Embedded Feminism and Enlightened Sexism
Embedded feminism is a notion that examines women's achievements, or rather their goals for achievement, as part of the larger media landscape. In some ways, it represents the circumstance in which feminism has emerged from the shadows and into the spotlight. It refers to the concept of attitudes evolving toward acceptance of a modern attitude, with more women rejecting outdated ideas about gender roles (Gauntlett 78).
Enlightened sexism, on the other hand, emphasizes the age of feminine power in a prominent manner. It emphasizes that women have made enormous advances since the advent of feminism, implying that equality has been reached in certain ways. It highlights the fact that women have achieved a lot through their sexuality terming it as calculated measures.
Why did the teenage girls become an important demographic in the 1990s?
In the 1990s period, a study conducted on the sample of readers revealed that teenage girls happened to be enthusiastically involved in the engagement with the magazine meaning that they were the biggest audience. Hence they became the most important demographic as they were attracted to certain sections of the magazine. They sought after information how to be pleasurable and useful (Gauntlett 45). Women were mostly depicted in some of the popular 1990s television shows as queer people as characters in some sitcoms started revealing their sexuality. This wasn't aided by the appearance of lesbian couples in most of the television shows.
Why is female sexuality problematic? Why should it "be exploited and stoked ... and policed and punished"?
The female sexuality is a bit problematic due to the representations of gender becoming very complex and even less stereotyped. The female sexuality is under pressure to look good hence the concept of makeup which does hinder the conundrum of equality. It should be exploited and stoked as the modern day media holds a very complex view of sexuality and gender thus the need to be propagated so as to see how people deal with these ideas (Gauntlett 56). At the same time, it should be policed and punished due to the nature of influence it has on the pop culture. It does have a certain impact on the identities of other young women thus the policing comes in.
Work Cited
Gauntlett, David. Media, Gender and Identity. London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
