A housemate of mine was leaving soon, and it was her last Friday and last day at work, so I thought to play her a song to pump her up and make her morning ritual a bit more fun. She and I have quite different music tastes, so I was struggling to think of something to play. Then I thought, Independent Women, Pt.1 by Destiny’s Child, a Classic girl power banger. It worked, we had a little boogie in the lounge room and shared a laugh. When she went into her room to finish getting ready for work, I sat down and just listened to the lyrics. Girl power? Something’s not quite right. Don’t get me wrong, Independent Women an official track for Charlie's Angels (2001), is a celebration of women and definitely a milestone for feminism’s progress at the turn of the millennia.

‘Only ring your celly when I'm feelin' lonely
When it's all over please get up and leave
Question, tell me how you feel about this
Try to control me, boy, you get dismissed’

Destiny’s Child’s lyrics champion women's increased autonomy, social power, and ability to control their bodies and sexuality for their own empowerment. The lyrics deny male domination, reject the notion that males are sexual selectors, and encourages women to know their value. A strong theme is women supporting each other, and there is no doubt there are a lot of positive feminist notions present.

However, there were elements of the song that reminded me of a feminist panel I attended months ago. Presented at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival 2019 (Brisbane Writers Festival, n.d.), the three panellists addressed the topic of ‘Women’s Work’, dissecting traditional and progressive notions of what women’s work is, and how the culture has shifted in the last 100 years. Patriarchal concepts of “women’s work,” such as ‘homemaking, craft, raising children, tasks that required delicate dexterity’ have functioned as strict definitions that limited women’s social mobility. Dr Clare Wright, a historian on the panel, outlined the severity such a notion has had on women.

‘For the last 10,000 years or so, the concept of women’s work has been dictated by a patriarchal status quo, and depending on the culture, range from being restrictive to being a justification for the abuse, subjugation and murder of women who rebel against such notions.’

Fortunately (at least in the west) the feminist movement has made significant progress redefining women’s work in recent decades. Against significant social challenge, religious pushback, and political gridlock, feminists have challenged sexist notions of women’s work. Western Feminism has crafted a new social paradigm, in which women are encouraged to fulfil themselves in what whatever they choose, rather than limit themselves to work that is ‘appropriate’ for their sex.

However, there was agreement amongst the panellists that there should be some revision of the progressive feminist outlook on what the modern culture of ‘women's work.’ To establish some context on the panellists’ perspectives, it is noteworthy that they are all mothers, breadwinners, and have long term, male partners. Each introduced themselves and detailed the division of labour and parental responsibilities in their households. Gemma Hartley is a successful author and reporter; she shares parenting duties with her husband, burgeoning artist whom Gemma supports financially. She noted that her situation is rare, one she is extremely grateful for, because she earns a passive income through her profitable books, allowing her to spend time with her kids amidst flying around for work.

Dr Wright, however, is a self-confessed workaholic who often travels to promote her books or film documentaries. Additionally, she is an associate professor at La Trobe University, so she is rarely able to look after her kids. She stated that this arrangement suits her best because she loves her work and can peruse her creative and career interests without hindrance. Dr Wright said she often feels sorry for her husband – suggesting that he works harder than her in terms of emotional labour. Her husband was often exhausted by the weekend, whereas Dr Wright was energetic and enthusiastic, coming home to play with her kids and a well-kept house.

Joanne Ramos was raised in a conservative catholic Filipino environment. She rebelled against the notion of her parents, specifically her mother, who tried to enforce on her the traditional role of homemaker and stay at home mother. Joanne worked hard to forge a career as an economist and is too busy to spend time with her kids, while her husband raises them. She said she was indeed unhappy with her role as a breadwinner – her kids being now older than 4, she noted that she missed out being with them in their crucial developmental stage. They have all taken on most of their father’s personality traits. The time she missed with her kids, she can never get back. Joanne stated that it was her devotion to western feminism, and notably her rebellion against her mother’s traditional values about women’s work, which pushed her into a success craving, ‘overwork-a-holic.’

She said she regretted:

‘sacrificing my entire early adulthood in a feverish hunt to succeed in the boy’s clubs, in Princeton, in the banking sector. I had a blinding urge to win at these, traditionally male-dominated fields – and I achieved my goals and more – but it ultimately proved unfulfilling.’

She added that Gemma and Dr Wright are both positive examples of how the feminist movement has succeeded in empowering women to peruse their passions and to move outside of traditional gender roles.

‘It is erroneous though, to assume that for it is automatically positive or fulfilling for women to succeed in the male domain – as is the case with me – I rejected my traditional culture, and to be ‘masculine’, I sacrificed what personally I feel makes me a woman. I denied myself being a mother, and ironically, I became my own oppressive, patriarchal figure, cracking my own psychological whip and diminishing my own feminine energy.’

There was some discussion about the internalisation of the patriarchy, and about how feminism is moving toward an overbearing binary about women needing to either be hyper-feminine or hyper-masculine.

Then Joanne dropped the bomb that has stuck with me even today.

‘I think there are two arms of feminism, and both have been active for at least as early as the suffrage movement. One being this competitive, bad-ass, masculine redefinition of what a woman can do. The other being a celebration of the feminine aspect of being a woman, of being emotionally soft and mentally strong, of being a mother, a career, a teacher. And it is no coincidence I think that the former has risen to prominence in feminist theory, and in everyday life – considering that arm of feminism is more useful to the capitalist agenda.’

This passage provides the basis of criticism of the feminism within Independent Women – its primary argument to represent the empowerment of women is financial independence. Though it seems much darker in its subtextual connection between female empowerment encourage indulgent consumption. Has feminism become a tool to legitimise the patriarchal capitalist agenda? Do girls run the world? Or do such lyrics placate and confuse feminist discourse?

'The shoes on my feet, I've bought it
The clothes I'm wearing, I've bought it
The rock I'm rockin', I've bought it'

'The rock' being expensive jewellery, as with royals and aristocrats – such items exist in a paradigm purely to demonstrate the extravagance of their wealth. Before pre-capitalist hegemony, such examples of wealth as jewels and rare fabrics were impossible to acquire without actual power – under Capitalism, possession of such trinkets is an example of a powerless addiction to consumption that is ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ artificially justifies.

In my view, Independent Women pushes forth a damaging need for women to ‘keep up with the Beyoncés.’ To be independent, to be empowered, women must flaunt excessive consumption. When I researched my thesis, hoping to find some feminist theorists to legitimise my ideas, I found many articles (Pencz, n.d.) and opinion pieces (‘DESTINY’S CHILD; Not Ideal Feminism’, 2001) from the early 2000s criticising the legitimacy of Independent Women’s feminism. However, none that I could find specifically mentioned ‘Capitalism’ in their criticisms. The consensus among critics, from two decades ago, seems to be that Independent Women is negative because it uses the female sexual visage to sell its message. Even in a 143-page thesis analysing Destiny’s Child’s work in a feminist context (Besigiroha, 2008) – only mentioned it indirectly, talking about the danger of using female sexuality to ‘sell’. But even such a well-researched piece still claimed:

‘'Tackling the issue of women's economic independence is likely one of the safest points to argue when articulating feminist politics.’

Which is to say, economic independence is obviously a universal tenant of feminism, and it’s a safe bet to disguise a pseudo-feminist agenda because no one will argue against female financial freedom. All the feminist criticisms I could find only critiqued the delivery of Independent Women’s thesis, not the argument itself. One article came close, offering the possibility that Destiny’s Child’s song is non-authentic.

‘It's hard to determine whether the independent women thing is genuine or manufactured, particularly in the entertainment industry.’

This is my fear that Capitalism has co-opted feminism into its consumerist propaganda. Capitalism creates false inadequacies ‘you’re not feminist enough unless you are not ‘successful enough to be extravagantly rich.’ And false empowerment – ‘you are feminist if you buy this ‘Riots not Diets’ sticker.’ True story, type ‘girl power’ into eBay and there are 16,000 results: including that ‘Riots, not Diets’ sticker (Feminist Sticker Riots Not Diets Decal Girl Power Body Positive Equal Rights Art, n.d.). Meanwhile dieting books, blogs, and paraphernalia still market to, and make most sales to women (Bitar, 2018). A sexist bigot was elected president of US, after being caught on tape saying women should be ‘grabbed by the pussy’, the feminist movement against Trump quickly fell apart and, at least on twitter, was replaced talking points regarding Adele’s weight. But where are the feminist riots?

Indeed, there are numerous great texts and people criticising Capitalism via a feminist lens. But these ideas seem to be on the fringes of feminist conversation. I worry that, in the west, feminism has become a product – and I hope that we can pivot the discussion towards the dangers of the commodification of feminism. Before it’s too late, and the world buys the overpriced ticket of consumerist-feminist empowerment and goes for the ride into a new form of patriarchal enslavement.

References

Besigiroha, L. (2008). Independent Women? An Analysis of Feminist Discourse in Contemporary Pop Music.

Bitar, A. R. (2018). Diet and the Disease of Civilization. Rutgers University Press.

Brisbane Writers Festival. (n.d.). Brisbane Writers Festival. Retrieved 1 September 2020, from https://bwf.org.au/

DESTINY’S CHILD; Not Ideal Feminism. (2001, May 13). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/13/arts/l-destiny-s-child-not-ideal-feminism-253669.html

Feminist sticker riots not diets decal girl power body positive equal rights art. (n.d.). EBay. Retrieved 1 September 2020, from https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Feminist-sticker-riots-not-diets-decal-girl-power-body-positive-equal-rights-art-/254538123486

Pencz, B. (n.d.). Beyoncé: Feminist or fauxminist? The Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 1 September 2020, from https://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/feminista/2012/04/25/beyonc%C3%83%C2%A9-feminist-or-fauxminist