The media’s feminism problem

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see this headline: “Sex, drink and fashion. Is this the new face of American feminism?”*
After all, if there’s anything the mainstream media loves, it’s painting feminists – specifically young feminists – as vapid and sex-crazed. (See here, here, here, here and here.)
While I’m tempted to weigh in on this particular article and the many ways in which it got things wrong – especially since it touches on something I blogged about recently – I think there’s a larger issue that’s more important to get at. (Though damn it’s hard not to say anything about the piece – especially the 6 bullet points at the end. Wow.)
There’s a reason that the mainstream media continually covers young feminists in this way. Backlash is part of it, of course: framing feminism as a perpetual catfight or a watered down movement based on drinking and fucking is a great way to dismiss it. But it’s also indicative of a media that has no interest in nuance or truthfulness when it comes to covering women.
When I read this latest article, I was reminded of something I wrote in The Purity Myth about the moral panic wackiness surrounding young women’s sexuality:

The fact is, focusing on hyped-up problems that sell newspapers and titillate the imagination make it that much easier to ignore actual problems young women are facing, issues that take a lot more than a moral scolding to fix. For a young woman living in poverty, spring break isn’t even an option, let alone a concern. For a young woman who has no health insurance, the “moral” debate over STIs won’t do anything for her the next time she needs to see a doctor. And for a young single mother, hearing about herself as an unfortunate statistic isn’t going to make her life any better or easier.

The same could be said about the media’s feminism problem. Salacious headlines about feminists-gone-wild not only sell newspapers – they also make it that much easier for people to ignore actual feminist work that’s being done. When was the last time you saw an article about youth organizations like the Pro-Choice Education Project, or feminist media like Shameless? Have you ever seen a mainstream media profile on any of the women here? Of course not. Because focusing on the truth of what feminists activists and media makers are up to would mean portraying women as thoughtful, socially engaged citizens. (Wouldn’t that be ridiculous!) It just doesn’t jibe with how America wants to see women, especially young women; they’d prefer to think we’re all nekkid, drunk and stupid.
Now, I don’t fool myself into thinking that this media narrative about feminists (or women) is going anywhere anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about it. When you see an article that relies on bullshit stereotypes about feminism, inundate the reporter with links to profiles of young feminists and youth-led organizations. Show them what feminism really is.
*Full disclosure: The reporter who wrote this piece contacted me via email for an interview, I didn’t have the time to respond. (And now I’m really glad that I didn’t!)