Feminism is often preceded by these companies

What do you call a company that advertises itself as a feminist, but internally, does not respect these values. To answer this question, working journalist Leah Legion Challenges, Bluntly created a word: “washing femininity”. He explains this idea in a book published by Editions to Seoul in early March: Washing away feminism – when companies take the cause of women.

“This is an expression derived from‘ green washing ’,” the journalist explains. “It’s similar to all the communication and marketing practices that companies use to make companies believe they are feminists, that they value gender equality, and that they do not do so domestically. When “branding feminism” shows brands ’feminist values, it becomes clear that, in fact, within the company, these values ​​are not used.

But if feminist values ​​are not respected then why show them? “Because today, 58% of French people appreciate feminism, they say they are feminists, whereas it was not before, they saw an opportunity,” explains Lea Legion.

But the T-shirt is not the only T-shirt from Dior that explains this “laundry femininity”. Your favorite feminine shirt may have been purchased at a cheaper price. “Many feminist T-shirts are actually made by women of color and are exploited in poor countries,” says Leah Legion. “So these are the questions to ask: where are the T-shirts made and under what conditions are they paid for and treated?”

Another discourse example: McDonald’s. In 2018, the American fast food brand launched a communications campaign that sent McDonald’s “M” back to “W” for “women” (“women” in English) ahead of Women’s Rights Day. . “One way to say that McDonald is a feminist and that he really cares about women,” one reporter said. “Except that McDonald has been fired several times for sexual discrimination or sexual harassment, I’m revealing significant pay gaps at the company during my investigation.”