We truly admire Beyoncé, and we love this song. But the Feminist Not Fearless podcast asks – what’s the gap between expectation and reality?
It’s commonplace now to find feminist quotes proudly displayed in workplaces, and trends like #girlboss flooding your feed. In some ways, the rise of social media makes feminism impossible to ignore.
But what are the costs when social media becomes the ‘go-to’ resource explaining diverse, complex historical movements? When good politics is increasingly about knowing ‘the right words’? And when it makes you vulnerable to attack, even when you’re not a famous person or public figure?
Feminist Not Fearless is a podcast that looks beyond the neat ‘feminist’ label, and takes a deep dive into what that actually means now for young people in the age of social media.
The brainchild of Akane Kanai, a Researcher and Teacher of Identity, Media and Popular Culture at Monash University, Feminist Not Fearless uses real stories to highlight how being feminist and being online raises the stakes of what is expected of young people, and particularly young women.
Many women, as well as gender diverse folk we spoke to during the series shared similar feelings of pressure and expectation. Pressure to be a #girlboss and the expectation to be ‘that girl’.
“It’s 24/7 work of self-monitoring through apps that remind you to love yourself. Through workplace programs that tell you how to be more confident. And all of this is very much internalized and is predicated on turning inwards. Fixing the woman rather than fixing the world.” – Shani
But does that make you a bad feminist if you don’t carpe diem like a boss? If you’re not the ‘expert’ on your own ethnicity when race suddenly becomes a trending topic? Or if you don’t meet your own activist expectations of ‘calling out’ what you see as problematic?
“I guess that’s where the comparison stuff starts to come in. Where you feel like you’re not good enough because you’re not doing all this stuff and you’re not having the most amazing day just because you don’t wake up at six and have like a million things done.” – Pippa
While it’s hard to ignore the power that online culture has given to feminism, it’s not without cost. It broadens what feminism means and how it can be signalled. Post a picture of your 7am workout to show how you’re go-getting and ambitious! But social media feminism also involves being ready to criticise that very same post.
“In social media culture, it can feel ‘feminist’ to tear apart #girlboss images, even as they feature in real people’s aspirations. So, what space does that leave for those aspiring to make change?” – Akane Kanai
So a good feminist works hard. Actually, all the time. You have to educate yourself. Stay informed, even if being glued to your feed takes a huge toll.
Because, in these times, you need to be a thought leader! Silence is violence, right? But don’t overstep; make sure you stay in your lane.
And on that note, you need to be responsible for your own self care. Slow down and breathe… while the world burns.
It’s no surprise that many of Akane’s participants were hesitant to engage in online feminist discussions. Fear of being labeled a ‘bad feminist’ when trying to join the conversation is a pretty good motivator to water your plant instead.
“There’s a popular conception that online culture makes things easy to access; that it’s simple to ‘inform yourself’ of particular issues and debates. This is true up to a point. But with feminism, a highly political, identity-based movement, this is less straightforward.” – Emma Baumhofer, Expert in Digital Peacebuilding
This podcast isn’t here to scare you away from feminism. We need feminism, and these dynamics are present in many online movements. But there’s nuance to this discussion that can’t be addressed with a few empowering words on tik tok or at the office water-cooler.
The promise of social media was that it could bring people together. It has. But it has also made it much more difficult to understand our differences, as well as find commonalities.
Feminist Not Fearless is a podcast backed by research to help you navigate this much needed but rapidly evolving movement through the voices of people just like you. But also not like you. We’re aiming to share people’s voices so we can move beyond the binaries of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feminism that we see on social media.
As a side note though. It’s okay if this feels like more feminist homework. You can still be a feminist and watch Bridgerton instead.
Listen to Feminist Not Fearless on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Digital Feminist Futures - Home of the Feminist Not Fearless Podcast 