Comments on: Should feminists give up on the mainstream media?

By: newswithnipples

newswithnipples — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:20:10 +0000

Sammy, my feeling is that you’re needed more at a place that isn’t full of people who think the same way as you. Sure, those places are great places to work, but you’re just preaching to the converted. I’m a broadsheet journo working at a tabloid, choosing my battles carefully and gently pointing out the sexism in the writing, or the images used.

By: Sammy

Sammy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:42:03 +0000

I’m a student at the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University – one of the top communications schools (so they say), and I’ve been thinking about this issue from a slightly different angle. With my advertising (and women’s and gender studies!!!!!!) degree, I could easily go into a mainstream ad agency and fit right into the system that Newhouse expects me to – but I really don’t want to do that – I wan’t to work for women’s orgs and women’s media orgs and NGOs and feminist magazines and…you know, the good stuff

When I think about the opportunities at a big non-overtly-feminist agency, it makes some sense to me – but would I be compromising my beliefs? I don’t know, I’m not there yet. But is my feminism needed more in those place, as opposed to at Planned Parenthood or Bitch? It’s really complicated to think about. Good thing I have another year and a half before making any real choices…

By: feMOMhist

feMOMhist — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:37:08 +0000

having spent a good chunk of my “other” life writing about feminists’ uses of the media in various social movements, I have to say my response is “very carefully, but yes.” The whole “bra burning” myth is an excellent example of how an effort to use the media backfired into a epic fail. Some feminists in the 1970s became adept at manipulating the media at events (banners or placards for example visible in every shot angle so that the message cannot be distorted), but in terms of interviews it remains difficulty. One always runs the risk of being misquoted.

By: Suzi Albertson

Suzi Albertson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:12:25 +0000

I think just about any person who deals with the mainstream media would have the same complaints, it’s not unique to the feminist issue. More opportunities for sexism, certainly, but mainstream is mainstream. I agree about staying in there and keeping the issue in front oof people. But until there are more feminists in positions of power, as publishers and editors, nothing’s going to change much. We just need to keep plugging away.

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:35:46 +0000

AGREED! *obviously*

I have crafted a career specifically about subverting, educating through example and merging with mainstream media outlets, campaigns, and enterprises that are designed to reach the masses. I feel it’s like a Trojan Horse theory when trying to make media social change – you must come in a snazzy, shiny package but carry a mighty and nutritious center (go warriors!)

While sometimes I wish there were more voices aggregated together in louder chorus out there – I value the bold I do see and hear and know we are planting seeds for one day the peripheral to become the mainstream – or at least occupy their right place side by side.

There is enough room for EVERYONE’S view (contrary to popular belief) and we need it. So keep raising the voice and stepping in front of the camera. The real and lasting change happens from the inside out – whether we are talking about personal or corporate transformations.

By: newswithnipples

newswithnipples — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:51:14 +0000

If we give up, then all we’re doing is just sitting in front of our computers, talking to each other on the internet. We’re not the ones who need convincing, so yes, even though it’s hard, we should keep being heard in the mainstream media.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:33:12 +0000

I agree that feminism should get as much attention as possible, despite how hard it is to be understood. What I’m more interested in is the question of how to do so effectively. How can one challenge the system from within the system — that is, challenging patriarchy within one of patriarchy’s largest sources of propagation, the media? So I’m looking forward to hearing you get more specific about *how* to do media appearances.

As someone who doesn’t have access to spreading the word via mass media, however, I’d love to hear your thoughts on more common, every-day opportunities for spreading feminist consciousness. Trying to communicate feminist ideas in a way that leads to understanding rather than rejection is difficult everywhere, not just in media appearances.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:28:18 +0000

I’m glad the answer you came to on this one is “yes”.

While I can appreciate the frustration some feminists feel when it comes to MSM, I can’t imagine *not* engaging with it. You just need to pick your medium/s (personally, I prefer to converse with the convertible than battle it out with the completely opposed) and modulate your message so it speaks to the intended audience.

I also think it helps to think of it less as “writing about feminism” and more “applying feminist – and other personal-is-political – frameworks to issues that matter to the people you’re talking to, in a voice and language they can relate to. This is exactly what I do for women’s mags, and I’m getting plenty of work.

By: Layla

Layla — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:30:39 +0000

Of course feminists should participate in mainstrem media. We are never going to change anything or empower anybody if we exist in a feminist-media only bubble. What if Gloria Steinem never gave an interview or Djuna Barnes didn’t undergo force feeding for a mainstream paper? Not everybody has access to feminist-only media outlets. Not doing anything w. the mainstream media makes feminism a function of class, geography (I grew up in a 900 person town. I didn’t have the luxury of checking out bell hooks at the library or browsing Bitch at my local B + N) and access. Also, how are we going to be held accountable to our ideas of they aren’t challenged by the “mainstream”? We can’t exist in a vacuum.