Contemporary Culture and the Undoing of Feminism: Review of Angela McRobbie's The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change

Abstract

A
 couple
 of
 times
 a
 year
 (usually
 around
 International
 Women’s
 Day
 or
 the
latest
 gender
 controversy)
 there’ll
 be
 a
 journalist
 on
 the
 phone,
 asking
 me,
 ‘where
 is
 feminism
 now?’ 
Angela 
McRobbie’s
 The 
Aftermath 
of
 Feminism: Gender,
 Culture
 and
 Social
 Change
 provides
 the
 perfect
 answer,
 though
 one
 that
 probably
 won’t
 be
 dutifully
 reported
 in
 the
 pages
 of
 the
 Courier­ Mail.
 McRobbie
 has
 always
 been
 a
 preeminent
 figure
 in
 feminist
 cultural
 studies,
 and
 this
 work
 highlights
 her
 continuing 
importance.
Indeed, The 
Aftermath 
of 
Feminism
 reminds
 us 
of 
the 
power
 of 
feminist 
cultural
 studies 
to 
explain
 what’s 
going 
on,
whether
 this 
is 
in 
the
media,
 popular
 culture,
 everyday
 life,
 governmentality,
 the
 corporate
 world,
 or
 their
 interrelationships.
 And
 McRobbie’s
 diagnosis
 of
 ‘a
 social
 and
 cultural
 landscape
 which
 could
 be
 called
 post‐feminist’
 
is
 uncompromising,
 far‐reaching 
in
 scope,
 and 
deeply 
disturbing.