ABSTRACT
Whither feminism in the twenty-first century? Or perhaps, wither feminism in the twenty-first century? In this chapter I cannot provide an exhaustive overview of contemporary debates about the vitality of feminist politics, nor is this my intention. Instead, I draw on a variety of works – both academic and popular, in the broadest senses of both – to illustrate that it is indeed the case that (most) feminism(s) is/are withering on the cultural vine. I argue not only that this has profound implications for the constitution of a vibrant feminist politics but also that the disavowal of a politics of feminism has implications for political engagement more broadly, specifically in relations to political judgments of ethical conduct and the legitimacy of violence. As with the other chapters in this book, here I aim to explore what narrative representations of gender and violence in this particular television show can tell us about the world of contemporary politics: in this case I focus on the narrative constitution of feminism and political strategy. To do so, I first analyse a short piece of dialogue between three relatively minor characters in a single episode of the one hundred and fifty-five comprising the popular television drama The West Wing. While this may seem an esoteric choice of analytical vehicle, I link the themes and issues raised in this exchange to wider organisational logics of the series as a whole, in particular interrogating first its representations of feminist politics and, second, the implications of these representations for the show’s visions of political strategy.
