EMBEDDED FEMINISM TO RETREATISM: UNRAVELING POSTFEMINIST DISCOURSE IN EMILY GIFFIN’S HEART OF THE MATTER

Abstract

Chick lit fiction, with its representation of ostensibly empowered women navigating their way in the complex postfeminist scenario, is often criticized for its ambivalent entanglement with second wave feminism. Postfeminism is perceived by feminist scholars as a group of ideas that simultaneously endorse and disclaim feminism, creating a complex contradictory terrain. Susan Douglas identifies two complementary phenomena: Embedded Feminism and Enlightened Sexism as integral components of postfeminism that work in tandem to undo gains made by second wave feminism. Using Braun & Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis as the research method, this paper extends Douglas’s theorizations by using Embedded Feminism and Enlightened Sexism as critical frames to examine how exaggerated representation of female achievement is employed to obfuscate the continuation of gender inequality in Giffin’s Heart of the Matter. The findings of the study reveal that female characters in the selected chick lit novel, under their arguably perceived empowerment, use their agency and choice to ignore persistent sexism, and try to find individual solutions for collective issues by espousing retraditionalization in the form of retreatism and uncritical acceptance of gendered roles. The study highlights the exigency of identifying and addressing new impediments to achieving true gender equity.