of the song where it says “I don’t want to be by myself anymore” linking to the fact that Bridget believes she needs to find a partner in life and get married before it’s too late. This is paradigmatically post-feminist due to her feeling that she must conform to what society expects of her. “Bridget wants to pursue dreams of romance, find a suitable husband, get married and have children. What she fears most is ending up as a ‘spinster’.” (McRobbie, 2007, p. 28). This previous quote from post-feminist theorist McRobbie shows that the fact Bridget’s biggest fear is ending up as a spinster, presents that she is moving away from feminism and is post-feminist due to the fact she wants to find her male partner. Bridget’s goals then start to come true when her boss Daniel Cleaver, Hugh Grant, starts to pursue her. This begins when Bridget walks past Daniel’s glass office wearing a short skirt which quickly follows with a flirty email to Bridget from Daniel saying, “you appear to have forgotten your skirt.” A flirtatious montage then follows with back and forth emails from the two depending on what Bridget is wearing. An example being a see-through top, revealing her bra. Daniel further pursues Bridget, touching her bottom. Bridget emails him saying “how dare you sexually harass me” in a sarcastic manner. The fact Bridget accepts his harassing behaviour shows that this is a post-feminist text as she believes this is normal. This could link to Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory as Bridget is “to be looked at” by Daniel for his sexual gratification. (Loreck, 2016). He also insists he goes back to her flat for “full sex” which then commences. After the act, Bridget answers the phone calling herself a “sex goddess.” Here she is so open about her sex life and is sexually liberated. This shows it is a post-feminist text as women were “allowed greater access to certain freedoms (sexual)” (Litosseliti, Gill & Garcia Favaro, 2019, p.6).
Just before Bridget sleeps with Daniel, she attends a book launch and asks her friends for advice on how to look. Jude says, “look gorgeous” and a montage begins of Bridget deciding what to wear. She shaves her legs, buffs skin and waxes. She also decides with spanks over a thong as she desperately wants her body to look good and she wears an elegant black dress over it. Here we see Bridget diving into consumer culture as she wants to appear to look “gorgeous” to attract the attention of her boss, presenting “the dominance of the makeover paradigm” (Thouaille, 2019, 496). Women “'already see themselves as equal to men: they can work, they can vote, they can bonk on the first date... if a thong makes you feel fabulous, wear it. For one thing, men in the office waste whole afternoons staring at your bottom, placing bets on whether you're wearing underwear. Let them. Use that time to take over the company. But even if you wear lingerie for you, for no other reason than it makes you feel good, that is reason enough to keep it on.'” (Taylor, 2006). This quote from journalist Kate Taylor was used in post- feminist theorist, Rosalind Gill’s article and it is a perfect example of Bridget Jones. She uses the consumer culture to attract men and while in the old waves of feminist, women would coil in horror at men sexualising them, in post-feminism it is celebrated.
Bridget’s mother is a very important part of the film as she presents the old forms of feminism and how she is unhappy with it. In one scene we see her advertising an egg machine in a store which shows how she is a housewife, as it is a cooking product. She then expresses to Bridget how she is unhappy in her marriage with Bridget’s father saying “I have no power, no real career, no sex life, I have no life at all” which completely contrasts the new aspects of post-feminism as women were said to have the same power as men, a career and a liberated sex life. Due to her unhappiness, Bridget’s mother leaves Bridget’s father for a television salesman, Julian. Later in the film she becomes unhappy with this new, liberated life she has and returns to Bridget’s father, perhaps suggesting that she prefers a life not being post-feminist. Although when she returns, she asks for more attention, showing that she has a little more power than she did previously. In scenes later on we see Bridget gets a new job at a television company and she then makes a fool out of herself sliding down a fireman’s pole. Bridget’s new boss says he wants her wearing a short skirt, lots of makeup and sliding down a pole. This over-sexualises Bridget and it almost shows how post-feminism isn’t particularly correct here as both of her bosses in the film have been male and tell her what to do. Also, Bridget is asked to do an interview with a man who might be deported. She is supposed to wait for him outside the courthouse but just misses him to go get a drink and some cigarettes from a corner shop. Then Mark Darcy comes into the corner shop and he just so happens to be the man’s lawyer so grants Bridget with an interview, saving her job. This shows how she is having to rely on a man in order to succeed. In conclusion, from post-feminist theorist McRobbie’s definition- “Post-feminism in this context seems to mean gently chiding the feminist past, while also retrieving and reinstating some palatable elements, in this case sexual freedom, the right to drink, smoke, have fun in the city, and be economically independent (McRobbie, 2019, p.28) it is clear to see that Bridget Jones’s Diary (Maguire, 2001) can be seen as a paradigmatic post-feminist text due to the fact Bridget follows these things. She has fun in the city, is sexually liberated. We see her drunkenly falling out of taxis, smoking and embraces consumer culture to try and attract a male as that is what society expects of her.
Bibliography-
Gill, Rosalind (2007) Postfeminist media culture: elements of a sensibility. European journal of cultural studies, 10 (2). pp. 147-166. Laughlin, K. A. and Castledine, J. L. (2011) Breaking the wave. Women, their organizations, and feminism, 1945-1985. London: Routledge. Litosseliti, L., Gill, R. and Garcia Favaro, L. (2019) ‘Postfeminism as a critical tool for gender and language study’, Gender & Language, 13(1), pp. 1–22. Loreck, J. (2016, January 5). Explainer: what does the ‘male gaze’ mean, and what about a female gaze?. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486 Maguire, S. (Director). (2001). Bridget Jones’s Diary. [Motion Picture]. London: Miramax. McRobbie, A. (2007). Post Feminism and Popular Culture: Bridget Jones and the New Gender Regime. In: Diane Negra and Yvonne Tasker, eds. Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture. Duke University Press, pp. 27-39. Pankhurst, E. (2015) Suffragette: My Own Story. London: Hesperus Press. Tasker, Y. and Negra, D. (2008) Interrogating postfeminism. Gender and the politics of popular culture. United States: Duke University Press. Taylor, K. (2006, March 23). Today's ultimate feminists are the chicks in crop tops. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/mar/23/comment.gender Thouaille, M.-A. (2019) ‘Post-feminism at an impasse? The woman author heroine in postrecessionary American film’, Feminist Media Studies, 19(4), pp. 495–509. Weitz, R. (2016) ‘Feminism, Post-feminism, and Young Women’s Reactions to Lena Dunham’s Girls’, Gender Issues, 33(3), pp. 218–234.
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AuthorMegan Hilborne is a freelance film writer and graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2020 with a degree in film. ArchivesCategories |