STRONG FEMINISM, WEAK IMPACT. INGREDIENTS FOR DECODING THE PARADOX
STRONG FEMINISM, WEAK IMPACT. INGREDIENTS FOR DECODING THE PARADOX

Summary/Abstract: Reinvented after ’89, feminism in Romania is in good shape. There is a solid academic feminism, with relevant gender sensitive researches and generations of MA and PhD students committed to women and gender issues. More than twenty years of activism produced concrete results-new organizations and legislation, good practices of gender sensitive projects, various partnerships with governmental and nongovernmental bodies in terms of supporting gender issues. At this moment, a revived, energetic, vocal type of feminism is to be observed. A young generation of feminists (majority with a solid academic background), at ease with the new communication technologies, is more vocal and active than ever in the public arena, especially in social media. However, change is still slow, main issues from the public agenda of the feminist movement are more or less the same as twenty years ago and society’s general attitude towards feminism and women’s movement remains negative or, at the best, reserved. The audience of the new strong, radical, committed feminist messages is often reluctant both to the content and the forms of expression. Why feminism is not yet a public authority able to really change the political agenda? Looking for some possible answers, the article will focus on two critical issues: (i) the magnifier effect of the online activism; (ii) the perverse effects of addressing sexism to neo-sexists.

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