The Top 10 Feminist Moments in Pop Culture from 2016
The Top 10 Feminist Moments in Pop Culture from 2016
Feminism had a major platform in pop culture this year. Indeed, 2016 was so feminist in its memes, shows, music, and other cultural moments that some have argued this political momentum created the backlash that led to Donald Trump’s election to the presidency of the United States. (Goddess forfend that women should make any progress against patriarchy!!) Despite this setback, popular culture has managed to highlight all the ways that the feminist-minded among us with amplified voices are championing gender equity, racial justice, and social liberation.
Here are some of the most memorable and powerful manifestations this year.
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9. Aging as Feminist Resistance
Sheila E’s high-energy homage to Prince – whom we lost this year – at this year’s BET Awards was more than a commemoration. It was a defiant act against the Billboard Music Awards, which failed to invite the 58-year-old and former Prince protegee and fiancee to his own tribute since she was not “relevant” to today’s pop culture. Ironically, that same awards show instead invited Madonna, another of Prince’s peers, which led to social media backlash and the BET Awards show throwing shade at the 1980s icon. Whatever we may think of Madonna’s performance on the Billboards award show, her acceptance speech for Billboard’s Woman of the Year later in December was culturally and politically “relevant” to the year’s theme of anti-feminist backlash. Significantly, Madonna eloquently defied a culture that rejects the aging woman – be she pop star or presidential candidate. As she reminds us: “To age is a sin…People say I’m controversial. But I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.”
8. “Toppling the Patriarchy”
Who would ever think the phrase “Topple the patriarchy” would be uttered in the mainstream media, much less uttered twice at the highly-watched Emmy Awards show? That is exactly what occurred during this feminist wonder year that is 2016 when queer director Jill Soloway made the most of her time onstage when accepting her Emmy Award for directing the critically acclaimed transgender-centered Amazon Prime comedy Transparent. Speaking out against the violence impacting transgender women, she also celebrated a “TV show [that] allows me to take my dreams about unlikeable Jewish people, queer folk, trans folk, and make them the heroes.” Further shifting our culture and shaping such representations is transgender feminist Janet Mock, who produced for HBO The Trans List, documenting the diverse lives of the transgender community. This creative programming continues in a series that already featured The Black List, The Latino List, and The Out List.
7. Harriet Tubman’s Cultural Relevance
Patriarchy may not have toppled this year, but the selection of Harriet Tubman by the Department of the Treasury to be the new face of our $20 paper currency is a start. The popularity of the Hamilton Broadway musical saved Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill, but Tubman managed to make a comeback this year, not just with winning the popular vote in the Women on the $20 campaign but also in her dramatic silhouetted appearance in the season finale of WGN’s popular television series, Underground, which depicts the history of the Underground Railroad. Tubman will have a deeper role for next year’s second season, and Emmy-winning actor Viola Davis will be bringing her story to film on HBO.
6. Fighting Rape Culture
Rape culture reared its ugly head in the usual ways, but 2016 was the year that key celebrity women tackled the issue in the limelight. This included pop star Lady Gaga making a powerful appearance at the 2016 Oscars telecast with other rape survivors to sing her Oscar-nominated song “Til It Happens to You” from the soundtrack of the documentary film, The Hunting Ground, which explores the problem of campus sexual assault. Lady Gaga did not stop there as she broke the silence about her experience with rape and came out in defense of fellow pop star Kesha, who alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by music producer Dr. Luke, which impacted on her ability to produce new music independent of the SONY record label. Other celebrity women came out in support of Kesha, including feminist-identified pop star and fellow SONY artist Taylor Swift who financially contributed to Kesha’ legal defense fund. Indeed, the controversy surrounding Kesha and Dr. Luke managed to divide audiences and impacted on others when pop star Jennifer Lopez was accused of hypocrisy for collaborating with Dr. Luke on her feminist song “Ain’t Your Mama.” Despite this, other acts of feminist solidarity against rape culture were on full display this year, specifically when comedian Leslie Jones, one of the co-stars in the female-led reboot of Ghostbusters, received the bulk of racial slurs and rape threats from various Twitter trolls, who resented the all-female rendition of the 1980s comedy film, which came on the heels of other blockbuster hits that featured movie heroines, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, when Internet trolls singled out Jones, the only black woman lead from the film, many came to her defense with the hashtag #Love4LeslieJones, most notably from pop star Katy Perry using the term ‘misogynoir’ (coined by black feminist scholar Moya Bailey) to speak out against black woman hatred. This controversy eventually led to the banning from Twitter of Milo Yiannopoulos, alt-right technology editor of Breitbart who ignited the rhetorical assault. For her part, Jones returned the favor by creating the hashtag #Love4Gabby when Olympic champion Gabby Douglas was cyberbullied for her appearance during the Olympic games this year.
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2016/12/27/feminist-moments-popular-culture-year-review/