Fourth Wave Feminism and Fashion Blogging

Feminism and fashion bloggingFeminism is having a bit of a moment, isn’t it? You’ve probably noticed it, cropping up on Twitter, appearing extensively in ELLE magazine, being linked to Beyoncé, Shailene Woodley (or not, as the case may be) and Lena Dunham.

In the land of celebrity, actresses, musicians and politicians seem to either be actively embracing the ‘label’ or side-stepping away from the interview question of the moment altogether, for fear of being brandished a man-hater. I always find that odd as to me, feminism is about equality, not some sort of race to take over the world and punish All The Men by chaining them up and forcing them to watch Gossip Girl on repeat.

Where I haven’t seen much of it is in the fashion blogging community. That’s not to say it’s not there (Clothes, Cameras and Coffee is a great example of a blog that mixes style  with social and gender commentary) but I wonder if the ‘F word’ is still one that we’re afraid to use?

Obviously every blog is different, with different interests, audiences and niches, but a blog is only ever what the author wants you to read. It can be easy to start thinking that a blogger only ever has baking recipes/matte lipstick/animal themed accessories (delete as appropriate) on their mind, and of course this isn’t true. I find that Twitter is a lot better at giving a rounder picture of a person, but even so, some topics seem to be off-limits, one such example being the response to Gem mentioning her shock at the recent election results.

I’ve wanted to talk more about feminism on this blog for a while but I worried that it wouldn’t fit nicely into a ‘Fashion/Beauty/Lifestyle’ blog. It’s silly really, since I consider myself a feminist, so surely that makes up part of my personal lifestyle? Call me out on it in any other context (home, work, the pub) and I’m proud to call myself one and discuss issues that fall under that umbrella, so why not on this blog?

Just like my post about giving up on Primark, I was afraid of mentioning it for fear of loosing readers, alienating people or having outdated assumptions cast upon me. Well I guess the jig is up. Feminism seems to be in fashion right now and to me that’s no bad thing, especially if it gets people talking about sexism, FGM and why there is still a pay gap of nearly 15% between genders.

I hope that it has a place here, on this blog, if you want to read it. And if you don’t, well then you can put the kettle on, scroll through your Bloglovin’ feed and read Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion on the days when I write about Topshop boots and cleansing oil instead.

I would love to hear your thoughts on feminism and blogging – is it something you would be interested to see within FBL blogs? Are there any blogs or websites with a feminist slant that you read and think I should, too?

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10 Comments

  1. June 8, 2014 / 8:26 am

    Feminism has such negative connotations, when it shouldn’t. It’s like any worldview that gets jumped on by the media. Even patriotism has been blurred into racism when one is positive and the other negative.

    I don’t think I’d read a blog labelled as feminist but it’s something I have discussed on my blog previously.

    • SJ
      July 28, 2014 / 6:19 am

      Thanks for your reply Caroline, I agree, it’s a shame that feminism is seen as negative. I think it’s when the focus comes down to a handful of people they end up being accused of representing a whole movement, which is usually not reflective of the majority.

  2. June 8, 2014 / 10:38 am

    i think it would be great if feminism was written about on more blogs that have ‘other’ interests too. At the moment, I tend to go to different places for views on feminism/women’s rights (F Word, Everyday Sexism Twitter feed etc). Don’t get me wrong, those places are excellent – but I had to have an interest in the subject to find them.

    But if it starts getting written about among other topics, perhaps it’ll bring women’s rights issues to a new audience who perhaps might not have known much about them before – or even known about them but been afraid to consider themselves feminists (because while it’s becoming more acceptable to consider yourself feminist, I still think that can still have negative/militant connotations. l still find some people are surprised when you explain that being feminist just means believing men and women are equal, because that’s really not how it’s portrayed – though is changing). So it would be good to show people that you can be interested in these things as well as food and lipstick and pretty dresses! (And actually, fashion and feminism can be interlinked, as the SlutWalks showed!)

    And if people really aren’t interested then, like you said, that’s fine and they can just scroll on past that entry :)

    • SJ
      July 28, 2014 / 6:22 am

      Hi Amy, thank you so much for your comment.

      I couldn’t agree more, and I hope that this blog can straddle both fun content that people are used to reading on here, as well as more things of the feminist persuasion – I already have a few post ideas lined up so I guess it’s just about not overloading the blog to begin with.

  3. June 9, 2014 / 2:06 pm

    What a refreshing post! You’re right why shouldn’t feminism be mentioned more in blogs? I’m 40 something and have always considered myself to be a feminist and can’t understand why it’s seen as a dirty word. I think feminism is as relevant now as always – how many stories have there been about women being abused around the world even in just the past few weeks? And I think it does have a place in fashion blogging as I believe the aim of feminism is to empower women, to give them choices and freedom which includes wearing what they want, and not for the male gaze. You’ve fired me up to write a post for my blog! (Ps must read your giving up Primark post too as we’re about to get one here in Bath)

    • SJ
      July 28, 2014 / 6:27 am

      Thank you so much for your comment Kathryn!

      It’s true that feminism doesn’t get much coverage in blogs like this, but it’s great that news stories about women are increasing, and while it’s awful that it’s often about abuse, it’s great that social media seems to have given feminism a voice and brought it to the forefront.

      If you write a similar post (or already have done) please feel free to leave the link here as I’d love to read it :)

  4. June 11, 2014 / 9:21 am

    I write about feminism fairly often on my blog and link to feminist articles and opinion pieces most weeks as part of my Friday Round Up posts. I can’t imagine not doing so. It’s a huge part of who I am, and I think it’s important it’s talked about in lots of places.

    • SJ
      July 28, 2014 / 8:22 pm

      Hi Georgina, I think it’s great that you do – there needs to be more people out there like you that feel comfortable working feminism (or any cause they care about) into lifestyle blogs. I’ll have to take a look at your Friday Round Up posts – I hope I can continue to mention feminism with as much frequency as you do :)

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