An Era of Bitchification
How has it become normative for women and girls to be publicly shamed for the same qualities that cause men and boys to be honored? Women are called bitches when men are called badasses. Women are seen as bossy when men are seen as leaders. Women are considered slutty when men are considered players. And the list goes on.
In order to understand what got us here, we are bringing in an expert: Allison Yarrow, award-winning journalist, speaker, and the author of 90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality. Allison was ages 8 through 18 during the 90s and had this notion in the back of her head that the women who were prominent in the media during that time were all bitches. She knew this couldn’t be accurate, which led her to start digging into the decade. What she found was a “media revolution that underscored and allowed bitchification.”
It’s been 20 years since the 90s and a good amount has changed, but unfortunately, the culture of bitchification has continued. Allison speaks out about the 90s and today’s culture in order to improve the future for girls and young women. The Los Angeles Review of Books puts a positive spin on Allison’s harrowing truth of the 90s, “…The good news is that we can use Yarrow’s framework to reevaluate the stories we tell and the narratives we accept about women who step outside the prescribed lines of female success. In doing so, we can set aside some of our ‘90s nostalgia and work toward a future of gender parity.”
Join us on Wednesday, February 27th at 5:00 pm at Hear Them Roar – Amplifying Young Voices to learn from Allison and other women who are transforming the culture for young women and girls.
