Summary Of Off Brand Andi Zeisler
In “Off Brand: The Limits of Celebrity Feminism,” Andi Zeisler uses two recent celebrity feminist-movement incidents as a starting point for her argument that celebrity feminism is holding back and depoliticizing feminism. One incident involves Kim Kardashian announcing at a conference as a keynote speaker that she holds feminist beliefs but she does not like labels therefore she does not identify as a feminist. The second incident revolves around the comedian Amy Schumer’s employment of a friend of hers as a writer for her show, Kurt Metzger, who has exhibited aggressive behavior toward women and feminists and rather vocally holds severely anti-feminist beliefs. Zeisler puts forth that this has been shown time and time again with the celebrities
we champion as feminist icons and it’s time to acknowledge that “it’s a bad idea to pin our hopes for feminist salvation on famous people.”
Specifically, she puts forth that Schumer’s actions and reactions show how pointless our pinning of hope on such people “whose feminism exists within a much larger, much more intractable system in which the women who make it are often the ones who … ‘can hang’ with constant reminders of sexism and inequality.” Zeisler points out how much of the feminist sentiments we encounter today call back to the “feminist-but” trope in a positive way with things like “feminist but cute” which are intended to push back against the years of stereotypes. She then argues that those attempts are ultimately depoliticizing the movement. The author then moves on to address the fact that Kardashian’s “adoption of female empowerment” is highly based on the idea of wanting women to be confident while her brand relies on women viewing “confidence as something you get from being on display for others.” On the other hand, Schumer uses her comedy and writing to easily addresses and speaks out with the collective female frustration that results from such narrow definitions of confidence and yet she claims that she is only speaking for herself. Finally, Zeisler puts forth that both women and their situations show the limits of marketplace and celebrity feminism and show that “there’s little room for collective change within a personal brand.”
we champion as feminist icons and it’s time to acknowledge that “it’s a bad idea to pin our hopes for feminist salvation on famous people.”
Specifically, she puts forth that Schumer’s actions and reactions show how pointless our pinning of hope on such people “whose feminism exists within a much larger, much more intractable system in which the women who make it are often the ones who … ‘can hang’ with constant reminders of sexism and inequality.” Zeisler points out how much of the feminist sentiments we encounter today call back to the “feminist-but” trope in a positive way with things like “feminist but cute” which are intended to push back against the years of stereotypes. She then argues that those attempts are ultimately depoliticizing the movement. The author then moves on to address the fact that Kardashian’s “adoption of female empowerment” is highly based on the idea of wanting women to be confident while her brand relies on women viewing “confidence as something you get from being on display for others.” On the other hand, Schumer uses her comedy and writing to easily addresses and speaks out with the collective female frustration that results from such narrow definitions of confidence and yet she claims that she is only speaking for herself. Finally, Zeisler puts forth that both women and their situations show the limits of marketplace and celebrity feminism and show that “there’s little room for collective change within a personal brand.”