Speaker: Sarah Banet-Weiser, Professor and Head of Department in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics

We find ourselves in a moment of spectacular popularity for feminism, where rights for women and girls are celebrated in media and mainstream society. And yet, misogyny too seems to have gained more power than ever, from the highest ranks of government to the lowest depths of internet culture. In this talk, Banet-Weiser makes sense of this moment, theorizing popular feminism and popular misogyny as a deeply entwined relationship, in which the highly visible feminism of advertising, online platforms, and nonprofits is met with the misogynistic violence of mass harassment, assault, and institutional neglect, as if reflected in a terrible funhouse mirror. If the rallying cry of feminism has been “empowerment,” Banet-Weiser asks, who—or what—has today’s economy of visibility empowered?

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