The confidence cult(ure): from postfeminism to neoliberal feminism
View/ Open
Date
2023Author
Le Goff, Damien
Metadata
Show full item recordUsage
This item's downloads: 157 (view details)
Recommended Citation
Le Goff, Damien. (2023). The confidence cult(ure): from postfeminism to neoliberal feminism. Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 4. https://doi.org/10.13025/e2wx-5e27
Published Version
Abstract
In this article, I explore how the conflation of
neoliberalism, postfeminism and selected elements of a broader
feminist discourse brought forth a new type of feminism that is
amenable to patriarchal neoliberalism: neoliberal feminism. I
argue that this has been possible because of two main factors:
the confidence cult(ure) and feminism entering the mainstream
Anglo-Saxon media. Relying heavily on a postfeminist
sensibility yet rebranding itself as feminism, the confidence
cult(ure) fostered a new form of neoliberal affective governance
directed at women. In doing so, the confidence cult(ure)
achieved the tour de force of blending together neoliberalism,
postfeminism and specific feminist claims. Cleansed of its
radical and transformative power, this hyper-individualized form
of feminism has been more easily popularized and embraced by
a wider audience within mainstream Anglo-Saxon media. This
made it possible to bring forth the new apolitical, patriarchyfriendly neoliberal feminist.