[Commlist] Final Call: The Cultural Politics of Femvertising

*/CFP: The Cultural Politics of Femvertising /*

Commensurate with the rise of postfeminism as a cultural discourse, 
international brands in recent years have employed the marketing 
strategy of “femvertising” or “female empowerment advertising”  (Akestam 
et al., 2017) to generate sales. Campaigns such as Dove’s /Evolution/, 
P&G/Always’ /Like a Girl /and Pantene’s /Labels Against Women/ have 
addressed foundational feminist issues such as body image, eating 
disorders and the marginalization of ethnic minorities to gain leverage 
as brands which embrace inclusivity and diversity while centralising the 
female gaze. While such advertising campaigns have been criticized as 
invoking the hollow politics of postfeminism, largely motivated by 
profits rather than any sincere desire to promote female empowerment, 
others have more successfully mobilized the political ethos of 
third-wave feminism. In 2017, Rihanna’s cosmetic line Fenty was 
celebrated for its inclusive range of products which enabled minorities 
to find a foundation shade that suited them, challenging traditional 
female advertising stereotypes by appealing to marginalised women who 
are sidelined by a consumerist majority. This was showcased most clearly 
in the 2019 Savage x Fenty fashion show, where Rihanna’s lingerie line 
displayed its collection of bras that range from sizes from 32A to 44DD 
and underwear ranging from XS to XXXL, with 90 different kinds of 
styles. Yet, while this attempt at inclusivity has been heralded by some 
as admirable, others remain concerned that the selling of feminist ideas 
through style reduce oppositional consciousness to symbolism so that 
feminism “becomes something one can take on and off like a fashionable 
coat rather than a political movement or system of values” (Zaslow 
2009), questioning whether femvertising can ever be truly empowering. 
This edited collection seeks to explore the merits and limitations of 
femvertising, and seeks contributions in the following areas:

·Femvertising and diversity (ethnicity, body image, LGBT representation)

·Femvertising and audience reception

·Femvertising and girlhood

·Femvertising and masculinity (e.g. Gillette’s toxic masculinity campaign)

·Femvertising and the female gaze

·Femvertising on social media platforms (e.g. YouTube, Instagram)

·Femvertising and print press

·Femvertising in non Anglo-American contexts

Please send abstracts of 300 words for June 30^th  to 
(joel.gwynne /at/ nie.edu.sg) <mailto:(joel.gwynne /at/ nie.edu.sg)>. Chapters for the 
book will need to be around 6000 words, submitted in Feb 2021.


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