Dream as if You will Live Forever, Live as if You will Die Tomorrow

Luis, your question is difficult and I try to compose my thought and thinking about what and how should I reply.

After ‘waves’ of feminism and the recent events like Angelina Julie being knighted for her devotion in ending sexual violence in conflict, Emma Watson advocates ‘HeForShe’, and the second time that there are all female Nobel Peace Prize winners, it looks as if women and gender issues are reaching a new peak and female peer support is being truly recognised. However, I would say that these glamour coverages are somehow an illusion and a very serious one. To quote Tanya Barron, “we shouldn’t let the notion that we are now on some irreversible path to equality creep in.” (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/world-is-talking-the-talk-but-not-walking-the-walk-on-womens-rights-according-to-new-report-9794542.html?origin=internalSearch)

Why? Just to list a few recent events:  the new gender equality report by Plan UK that young females are continue to suffer “double jeopardy”, women are being discouraged from scientific fields from childhood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP3cyRRAfX0; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs), and sexual stigmatisations (http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/10/jennifer-lawrence-cover).

Apart from that, I would also explain why those grand coverages on remarkable women somewhat shadowing the reality of gender gap, by introducing you to a recent research on the presentation of wo/men in movies (https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/gender-inequality-in-film). I choose movie as a representation of current trend in entertainment industry. But why care about entertainment industry? As you, who study discourse theory and ideology, know how political parties or the few in power manipulate language and rhetoric to brainwash the public and strengthen their privileged status. Similarly, entertainments dominate our daily life and we grow too accustomed to them without proper reflections most of the time. In particular, the ‘fun’ and ‘joy’ of entrainments can distract us from the implicit messages so easily, in which we simply do not aware how the ‘fun and joy’ are constructed. Back to the report on ‘gender equality in films’: after decades of so-called ‘women’s liberation’ and women occupy 50% of the population, only 30.8% of female characters have lines and 10.7% of movies have half of the cast are female. These notions coincide with the advocacy of ‘Bachdel Test’, which points out that how female characters rarely have names and ‘are talking to each other about something other than a man in movies’ (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/sexism-swedish-cinemas-films-women).

Regardless those clear and astonishing evidences that how women are underrepresented to the public and how narrow the rhetoric is being given to female characters, a recent rom-com, ‘Rewrite’, already cannot wait to make its world-famous leading actor shouting out following lines:

“I’m a little tired of female empowerment. Well, just, honestly everything seems to be about female empowerment, nowadays. Any meeting I go to in Hollywood, someone says: ‘You know what we need? A kick-ass girl. That’d be a great twist.’ Except every movie has a kick-ass girl, you know … Can I tell you what would be truly innovative? A movie without a kick-ass girl or, better yet, a movie where a woman gets her ass kicked.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04kjk9r/the-graham-norton-show-series-16-episode-2, from 12:29)

 Compare the earlier statistics and the statement, you can see how wrong the claim is and how easily that women’s small progress can be dismissed and mocked in mainstream culture. The question should be asked is: “Why there’s only one kick-ass girl, the so-called ‘minority feisty, in ‘every movie’? Where are the rest of women? What are the other types of women?” (http://reelgirl.com/2014/09/guardians-of-the-galaxy-and-the-minority-feisty/) Every time when we say: “It is just a movie!”, do we simply deny/ignore the fact that women ‘are missing’ from public domain? When different women and their diverse actions continue to be discounted in public sphere, how female bound can be forged and women can become each other’s support (i.e. knowing she is not alone in making the courageous move)? I support men’s right the same as I support women’s right, but actually, ‘where are the women?’ Think about how male transgression is being appraised in mainstream movies like ‘Billy Elliot’ (boy wants to dance), ‘BrokebackMountain’ (gay love), ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ (male transvestite); and all the war movies that celebrates male bravery and brotherhood. However, let me use one question to represent a more general problem: “where are the lesbians?”

There have been ‘waves’ of feminism (as your statement indicates), as if different generations of feminists (or women in general) want different things and have moved a long way from 'the original position'. But I would say the contrary, considering how many people are secretly tired of hearing female empowerment and ‘Page 3 girl’ is still there.

I don’t know the definite line which I can say to answer your big comment and still thinking about it, even after this long, dragging post. All I know is: I think, I try to speak out, and I talk to people who are willing to talk about it. I know I cannot ‘save the world’, but at least I know where I stand, as a woman.