Has celebrity feminism failed?

At its simplest, the difference between celebrity-branded feminism and a feminist movement as a social and political force is that one is about individuals and the other about systems. Individual celebrities are great at putting an appealing face on social issues. But the celebrity machine is one that runs on neither complexity nor nuance, but on cold, hard cash. How much can celebrity feminists do if their prominent voices emanate from within systems – the film, TV and music industries, for starters – in which gender inequality goes generally unquestioned? Emphasising the personal empowerment of individual actors, comedians and pop stars – whether for itself or in relation to others – only serves to pull focus from the ways in which their industries make money from stereotyping and devaluing women.

Is it celebrities’ responsibility to fix those industries single-handedly? Of course not. But it is also not ridiculous to suggest that publicly taking on feminism as a pet cause should ideally be more than just basking in the media attention you get for taking that stance. Again, paragonhood is not the goal, but at the very least, boning up on current feminist issues and perspectives will prevent more unfortunate incidents such as Patricia Arquette’s wage-gap fiasco.

In continuing the dialogues about equality and representation, small shots of honesty and transparency go a long way. Actor and comedian Amy Schumer is among the celebrity feminists who have been tagged as problematic, but she has also been refreshingly unwilling to buy into the women-are-on-top-now! media spin that’s been amplified by her own speedy ascent to Emmy-winning fame. In the autumn of 2015, as Madonna’s Rebel Heart tour took over Madison Square Garden, Schumer served as Madge’s opening act and promptly took aim at the idea that it’s a new, exciting day for women in Hollywood.

“Why would it be exciting?” she asked. “In an industry that judges you solely based on your appearance, when you know that every day you’re just decomposing, barrelling toward death while smaller, younger starlets are popping out, and you know you’re just six months away from having to wear a long white button-down and trying to fuck Michael Douglas at a Thanksgiving party? No. It’s not an exciting time for women in Hollywood. Are you serious?” The bit echoed her instantly viral 2015 sketch Last Fuckable Day, in which Schumer finds Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, and Patricia Arquette lunching in the woods to commemorate Louis-Dreyfus’s passage from, in casting terms, “believably fuckable” female roles to ones “where you go to the wardrobe department and all they have for you to wear are long sweaters”.

Schumer’s cutting honesty is an exception that she is able to get away with in part because her medium is comedy – but, more importantly, because, with her own successful movie and Comedy Central show, she has more control over her career than many of her Hollywood peers. Former romantic-comedy mainstay Katherine Heigl is an example of a woman whose honesty about the treatment of female characters hasn’t gone nearly as well. After her breakout role in 2007’s Knocked Up, Heigl told Vanity Fair that she found the film’s plot “a little sexist” in its portrayal of “the women as shrews, as humourless and uptight” while the men are “lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys”. She was promptly branded “difficult” – with even ostensibly feminist websites such as Jezebel frowning on her bad form – and her career foundered. Who knows whether Heigl’s relatively tactful criticism would go over better in the brave new, slightly more woman-friendly film environs of today, but at the time, her treatment in the media served as an effective warning to other women to keep their lid on their opinions.

Several years later, the spotlight was on another woman who was deemed insufficiently grateful: although she didn’t call out the film’s content, Precious star Mo’Nique was pilloried for her diffident approach to promoting the film and campaigning for the best supporting actress Oscar – which she eventually won. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the actor recalled Precious director Lee Daniels telling her that she had been “blackballed” in Hollywood because of her unwillingness to “play the game” – you know, the game of cuddling up to an industry that regularly erases or sidelines women of colour. Read more at theguardian.com