(SOMEWHAT MASSIVE RANT so I’ll be ultra considerate and put in a read more)
First: there has already been a sufficiently tedious deluge of articles/posts/tweets etc. about Zooey Deschanel and how she may or may not be feminism’s own kitten-adoring cloyingly sweet anti-christ intent on undermining others’ efforts at every turn. While I don’t intend to add to this substantially, I just want to comment on the somewhat shootourselvesinthefoot paradox that seems to have emerged from all the fired-up comments betwixt the divided camps, which is something along the lines of:
No one, if they long to continue to call themselves a feminist, is allowed to objectively critique or analyse Zooey Deschanel, her contribution to pop culture and society as a whole, and the implications this could have for feminism, because doing so would in itself apparently be negating the very essence of feminism; that is, equality through freedom of choice.
In other words: saying that Zooey Deschanel (as both a media personality and the characters she portrays) is arguably not doing feminism any favours because she perpetuates ‘girlie’, ‘adorkable’ stereotypes and chooses to maintain an at times nauseatingly twee public (or is it private? The two seem only marginally differentiated) image, is anti-feminist, because we’re not supposed to go around finding fault with other women’s influences on society whilst claiming that we’re ‘pro-choice’. That would be hypocritical. Obviously…right?
Surely there’s a line; I’m not saying that it’s warranted or necessary at all to go around bitching and moaning about other women, and saying that they’re standing in the way of progress by being whatever kind of ambassador for women they have chosen to be, and relating to others as a woman in whatever way they have chosen to relate to others. That wouldn’t get anyone anywhere. Healthy debate and analysis of current social trends and popular public figures, on the other hand, would.
Basically (because I didn’t actually mean to write more than a couple of sentences and seriously need to go have a shower), Zooey Deschanel, along with everyone else, should just go and do whatever they want, as whatever kind of person they want to be, and espousing whatever kind of values they wish to espouse, as long as they aren’t impinging on another’s opportunity to do so in the process. Maybe Zooey Deschanel and all that she as a brand embodies isn’t directly influencing current or future perceptions of women by themselves and others, but speculating on the matter does not make me (or anyone else) less of a feminist.
End extremely tangent-ed and ultimately all-encompassing and pointlessly broad rant.
(Quelle: pleonasmus)
