2023 was regarded as a year for the girls. Millions of Swifties of all ages got the opportunity to see Taylor Swift on her world renowned Eras Tour. Greta Gerwig, a rising name in the film industry, released the feminist pop-icon film Barbie. Disney also jumped on the bandwagon with their live action version of The Little Mermaid.
These cultural phenomena brought together women and girls in a fashion that transcended age. However, like any event that gains traction over time, controversies arose.
Taylor Swift’s elaborate, three-hour splendor was not met with full positivity. Her rise in fame also brought attention to some less flattering sides of her public image. A main controversy of her brand has been the exorbitant levels of carbon emissions–a number that soared drastically during her Eras Tour. As her fame increased, so did the number of eyes on her. Statistics regarding her excessive private jet usage have piled up on the internet.
Despite her destructive actions, Swift’s fan base aggressively rushed to her defense. It is not uncommon for dedicated fans to die on the hill of their chosen musical idol, but the rallying behind Swift takes a unique, more political, form.
Swift’s defense is executed in the name of feminism. As a woman in the entertainment industry, Swift invites a laundry list of aggravations at any point in her career, but these particular accusations were met with claims that she was the target of misogyny and oppression.
The Oscar results of the Barbie movie were met with a reaction similar to that of Swift’s controversies. Despite being the top-grossing film of 2023, Barbie was awarded just one Oscar (Best Song) for a ballad focused on the male counterpart in the film, Ryan Gosling.
This “snub” incited another rise of feminist anger. Millions of die-hard Barbie fans called out the irony of the Academy’s decision. With producer Greta Gerwig and lead actress Margot Robbie receiving not even a nomination, many felt the actions of the Academy reflect the very problems highlighted in the film.
There is no denying the truth of this claim, but unfortunately, this seems to be the extent of mainstream feminism in our time.
As world affairs worsen by the day, women and children are at the forefront of these tragedies. But in a wealthy and (relatively) safe country such as the United States, many of us have the privilege to turn a blind eye to humanitarian tragedies abroad.
While difficult to digest, it is clear the nature of feminism has turned away from advocating for all women and turned into an internet trend that calls out injustices in the wealthiest, most secure women.
The feminine phenomena of 2023 placed highly privileged individuals in the direct eye of feminists across America, drawing attention from female victims in truly dire situations both internationally and in our own country.
As the Gaza strip continues to be under attack, women, primarily pregnant women, are receiving the worst end of this genocide.
The issue of reproductive health in Palestine is not a new one. As a majority-Muslim country, abortion rights are aggressively outlawed. Naturally, this leads to an influx of at-home abortions that often result in death or severe injury.
Since October 7th, eleven thousand women have either been killed by Israeli forces or are missing. 23,000 have been wounded and displaced. Palestinian women have endured violent rape, starvation, further sexual violence, and murder.
In another part of the world, China, a humanitarian catastrophe has had detrimental consequences to women.
The persecution of the Uyghurs in China has captured the attention of the media in the past few years. The Uyghurs are a Turkish sub-ethnicity that originate from East and Central Asia. Officially, they are recognized as the main nationality of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwestern region of China.
The Uyghur people have faced forced assimilation, imprisonment, and re-education simply for their cultural and religious practices.
Chinese government officials have been coming down the hardest on the Uyghur women. Forced sterilization–a method of ethnic cleansing–has been widely implemented in order to prevent reproduction. Additionally, pregnant Uyghur women have faced forced, violent abortions and have been ripped away from their children.
These are just two prominent examples of the real tragedies faced by women around the world. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, women and young girls face sexual exploitation, child recruitment into armed militias, and frequent gender-based violence in their own homes. Afghan women live in constant fear of detention centers, torture, and unexplained disappearance. Safely walking down the street without a male counterpart is a luxury few of them have. The patriarchal culture of the Middle East and northern Africa–a concept that stems from religious authoritarianism, a focus on piety, and tribalism–has created a secluded and dangerous environment for women.
This is not to say that the more privileged demographic of women do not face hardships, but their struggles cannot be the extent of our activism. As the concept of feminism gains more attention each passing year, it is vital that we direct our activism to the humanitarian crises faced by women around the world. The most disturbing, convoluted subjects are the ones we must tend to despite how uncomfortable or disheartening they may be.
So while 2023 was certainly a year for the girls, it is important to ask the question “which girls?” A social movement based on the struggles of the privileged and wealthy necessitates a shift towards embracing the daunting and dire conditions of women world-wide.
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Editors’ note: All opinions expressed on The Uproar are a reflection solely of the beliefs of the bylined author and not the journalism program at NASH. We continue to welcome school-appropriate comments and guest articles.
