“Willpower knows no obstacles”: Examining Neoliberal Postfeminist Messaging in Nike’s Transnational Advertisements for Women

Abstract

Nike, a US-headquartered transnational corporation lauded for its putatively empowering women-centered advertisements, frequently releases nationally/regionally focused advertisements depicting women determinedly engaging in physical activity and, in doing so, overcoming gendered barriers and stigmas. Indeed, the global ubiquity of the empowered (Nike-clad) woman illustrates Nike’s role in advancing women’s empowerment, both in the US and globally. Universalizing “just do it” beyond geographical borders, Nike’s form of transnational feminism centers on a carefully manufactured, Western-centered image of empowered female athleticism. However, this notably contradicts transnational feminist efforts to reject the universalization of Western-centered representations of women. Using a critical cultural studies approach in concert with a transnational feminist framework, we analyze six recent Nike advertisements (the United States, Mexico, the Middle East, Turkey, India, and Russia) and critique the corporation’s universalization of neoliberal postfeminist messaging within its global marketing strategies. We find that Nike utilizes three thematics to extend their caricature of the (Nike-powered) female athlete beyond the spatial and symbolic borders of the US market: responsibilitization, competitive individualism, and empowerment. We conclude that Nike normalizes a white, Western-centered neoliberal postfeminism, undermining the structural and sporting realities of the non-white/non-Western women their promotional campaigning seeks to embolden.

Postfeminism, consumption and activewear: Examining women consumers’ relationship with the postfeminine ideal

“…This results in one’s appearance becoming the ‘vehicle to female recognition and validation’ (p. 108), and on the flip side, also disapproval and rejection when women are unable or unwilling to conform to such consumer driven ideals. Research has shown how this ‘postfeminist gaze’, as well as the broader ideas within postfeminism and neoliberalism, are exemplified in the activewear industry (Brice and Thorpe, 2021a; Lavrence and Lozanski, 2014; Nash, 2016; Posbergh et al, 2022). In particular, activewear clothing has been described by some as a ‘tracking device on the yogic body’ (Luna Mora and Berry, 2021: 417) showing the bumps, the curves, and the fat on a body and providing an avenue for women to judge other women’s attempts to modify and transform their physique.…”

“…Such exclusionary practices have been seen across the fitness industry where magazines, social media, fitness manuals, exercise regimes, and broader fitness discourses work as 'increasingly important tool [s] for shaping the body into a narrowly defined, singular feminine ideal' (Markula and Kennedy, 2011: 2). This has been true in the activewear sector, as well, which not only promotes ideals of empowerment, choice, and freedom in line with postfeminist values (Horton et al, 2016;Nash, 2016;Posbergh et al, 2022), but also primarily features 'the white middle-class (heterosexual) female body' (Nash, 2016: 224). For example, in their analysis of the Instagram accounts of lululemon and Aloyoga, Luna Mora and Berry (2021) show how the company mainly posts images of White, youthful, slim yoga models which become associated 'with higher and better morals' (p. 406).…”

“The World Cup of Empowerment” and “They Really Missed the Ball”: Gender Discourses at the 2019 Women’s World Cup

“…Featuring 24 teams, the tournament culminated in a 2-0 U.S. win over the Netherlands in front of 57,900 spectators (FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 Match Report). A record 1.12 billion people watched this tournament on television, double the viewership from 2015 (FIFA The Vision, 2020-2023. In its reach through media, the FIFA Women's World Cup thus ranks highly among women's sport mega-events, these defined as "large-scale cultural (including commercial and sporting) events, which have a dramatic character, mass popular appeal and international significance" (Roche, 2000, p. 1).…”

“…Women's sporting events, including sport mega-events, are commonly framed through a discourse of the empowerment of girls and women (Bob & Swart, 2010;Brice & Andrews, 2019;McLachlan, 2019;Pavlidis et al, 2022). The elastic concept of "empowerment" is often defined through a neoliberal postfeminist lens that emphasizes equality achieved and women's personal responsibility for navigating systemic sexism, especially though assertiveness and competitiveness on a supposedly level playing field (Brice & Andrews, 2019;Dashper, 2022;Desjardins, 2021;Posbergh et al, 2023). For example, Toffoletti (2017) finds in images of supporters attending the 2015 Women's World Cup a focus on the empowered "can-do" girl "who is capable, competent and embodies the potential and capacity of young women everywhere" with no recognition of systemic obstacles to success (p. 124).…”

“…In addition, fans’ critical responses to sport organizations’ narratives have found powerful public expression, especially through social media, marking fans as important agents of change in the status of women's sport (Cleland, 2010; Numerato, 2018; Pavlidis et al, 2022). Yet fan (or consumer) responses to gender discourse on the part of sport organizations have been understudied relative to production (Brice & Andrews, 2019; Posbergh et al, 2023). Theoretically, I integrate a focus on neoliberal postfeminism with the concepts of affect and emotion to illustrate how gender discourses circulate particular affects, or collective emotional responses, as a way of deepening connections to neoliberal postfeminist positions (Pavlidis & Fullagar, 2012; Pavlidis et al, 2022).…”