Girl power-dressing: fashion, feminism and neoliberalism with Beckham, Beyoncé and Trump

S Hopkins - Celebrity Studies, 2018 - Taylor & Francis
Celebrity Studies, 2018Taylor & Francis
With the resurgence of popular feminism (Rottenberg 2014, McRobbie 2015, Gill 2016), the
Western world seems awash with celebrity-driven Lgirl power dressingL, or the convergence
of luxury fashion, lifestyle branding and neoliberal feminism. In November 2016, as Donald
TrumpLs wife Melania (wearing Ralph Lauren) and DonaldLs daughter Ivanka (dressed in
Alexander McQueen) took to the stage behind their patriarch to claim American election
victory, cultural commentators around the world were waking up to the bleak realities of …
With the resurgence of popular feminism (Rottenberg 2014, McRobbie 2015, Gill 2016), the Western world seems awash with celebrity-driven Lgirl power dressingL, or the convergence of luxury fashion, lifestyle branding and neoliberal feminism. In November 2016, as Donald TrumpLs wife Melania (wearing Ralph Lauren) and DonaldLs daughter Ivanka (dressed in Alexander McQueen) took to the stage behind their patriarch to claim American election victory, cultural commentators around the world were waking up to the bleak realities of social class and social reproduction. In 2017, with the recent release of Ivanka TrumpLs new book and neoliberal feminist manifesto, Women who work: Rewriting the rules for success, the self-aggrandising triumph of wealthy individuals and their families is dressed up as righteous (and fashionable) female empowerment. The Australian WomenTs Weekly recently applauded Ivanka for effectively transitioning in her role, from first daughter to Lsurrogate first lady, L for exuding Lglamour and powerL and evoking the LspiritL of Camelot in her Instagram pictures with her property tycoon husband Jared Kushner-Lthe most dominant power couple in Washington, if not the world. L (Bryant 2017, p. 30). WomenLs magazines around the world have been quick to lavish attention on the Lbillionaire lifestyleL of Lthe worldLs most powerful familyL with former model Melania Trump, clutching her stars and stripes handbag on the cover of November 2016 Hello!: LILm very strong-I can handle everythingL (Trump cited in Schaverien 2016). It seems Western feminism is now facing new norms of empowered and entrepreneurial femininity in a socio-political context of Lmassively increasing inequality, growing nepotism and a focus on super luxury marketsL (Negra cited in Gill et al. 2016, p. 728). Thanks in part to the widespread appropriation of feminist discourse to sell celebrity fashion lines and lifestyle brands, liberal feminist politics are increasingly associated with economic and political elites. Female celebrities are perhaps the most visible and influential proponents of this new high glamour style of popular feminism which has firmly fastened female LstrengthL to heterosexual power couples, wealth accumulation, monetised motherhood and competitive femininity. As Vesey (2015, p. 1003) puts it; Lpost-feminist entrepreneurialism assumes female pop stars acquire power by owning and guarding individual empires, L through Lindividualistic appeals to empowerment through consumerism. L The following forum discussion about femininity, motherhood, fashion and feminism focuses on three illuminating cultural studies of such celebrity post-feminist entrepreneurialism: Victoria Beckham,
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