Claiming Volition and Evading Victimhood: Post-Feminist Obligations for Young Women

Abstract

The changing face of femininity is most commonly represented by a newly empowered young womanhood that is, above all else, imbued with post-feminist agency and distanced from outmoded notions of female disadvantage. This article argues that the discourse of such a highly individuated new femininity leaves little room to raise questions of gender inequality or to articulate the experience of difficulty and disadvantage. With reference to Australian empirical research, this article offers an exploration of some of the psychological strategies used by young women in their attempts to live up to these neoliberal, post-feminist strictures and to evade any notion of vulnerability or victimhood.