In the current millenium, especially in popular culture, emerges a new form of feminist thought, which is in line with neoliberalist ideology and its idea of the capitalistic system. It offers a problematic adoption of historically implemented feminist agendas, which were in various ways striving towards overcoming the patriarchal and capitalistic social order, in which woman is given a subordinate position. Masters' thesis thus problematizes possibilities of feminism within the popular culture on the example of pop celebrity Beyonce, who identifies herself as a feminist. As reception theory emphasizes, the meaning is created in interaction between an audiance and media, ie. text, and according to that, the master thesis focuses on the connection between popular culture and feminism, which is based on an analysis of in-depth interviews with the Beyonces' fans and multimodal analysis of the text.
The representations, mediated by singer are more likely presenting an additional affirmation to the patriarchal and neoliberal social system, than supporting feminist beliefs. Nevertheless, in the eyes of the interviewees the celebrity is seen as a strong feminist figure and even though she is promoting imaginatory feminist values, the influence she has on them is indeed emancipatory.
|
