Feminist Media

Abstract

Around the world, → newspapers, → magazines, → cable and → satellite television, → radio broadcasts, → documentary film, and now especially → Internet sites produced by, for, and about women have been crucial to the processes of challenging and resisting dominant conceptions of women, as well as celebrating new and liberatory visions of womanhood. Until the 1960s, outlets run by women, even when they were directly oppositional, rarely self‐identified as “feminist.” Nonetheless, “feminist media” usefully describes media that consistently advocate expansive political, social, and cultural roles for women and expose gender oppression (interstructured with oppression by sexual orientation, class, “race,” ethnicity, and religion, or other bases of invidious distinction). Sympathizers and advocates can thereby redefine news, share information unavailable in mainstream media, and, just as importantly, nurture a feminist community. Participants experiment with alternative ways of organizing their work, articulate their own ethical standards, and develop their media skills (→ Femininity and Feminine Values; Feminist Communication Ethics).