Abstract
The slogan “the personal is the political” communicates the central place that personal experience has in US feminism; the life stories of women—in conventional biographical and autobiographical books, in film biographies, in talk show formats, documentaries, and, now, in social media—also have a prominent place in US popular culture. These stories are subject to the organizing codes of interpretive communities that must be able to locate the story within an identifiable frame of meaning. This chapter examines Sheryl Sandberg’s multimedia memoir and social movement Lean In as a memoir/manifesto that attempts to reframe feminism in service of the corporation, erasing feminism as a collective political movement and marginalizing working-class women’s stories of gendered oppression.
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Notes
- 1.
Portions of the following have been previously printed in my book Historicizing Post-Discourses: Postracialism and Postfeminism in U. S. Culture.
- 2.
In 1989 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Webster v Reproductive Health Services, upheld states’ rights to regulate women’s right to abortion. In 1991 the Senate held televised hearings on Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. In 1996, against strong feminist opposition Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. These national controversies occurred simultaneously with the first uses of the term “third wave” to describe the emergence of a new generation of feminists. For a critical examination of this generational model of feminist history , see Third Wave Feminism : A Critical Exploration.
- 3.
bell hooks makes a similar point about Sandberg’s appropriation of feminism , calling it “faux feminism .” There are, in fact, many feminist critiques of Sandberg, including Faludi’s excellent essay discussed here.
- 4.
It is in an interview with Ken Auletta that Sandberg is most explicit about her rejection of affirmative action, although it is implied in many passages of the book.
- 5.
Thank you to Unite Here Local 26 and Emma Perdomo for the use of this image.
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Kennedy, T.A. (2018). Lean In and Tell Me a (True) Story: Sheryl Sandberg’s Revision of Feminist History. In: Letort, D., Lebdai, B. (eds) Women Activists and Civil Rights Leaders in Auto/Biographical Literature and Films. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77081-9_5
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