What happened to feminism in the twenty-first century? This question feels increasingly urgent in a moment of cultural and legislative backlash, when widespread uncertainty about the movement’s power, focus, and currency threatens decades of progress. Sophie Gilbert identifies an inflection point in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the energy of third-wave and “riot grrrl” feminism collapsed into a regressive period of hyper-objectification, sexualization, and infantilization. Mining the darker side of nostalgia, Gilbert trains her eye on the most revealing cultural objects of the era, across music, film, television, fashion, tabloid journalism, and more.
It’s to Gilbert’s credit that she makes a cohesive history emerge from this morass of references...that arise out of this era ... Throughout, her organization is as confident and nimble as her arguments ... The informed and persuasive essays in Girl on Girl stand alone, even as they build on one another. A chapter on the early years of reality television is exceptional ... This ground is well-trod, but rarely trod so well. Gilbert knows when to supply deft nuance.
Indisputably clear ... Chapter by chapter, Gilbert methodically shows how the backlash against second- and third-wave and riot grrrl feminism fueled the rise of incel culture, trad wives, the stay-at-home girlfriends on TikTok, and much more. There is a lot to unpack here, but it is well worth the effort.
Gilbert retreats from voicing her full indignation ... I finished Girl on Girl struck by Gilbert’s skilful marshalling of evidence and elegant writing, but looking for a bolder claim about where the real problem lies and what can be done about it.
