Representations of female empowerment : conspicuous feminism on television in the #MeToo era

Abstract

This thesis examines the representations of feminist themes on fictional television series in the socio-political context of the #MeToo movement. Here, an analysis of four prominent series will illustrate how the impact of #MeToo on the larger cultural discourse has instigated a critical scrutiny of misogyny on television. I argue that the increased visibility of gender inequality prompted by #MeToo has been incorporated into the representations on these series, reflecting a ‘conspicuous feminism’ that is explicit, activist and commodifying in its consideration of gendered power structures and inequality. The pervasive misogyny exposed by the #MeToo movement generated configurations of conspicuous feminism which were, in turn, featured within the narratives of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Big Little Lies and Insecure. These fictional depictions accentuate feminist themes relating to violence and harassment towards women, the traditional correlation of motherhood to female identity, gendered ideals regarding domesticity and women’s roles, and the incorporation of intersectional frameworks. These elements have also been strategically incorporated to capitalize on the movement’s prominence within the wider public discourse. These representations indicate a more elevated and complex awareness of systemic misogyny in popular television series than in previous eras, reflecting the impact of #MeToo’s aims to uncover and confront gendered inequality. The conspicuous feminism in these portrayals thus evokes representations of female empowerment that evince both feminist activism and commodification in their endeavors to expose and resist misogyny.