Female Supremacy Articles - Page 9

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Conscious debates around feminism have all but disappeared from the public arena. A different language and a new attitude are now framing the agenda for women and their perceptions of themselves. To all intents and purposes, this agenda shares more with the ideas of an economy than with traditional feminism. Women are becoming entrepreneurs in the sexual economy.

Many women have become what men have always been - active players in the erotic marketplace. They set out on their own as businesswomen and they work hard to establish their bargaining power. Characters like Sarah, Lee, Delia and Greta have a pretty good idea what they are after, and they shop around, choosing what to buy and what to sell. They manage the risks and, like any good entrepreneur, they know when to sell up and move on.

The kind of female characters that are dominating film, and other aspects of the cultural landscape, are not looking to transform the nature of the marketplace. They are just taking the opportunity to enter into it on their own terms. But men are still holding the rule book.

This means that to succeed, a woman must still fulfil all the requirements of conventional femininity. If you believe the films, she must still be stereotypically young and beautiful to have any real power to bargain and compete with men. The gym-body may exude strength and control, but very few of us will ever match up to Cameron Diaz. In this respect, this sexuality is not so new.