Girl Power and the Faux Feminism of the 1990s

Bossed Up

Were the 1990s really the “girl power” era of women’s empowerment we remember?

If you were “coming of age” or raising young girls 30 years ago, you probably remember the tumult of scantily clad celebs and brand-backed messaging ostensibly celebrating women’s empowerment. Sophie Gilbert, an author and The Atlantic staff writer, dives into just how empowering this period really was in her new book, Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, which drops today.

On today’s episode, Sophie leads us through her lightbulb moments and research for the book, exploring the social messaging that planted some pretty problematic ideas in the minds of young and teenage girls and people of all genders. This is an important history to examine, as is the question of how we avoid the same missteps in the future.

Start talking about the real past and critical future of feminism, including:

• How we were fooled into believing sexual power was the only kind we could possess;
• Why the goal of commercial feminism changed so drastically from the early to the late 90s;
• How we can start to claim the power we deserve (even when it feels like we don’t have the time).

Related Links:

• Order your copy of “Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves” - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738003/girl-on-girl-by-sophie-gilbert/
• Learn more about Sophie’s work - https://www.theatlantic.com/author/sophie-gilbert/
• Follow Sophie on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sophiegilbertwrites/
• “Becoming the Third Wave” by Rebecca Walker - http://www.tonahangen.com/wsc/hi215/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/RW3rdWave-2.pdf
• “The End of Men” by Hanna Rosin - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-end-of-men-and-the-rise-of-women-hanna-rosin/15539438
• “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women” by Susan Faludi - https://bookshop.org/p/books/backlash-the-undeclared-war-against-american-women-susan-faludi/8728966
• “The Power” by Naomi Alderman - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-power-naomi-alderman/114254
• “Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net” by Jessica Calarco - https://bookshop.org/p/books/holding-it-together-how-women-became-america-s-social-safety-net-jessica-calarco/20583065
• TAKE ACTION with Bossed Up - https://www.bossedup.org/takeaction
• Bossed Up Courage Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/927776673968737/
• Bossed Up LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7071888/