THE $ELLLING OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEM

In his book Captains of Consciousness, Stuart Ewen argues that American industrial leaders developed consumerism as a strategy for dealing with the mounting problems of worker dissatisfaction and economic overproduction which had reached serious proportions by the 1920's. By encouraging the working class to look to the marketplace for the satisfaction of its 'needs-and for definitions of what constitutes acceptable ideas, beliefs and life styles-a new kind of social integration would be possible. The resistance of working people to the new industrial order could be confronted through an "affirmative vision" rather than through coercion and conflict. In turn, the creation of a mass market would provide an answer to the dilemma of the technological successes of industrialization: that is, finding buyers for the goods which were being produced so efficiently that depression was a constant threat.

It was the newly emerging profession of advertising which was to perform the function of generating, in Ewen's words, a "psychic desire to consume," and it did so with precision and imagination. A commercial culture was created: the links between consciousness and the corporate economy were expanded and solidified, so that the captains of industry became captains of consciousness as well.

The ability of modern capitalism to absorb, deflect and contain criticism depends upon its capacity for intruding into the realm of consciousness and thereby providing a psychological response to stirrings of discontent and rebellion. The substance of that discontent is absorbed and reinterpreted in ways which appear to affirm the necessity for change, but which in fact channel and direct that change so that basic social relations are not threatened. This is, of course, what is meant by co-optation. Because of the enormous power of the commercial culture to reach millions of people and its sophistication in presenting its messages, it becomes increasingly difficult for individuals to maintain independent conceptions of what is desirable, what is possible, and what is necessary. There is little space free from penetration by the commercial culture, and this space contracts as the ideas and demands of rebellious groups become more widely disseminated and less under their control.

It is difficult to imagine a social movement which has become more entangled with the commercial culture's ability to define and shape "the social realm" than the women's liberation movement. Since feminism first reasserted itself as a social movement in the 1960's, the response of the commercial culture has shifted from outright rejection to assumed sympathy and clever co-optation. Women's

of what it means to be female and has served as an ego-ideal for millions of American women.

To some extent this shift in the image of the "new woman" is a result of the very real impact that the ideas of the women's movement have had on popular consciousness, as well as a reluctant acceptance of the realities of the changing roles of women in our society.

At the same time, however, it seems clear that this image is a carefully shaped product of the commercial culture's attempts to defuse the revolutionary implications of the women's movement and provide a "safe" outlet for "fantasies of liberation". The attributes of the "new woman," although quite different from those of the traditional housewife/ mother, are in fact useful ones for corporate capitalism, for this "new woman," just like her traditional sister, can be encouraged to look to the market place for the satisfaction of her needs. It may very well be that patriarchal authority has been diminished by the increased participation of women in social and economic life-and by the changes in her psychological stance which arise from that participation—but capitalist social relations have not.

The purpose of this article is to examine the nature of the popularized image of the "liberated" or "new woman, to explain the reasons for its change, and to clarify the issues this image raises for the women's movement. This is a complex matter, for some of the more glaring aspects of female oppression--the economic dependency of women and the perpetuation of ideas of female inferiority-have been seriously undermined by the popularized image of the "new woman". It is ironic that the co-optation of the women's movement has capitalized on those elements of feminism which appeared so inherently revolutionary to feminists of the 1960's: the call for women to define themselves as independent, competent and assertive, to free themselves from subservience and self-sacrifice. The "new woman" as she is defined by the commercial culture is indeed independent and self-assertive, but the implications of her new self-definition are not what the women's movement intended.

To feminists in the mid-1960's, it became evident that female oppression was related to the fact that women were the primary consumers of goods and services, and therefore American businessmen had a stake in maintaining female identification with the home and family. Male superiority and domination in real life were buttressed by media images which ⚫ conveyed women as mindless, passive and dependent creatures who relied upon a profusion of products to satisfy their unfulfilled desires.

tified primarily with the home because that was where they were most ripe for commercial exploitation. A satisfied and fulfilled working woman was not seen as a good consumer: she was too critical, not concerned enough with the details of housework and childcare to invest herself in products, and had more realistic avenues for creativity than cooking, decorating and cleaning. Indeed, it was the fact that housewives were so dissatisfied with their lives which made them so vulnerable to commercial advances.

When feminist author Carolyn Bird attempted to convince advertisers and businessmen that they should be more responsive to the marketing implications of the changes in women's roles at an International Congress of the American Marketing Association in 1970, she was received with disinterest and ridicule. As the alterations in female status became too obvious to ignore any longer, this same organization was more attentive to this message, devoting a recent conference to the "Marketing Implications of the Changing Role of Women". The Career Woman who gave businessmen such trepidations in the 1950's

"There is little free space from penetration by the commercial culture, and this space contracts as the ideas and demands of rebellious groups become more more widely disseminated and less under their control.'

libération was first presented as the antics of a handful of disgruntled, unattractive "bra-burners" who were attempting to elevate personal dissatisfactions into political statement. The popularized image of "women's lib" is no longer represented by the castrating, neurotic lesbian, but has been replaced with a far less unattractive stereotype: the independent, assertive career woman. We can find her in magazines, advertisements, television shows, and other manifestations of the commercial culture. Not only has she pushed aside the conventional view of feminism, she has challenged traditional assumptions Page 8/What She Wants/March, 1979

were

Such an understanding of the relationship between female oppression and the commercial culture was articulated most persuasively by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique. Friedan used the writings of market researchers to argue that women deliberately encouraged by advertisers to identify with their traditional roles because this ensured that they would remain pliant and obedient consumers. Even though women had made a steady and continuing entry into the labor force throughout the postwar period, the media refused to acknowledge that fact, preferring to keep even working women iden-

has continued to reassert herself in recent times, an offspring of the feminist movement and a stepchild of economic circumstances which make it morc imperative for women to be employed outside the home. And as marketing surveys reveal that this "new woman" has the potential for being just as profitable a consumer as the traditional homemaker, the business community has begun to shift its attitude from distrust to calculated interest.

The recognition by, business that women have