Reflective Blog on Billie Eilish and Feminism movement

Blonde hair and full bombshell, American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish changed her style from head to toe. Her iconic trademark sweats have changed into a pink Gucci corset, Agent Provocateur lingerie with skirts, along with latex gloves and leggings. Billie once identified by her shock of green hair and baggy style, her original image has been labelled as “body positive”, “unique and different”, and “a class of her own” (Ferla, 2021, para. 11). However, her new look on the British Vogue cover drew much criticism.

Billie Eilish on the cover of the June 2021 issue of British Vogue. Source: Craig McDean

The media depicted her as a “hypocrite” and a “slut” (Ferla, 2021, para. 6) for wearing revealing garments and showing more skin. While some of her fans were impressed and empowered by her new image. Thus, differing attitudes towards the photo represent different versions of feminism. This article discusses different versions of feminism and its complexity and diversity. Feminism, itself a product of the cultural climate, women as potent forces hostile to civilization(Lorber, 1997, p. 12).  

From bikini to mini, women could change their minds and reclaim autonomies over their own bodies through the clothes they wear. “feminists advocated a cultural politics of self-presentation, rejecting patriarchal and socially constructed dress codes for women” (Hillman, 2013, p.156).  The lecture on the sexualisation of contemporary media (Sternberg, 2021, p.3) provided an example of the women movement during the 1980s and 1990s. Feminists transferred the critical words and misogyny towards women into affirmations and celebrations of female strength, and applied overt displays of female sexuality to challenge patriarchal definitions of feminine passivity. The feminist movement is more diverse in today’s society. A 2013 Girlguiding survey found that “35% of girls and young women aged 11 to 21 were happy to call themselves feminists. In 2017, 43% of women aged 18 to 34 would claim themselves as feminists”. “With 54% of women aged 18-24 and 44 % of women aged 25-34 identified with the term. Only 36% of women aged 55 and above would call themselves feminists” (Murray, 2017, para. 9). These statistics show that the younger generation of women recognises the importance of gender equality against complex forms of prejudice and oppression towards women.

A headline Daily Mail. Source: Rianne Addo for Mailonline

Despite the growing support for women movements, feminism is still a controversial topic. The headline of Daily Mail published by Laura Fox, Rianne Addo for Mail online (2021, p.1)  said that “Proof that money can make you change your values and sell out” “Billie Eilish’s shocks fans by swapping baggy clothes for lingerie in Vogue-despite years of vowing to hide her body.” Ironically, such a headline comes from someone who is also a woman, not to mention that she chose oversized clothes when she was underage and experienced bullies and body shaming at schools. It could be argued that there are different types of feminism, views could be different even within the same gender. The problem is not about whether which version of feminism is better than the other. Rather, it is related to why the two are seen as mutually exclusive when the same criteria are not applied to males. 

GamesNosh made body-shamed comment on Billie Eilish’s photo taken by a paparazzi. Source: Twitter screen shot

There are several reasons why people have different views of feminism. On the one hand, Billie Eilish and women in general, can dress in the style they prefer. Billie’s original image is obviously a comment on the way women are depicted in media, which is also why she becomes a significant figure. Billie’s style is more than just big pants and baggy sweatshirts. It is a weapon for her to subvert the public and media’s expectations of what a female pop singer should look like. Bate (2019, para. 10) explained that “In June 2018, a photo of Billie wearing a tank top was trended and went viral on Twitter with captions called her mom body.” Billie said in the interview that “Someone with smaller boobs could wear a tank top, and I could put on that exact tank top and get slut-shamed because my boobs are big. That is stupid ”(Bate, 2019, para. 12). 

The culture of body shaming and sexual objectification have effective impacts on women’s mental health problems. According to Dawn, Szymanski, Lauren, Moffitt & Erika, 2011, p.8, “objectification theory demonstrates that SO of females is likely to contribute to mental health problems that disproportionately affect women (i.e., eating disorders, depression, and sexual dysfunction).” Therefore, when a women’s body or body parts were selected and separated from her as a person, she is seen as a physical object as men’s sexualised consumption. Billie made a statement against objectification by hiding her body. It was revolting that she had no choice but to protect her teenage self from being sexualised and surveillance via her clothing. 

Illustration of the stereotypes of women and sexism in the workplace. Source: Nahaly Nafisa Khan, The Daily Star

On the other hand, women have the right to change how they look. As the comment said, Billie was a child. These images themselves are sexy instead of over-sexualised, there is an aura of boredom there, she is sending a message not just to the people who have sexualised and shamed her, but also those whose praise is condescending at best and misogynistic at worst (Guillaume, 2019, para.13). For Billie herself, it is a celebration and demonstration for her adulthood and femineity, this version of feminism breaks the old-fashioned notions of female modesty and what the “right” girlhood should look like. In her latest single ‘Your Power’, Bilie sings about a relationship in which her male partner uses his powers to control and imprion her. Lyrics include: “Try not abuse your power…Does it keep you in control? For you to keep her in a cage?” (Eilish, 2021). These powerful lyrics are a direct attack on patriarchy, it draws on the universal themes of men using power and priviledge to conrol and abuse women.  She has always championed marginalised people and feminist themes indirectly with her creativity and strong voice, she has the ability to take larger issues of violence towards women and the patriarchy and houe them within this personal story gives the track an effective emotional hook (Daveburck, 2021, para. 4). As a 19-year-old singer, Billie not only makes it simple for the listener to understand these social issues related to feminism and patriarchy, but also gave the song a strong emotional flow and a resonance. 

She metaphors the pressures of a patriarchal society as a snake wrapped around her body.

Source: Billie Eilish Instagram page

It is pathetic to see people’s ignorance override a double standard, and sexism that contemporary media places on women and men. According to Masequesmay (2020, para. 2), the word sexism is defined as prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender. Sexism in a society is most commonly applied against women and girls to maintain patriarchy or male domination. For instance, the rhetoric used to describe a male singer. When Justin Bieber is no longer an innocent boy, instead, he changes his style to a tattooed and dreadlocked man. Media outlets compliment him as “Billboard cover boyhas taken a strong stance in both music and fashion worlds over his short-yet-extremely successful career” (Billboard, 2013, p.1). Furthermore, a female singer like Billie is more likely to be criticized for her change of style. The difference in how women and men are treated unequally reflects how much modern society discriminates against women. Liberal feminism (Lorber, 1997, p.9) argues that: “Theoretically, liberal feminism claims gender differences are not based in biology, and therefore that women and men should be equally represented in public arenas.” Liberal feminism encourages the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. In addition, Billie Eilish and women in general are encouraged to dress how they want and be treated as same as men based on the liberal feminism theory. 

Illustration of women’s rights in the 21st century. Source: Sophie Macphail.

However, People who are inclined to Billie’s original image also belong to feminism, particularly “social construction feminism” (Lorber, 1997, p.29). The difference is that the former group has identified with the expected image of women in the social status.  Social construction feminism argues that most people voluntarily agree with their society’s prescription for those of their gender status because the norms and expectations get built into their individual sense of worth and identity (Lorber, 1997, p.31).  In addition, social construction feminism recognises the inequality and disadvantages of women caused by social and cultural differences. They expected Billie to accomplish how women are portrayed in the traditional society, as she covered up her natural body through loose clothes to avoid being sexualised by the media. 

Although there are still forces against women rights, especially concerning how women are underrepresented in media, studies found that social media could potentially close the gap. A study at the Qatar Computing Research Institute found that women tend to have a more significant presence online in countries with large gender inequities in offline life. Powell (2018, para. 5) gave an example of women living in Pakistan. “Women had more followers on Google+ (25 versus 16) and Twitter (600 versus 222) than their male counterparts”. Thus, this example proves that women could take advantages of social media to connect with other feminists to find a sense of belonging. Social media potentially promotes feminism and encourages a more level playing field, allowing voices to be heard from women in different cultural backgrounds, with or without traditional power.

For women who have encountered body-shaming culture under the effect of how a ‘perfect’ body of a woman is portrayed on media, they need to maintain good mental health and wellbeing in relation to their bodies. Mental Health Foundation (2019, para. 7) suggests “social media companies should build a clear system for users to report bullying and gender discrimination and targets for actions to be taken”. In addition, media outlets should have greater control over the content they publish and promote positive body images to ensure that a wide range of body types is presented positively for their readers.

Celeste is a comedian who against body-shaming culture by imitating over-retouched photos of celebrities online. (left Kim Kardashian; right: Celeste Barber)

Source: Instagram 

From traditional media to online media, it still tends to perpetuate gender inequality and perceptions of the expected image of girls and women in society. If such ideas continue to spread, the next generation will be influenced by the gendered stereotypes that media presents. Media Support Organization (2020, para. 7) states that “the transformative role media can play in achieving gender equality by creating gender-sensitive and gender transformative content and breaking gender stereotypes”. In this way, the media industry could build a “national media policy and self-regulation” to achieve gender equality and breaking gender stereotypes (MSO, 2020, para. 10).

In conclusion, different attitudes towards the change of Billie Eilish represent different versions of feminism. Whether it is liberal feminism or social construction feminism, they have contributed to the development of feminism over the past decades. The importance is to embrace all types of feminism, and prevent the culture of body shaming, protect women from sexualising, and eliminate sexism in modern society. While it might be challenging for the media industry to achieve gender equality, in the case of Billie Eilish, she made a bold move to embrace femininity. More actions will be taken, and more voices of women will be heard. Feminism will be promoted as a fluid, organic and changing social force in the cultural climate.

( For more information related to gender inequality and feminism, please view the video below)

Reference

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 Hillman, BL. (2013). “The Clothes I Wear Help Me to Know My Own Power”: The Politics of Gender Presentation in the Era of Women's Liberation. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 34(2), 155-185. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.34.2.0155

 Dawn M. Szymanski,1 Lauren B. Moffitt,1 and Erika R. Carr1. (2011). Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research. Major Section on Sexual Objectification of Women. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/education/ce/sexual-objectification.pdf

 Drenten, J. Gurrieri, L. & Tyler, M. (2019). How highly sexualised imagery is shaping ‘influence’ on Instagram - and harassment is rife. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/how-highly-sexualised-imagery-is-shaping-influence-on-instagram-and-harassment-is-rife-113030

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Guillaume, J. (2021). Billie Eilish posed in lingerie for Vogue – but does it matter what we think?. Retrieved from: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/billie-eilish-posed-in-lingerie-for-vogue-but-does-it-matter-what-we-think-20210504-p57oo8.html

Henry, B. (2019). Billie Eilish Explained Why She Wears Clothes “800 Sizes Bigger Than She Is” Days After She Was Objectified On Twitter. Retrieved from: https://www.buzzfeed.com/benhenry/billie-eilish-vogue-australia-interview

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Murray, D. (2017). Rejoice! Over Two Thirds Of Young British Women Identify As Feminists, But There's Still Work To Do. Retrieved from: https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/news/a37534/rejoice-over-two-thirds-of-young-british-women-identify-as-feminists-but-theres-still-work-to-do/

Powell, C. (2018). How Social Media Has Reshaped Feminism. Retrieved from: https://www.cfr.org/blog/how-social-media-has-reshaped-feminism

Image reference:

Barber, C. (2021). An image against culture of body-shaming. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/celestebarber/

Eilish, B. (2020). Instagram images. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/billieeilish/

Khan, N. (2020). Sexism in the workplace. Retrieved from: https://www.thedailystar.net/next-step/news/sexism-the-workplace-1821556

Macphail, S. (2020). Marxism, Liberalism and Feminism. Retrieved from: https://campuspress.stir.ac.uk/womensrights/2020/10/10/marxism-liberalism-and-feminism/