Keynote Address: Media, Markets, Gender: Economies of Visibility in a Neoliberal Moment

Economies of visibility as a moderator of feminism: ‘Never mind Brexit. Who won Legs‐it!’

“…In exploring the potential of moderate feminisms for work and organizations and their impact on theorizing and understanding experiences of work‐based gender relations, the article aims to do two things. Firstly, we extend understandings of economies of visibility (Banet‐Weiser, , 2015b) and moderate feminism. We highlight the various ways in which women leaders are tied to their bodies: how their bodies are commodified; how women leaders themselves engage in this commodification; and how women consumers of this media are fragmented in their responses.…”

“…Through a lens of economies of visibility where the demand for girls is constant; they are the objects at which we gaze whether we want to or not (Projansky, ), a seductress/infantilized dialectic draws attention to the postfeminist ties that bind women political leaders to their bodies in media constructions. The media turns women, as well as ‘girls into spectacles — visual objects on display’ (Projansky, , p. 5) to be consumed as commodities (Banet‐Weiser, ). Women leaders’ bodies in this case are represented as their defining characteristic, constructed as a seductive weapon, diluting their power as political leaders.…”

“…Through an economies of visibility lens, where women are market commodities in the media, we are able to surface how discourses of moderate feminism travel. That is, in a circuit of media visibility (Banet‐Weiser, ) the discourse moves through various media and audience responses and in doing so provides space for feminism.…”

“…Women leaders in the media gaze cannot shed femininity; their bodies are served up as commodities for exchange, forever scrutinized and evaluated (Banet‐Weiser, ). Through economies of visibility we see how gender is absorbed into the economy and femininity is insisted upon for the market — but constructed as a ‘safe canvas’ (Banet‐Weiser, , p. 187) and in this case, through sexualizing, infantilizing and tying women leaders’ bodies to men.…”

“…Banet‐Weiser () argues that the demand for visibility as something that is not coupled with a political project is becoming more paramount.

The shift in an economy of visibility is from liberation to empowerment but in a postfeminist context, where the historical feminist goals of liberation have transformed to empowerment because ostensibly women and girls have been liberated.

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