Blog post 1- Carter

Feminism has been created in order to try to break out of the instutional and soft power the government uses on its public to create gender roles. In order to do something as extreme as perpetuate strict gender roles the use of multiple types of power would be necessary. Institutional power was necessary in order to have law enforcement and government officials upholding these sexist norms. Companies saw an area of the market that they could capitalize on by creating different products and advertisements that appealed to both genders separately. With both the government and capitalitalis kept happy, society as a whole was conditioned to believe that this way of society would be the best for everyone. It wasn’t until the feminist movement was brought to the forefront of the media that many women felt they deserved a more pivotal role in society. 

The government sets the societal norms by enacting different legislatures and regulating the information that is conveyed to the public. A law was recently passed by the Texas Government restricting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. When the American people believed that this was unlawful, they brought their concerns to the U.S. Supreme Court, to which it “denied [the] request to intervene” (Klibanoff). The act of the Court refusing to take a stance shows their lack of concern on the matter. In the sense of institutional power they are using ‘rules of the game’ in order to further influence the prior societal norm that ultimately power is “the control of man over man” (Thickener). As Thickener emphasizes, there is no mention of where women stand in the world of politics, making many infer that women did not have a place in politics, or a say in society as a whole. The feminist movement tries to encourge other to women and men to create a society where women not only have a place in society, but an equal one to men. 

Discursive power was a major tool used to silence the feminist movement. Throughout history ‘the home’ and politics have been two separate entities. This fostered an environment where domestic violence and stereotypical gender roles were normalized. Large companies like Budweiser further enforced strict gender roles by featuring ads that pictured men coming home to a “fresh pot roast” and a “cold beer” waiting. By producing this ad and many similar, they are communicating and further endorsing to the public that this submissive lifestyle was the norm for women. Thickener states “power as domination has always been associated with masculinity since the exercise of power has generally been a masuline activity” (Thickener). She reiterates the point that changing these societal norms have been in practice for centuries, due to the government and other companies using discursive power as a tool to maintain order and increase profits. 

Although feminism and the progressiveness of society have helped women make strides at breaking these sexist norms, they still face the same issue of being seen as objects. As women started to break out of the viewpoint they lived to satisfy their husbands, big corporations realised they could capitalize off of their sexuality instead. Both companies and the government still used their power to create a narrative that displayed women as clueless and naive, but rather by using a womens features to exploit her. In order for society to see a real shift in how women are viewed, people with influence such as big corporations and politicians must use their institutional and discursive power in favor of the feminist movement. 


Bibliography 

Mewton’s Third Paw Mewton’s Third Paw Community Member • points posts comments upvotes \

FollowUnfollow, et al. “Budweiser Adapts Its Sexist Ads from the 50s and 60s to 2019.” Bored Panda, 1 Jan. 1968, https://www.boredpanda.com/modernized-vintage-sexist-beer-advertisements-budweiser/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic. 


“Texas Heartbeat Act.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Feb. 2022, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Heartbeat_Act.


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