The death of 'postfeminism' : Oprah and the Riot Grrrls talk back

Abstract

This paper addresses the ways feminism operates in two female literary communities: the televised Oprah Winfrey talk show and book club and the Riot Grrrl zine movement. Both communities are analyzed as ideological responses of women and girls to consumerism, media conglomeration, mainstream appropriation of movements, and postmodern "postfeminist" cultural fragmentation. The far-reaching "Oprah" effect on modem publishing is critiqued, as well as the controversies and contradictions of the effect. Oprah is analyzed as a divided text operating in a late capitalist culture with third wave feminist tactics. The Riot Grrrl movement is discussed as the potential beginning of a fourth wave of feminism. The Grrrls redefine feminism and femininity in their music and writings in zines. The two sites are important to study as they are mainly populated by under represented segments of "postfeminist" society: middle aged women and young girls.