ABSTRACT
A competing perspective portrayed feminism as an extreme stance goes too far. That feminism is divisive and transgressive was also expressed in associations of feminism with man-hating and lesbianism. Analogous to the portrayal of feminism as valuable if anachronistic, this alternative interpretative repertoire of feminism as extreme, divisive, and transgressive facilitates a rejection of feminism. In a discourse analytic vein, an attention to variability in talk reveals the complexities of feminist dis-identification, providing insights into moments of rupture and support for feminism. Dichotomous constructions of feminism which posited a good and bad variant, and subsequent identification with its more positive expression, allowed several research participants to claim feminism. Postfeminist statements frequently occurred in relation to the question of childrearing where numerous research participants expressed their desire for a traditional home. Angela McRobbies concept of the post-feminist masquerade provides yet another illuminating explanation for, and critique of, self-conscious enactments of seductive femininity as they occurred in Miranda's statement.
