When NBC announced they would broadcast “The Playboy Club” as part of their fall lineup, the network received quite a bit of scrutiny. In broadcasting a show that features women in the infamous “bunny suit,” many have suggested that the show exploits women and introduces a new generation to the idea of sexism. Yet, several of the cast members have claimed that the women who worked at the Playboy Club were empowered by the economic resources that their positions brought them. As the slogan for NBC admonished, “Men held the key but women run the show.” Ironically, this idea was previously echoed by Beyonce in her seminal hit, “Girls (Run the World)” as she too dressed in scantily clothed couture gyrated and sang about the power of the V. This new “Enlightened Sexism,” a term employed by Susan J. Douglas “sexism sells the line that it is precisely through women's calculated deployment of their faces, bodies, attire and sexuality that they gain and enjoy true power, power that is fun, and power that men not only will not resent, but also will embrace”. In other words, this new sexism is sexy and consumable. While the reappropriation of an image or a word is nothing new, it has in this past year created numerous conversations concerning the plight of women’s empowerment and the future of feminism. Are there new ways of carrying out the Feminist Agenda? For instance, groups like the Crunk Feminist Collective are creating nuanced ways of understanding intersectionality and make feminism accessible to people within and outside of the Ivory Tower. Is this new type of activism becoming more relevant in the age of Facebook, Youtube and Twitter? Are slut walks and Grrrl Power only relevant for white feminists? Is labeling yourself a Slut and Feminists an oxymoron? Can black girls participate in a slut walk and not carry the baggage of the Jezzebel stereotype? How does the process of reclamation remove or reinforce stereotypes? Is reclamation of used language a good idea? Should it be looked at from more than the perspective of power?

In this session, we are seeking papers that will critically explore what happens when Popular Culture, Feminism and Mainstream Society collide.

Submit abstract (no more than 250 words) to Aretina Hamilton, Student Caucus Representative, University of Kentucky, at aretina.hamilton@uky.edu by November 1, 2011.