Table Of Content

The Limits of Liberal Feminism 1 FREEDOM FALLACY 2 Freedom Fallacy The Limits of Liberal Feminism 3 F F reedom allacy T l l F he imiTs oF iberal eminism ediTed by miranda Kiraly and meagan Tyler Connor Court Publishing 4 Freedom Fallacy Connor Court Publishing Pty Ltd Copyright © Miranda Kiraly and Meagan Tyler 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorised reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the publisher. PO Box 224W Ballarat VIC 3350 [email protected] www.connorcourt.com ISBN: 9781925138542 (pbk.) Cover design by Ian James Printed in Australia The Limits of Liberal Feminism 5 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................ vii INTRODUCTION — Miranda Kiraly and Meagan Tyler ............. x PART I: CHOICE AND THE INDIVIDUAL Not your father’s Playboy, not your mother’s feminist movement: feminism in porn culture — Rebecca Whisnant ................................ 3 ‘I do what I want, fuck yeah!’: moving beyond ‘a woman’s choice’ — Meghan Murphy .............................................................................. 17 Depoliticising the personal: individualising body image and disordered eating in The Beauty Myth — Natalie Jovanovski ........... 25 Questioning ‘choice’ and ‘agency’ in the mail-order bride industry — Kaye Quek ....................................................................... 35 Feminism and the neoliberal state — Margaret Thornton ............. 43 PART II: FEMINISM AND FREEDOM The illusion of progress: a betrayal of women from both ends of the political spectrum — Miranda Kiraly ......................... 57 The making of women’s unfreedom: sexual harassment as harm — Helen Pringle .................................................................... 69 Entitled to be free: exposing the limits of choice — Shakira Hussein and Camille Nurka ................................................... 81 ‘We love make-up, romance, high heels and men, of course’: the contradictions of ‘pop feminism’ — Kate Farhall .................. 95 Business as usual, rebranded as ethics: the whitewashing of systemic injustice — Laura McNally ....................................... 105 6 Freedom Fallacy PART III: SEXUALITY A fine line between pleasure and pain? On the issue of ‘choosing’ sexual violence — Laura Tarzia ................................ 115 A human right to prostitute others?: Amnesty International and the privileging of the male orgasm — Caroline Norma ..... 125 If pornography is sex education, what does it teach? — Meghan Donevan ............................................................................... 133 The oppression that dare not speak its name? Silences around heterosexuality in contemporary feminism — Julia Long ......... 145 PART IV: ACTIVISM AND CHANGE Political not generational: getting real about the second wave — Finn Mackay ............................................................................... 155 Abuse masked as a ‘cultural practice’: speaking out against female genital mutilation — Naela Rose ...................................... 165 For the sake of equality: moving towards the Nordic Model of prostitution law in Canada — Teresa Edwards ....................... 175 Saying ‘I don’t’: moving beyond marriage — Meagan Tyler ....... 189 Building feminism, resisting porn culture: where to from here? —Rebecca Whisnant ........................................................................... 199 ENDNOTES ................................................................................. 207 BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTRIBUTORS ............................. 237 The Limits of Liberal Feminism 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The editors would like to, first and foremost, express their deep gratitude to the contributors. Without these women having dedicated their precious time to this project, it obviously would not have been possible. We would also like to thank those who undertook the peer- review of this publication. In addition, the editors would like to acknowledge the many feminist activists, academics and writers, who have paved the way for collections such as this to be written. We would also like to extend our thanks to Dr Anthony Cappello, of Connor Court Publishing, for his role in enabling this collection to be published. Anthony has been most generous with his time and encouragement for our work, despite being persistently bemused by its content. Miranda would particularly like to thank Meagan for agreeing to come on board and join her on this ambitious project. Meagan’s wit, wisdom and insight have been invaluable towards shaping the book’s vision and bringing it to fruition. Miranda is also grateful to Jessica Cohen for her editorial feedback, and Murray Greenway for his remarkable research skills and patience. Meagan is indebted to Sheila for her guidance, over the years, in navigating the often rough waters of feminist politics, and to Dan for his editorial and sounding-board skills, not to mention his exceptionally patient and loving care. Meagan would also like to offer her heartfelt thanks to Miranda, who not only came up with the great idea for this project in the first place, but also kept it on track. Finally, Meagan wants to thank the staff at various Melbourne cafés, especially Trotters, for putting up with our hours-long editorial meetings and loud laughter. vii 8 Freedom Fallacy viii