Postfeminism in the British Frame

This article explores postfeminism and its impact upon British cultural politics and popular media. It was developed from a
paper delivered at Interrogating Postfeminism, an international conference Ashby co-organised at UEA (2004), and was
published as part of a special issue of Cinema Journal (edited by Yvonne Tasker and Diane Negra) to mark significant debates
from that conference. It appears alongside companion pieces by leading American academics, Chris Holmlund and Linda
Mizejewski, and path-breaking British feminist, Charlotte Brunsdon, examining different aspects of postfeminist culture. The
article traces the ways in which feminist politics have been undercut by Blairite political and popular discourses in favour of a
rebranded, 'cooler' postfeminist agenda which stresses more consensual, positive attitudes to identity politics and obscures
on-going social conflicts. To illustrate this shift, it discusses the critically and commercially successfully British film Bend it Like
Beckham within the contexts of 'Blair's babes', 'girl power' and 'Cool Britannia'.