The phrase “female empowerment” is thrown around so loosely these days that it’s easy to lose sight of what it really means. In recent years, this definition has changed so frequently that I would argue it is more down to the individual to decide; what does female empowerment mean to you?
Traditionally, female empowerment meant opening doors for women that once were not opened. For example, providing women with education or political representation where they typically weren’t afforded these opportunities. With these goals already being achieved in recent years, new ideas of empowerment have emerged. For example, within dating, many women are now redefining relationships by prioritising financial gain or personal benefit over traditional notions of romance, reflecting a shift in how empowerment is perceived in modern contexts. Popular influencer SheraSeven began an online movement with her popular phrase “sprinkle sprinkle” whereby she gives advice to women about how to navigate the modern dating climate. The general gist of her guidance is to seek romantic relations for financial gain as opposed to genuine connection. Many women, even if not talking on Shera’s advice specifically, have adopted similar mindsets as a form of biting back against the patriarchy by using men for their money as they feel many of their romantic relationships involve men using them for their looks and bodies. But is dating for money, rather than seeking true love, truly empowering—or is it simply mirroring the transactional dynamics that many women aim to challenge?
A similar conversation has sparked by the popularisation of online sex work specifically through the platform “OnlyFans”. In November 2023, the platform’s gross revenue reached $6.63 billion, up from $5.5 billion the previous year, approximately 70% of its material classified as NSFW (Not Safe For Work), the majority of these users being women. A part of female liberation and empowerment is having the power to do whatever you want with your body as a full autonomous being – this is an undisputed fact. However, the question remains as to whether female liberation and sexual liberation are synonymous terms. And if these two terms can be conflated, then how can we ever walk away with the oversexualisation that women face on a daily basis? I personally struggle to see how an industry that often portrays women in degrading scenarios to fulfil the most misogynistic fantasies can truly be empowering. While it’s valid to argue that women are benefiting from a patriarchal system that likely won’t change anytime soon, does profiting from oppression equate to empowerment?
One of my favourite quotes from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood sparked this line of thought:
“There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.”
Is freedom from oversexualisation better than the freedom to take advantage of it and use it to your own benefit? Are we fighting to be seen as more than sexual objects or taking our sexuality into our own hands and choosing to defy society’s standards? Ultimately, regardless of what female empowerment means to each individual, I firmly believe that women are not a monolith and the complexities within this argument do not diminish its importance.