The Rise Of American Feminist Power:Seen From The Interaction Between The Media And The Feminists

While performing the function of disseminating information,the media exert profound and far-reaching influence on public opinions and the course of social movements.The feminist movement in the United States was also influenced by the media.Given that most of the studies only examine how the media report feminist movement,but seldom mention the feminists' responses to the media,this paper attempts to study the interaction between the media and the feminists,and explore the growing feminist power by studying the different features of the interaction throughout the three waves of American feminist movement.An analysis of the interaction in each of the three waves shows that the power balance between the media and the feminists changes throughout the three waves.In the first wave of the feminist movement,the media played a predominant role and only gave limited concessions to women.On the other hand,the feminists were in an absolutely disadvantaged position,thus they could only receive media messages in a passive way.The second wave saw remarkable growth of feminists,who began to make use of the media to serve the movement,and produce feminist magazines and television programs to convey their messages actively.In the third wave,feminists become part of the media by influencing the public through such ways as launching hashtag campaigns.And the paper believes that the change of the way in which feminists in each of the three waves deal with the media well reflects the rise of American feminist power.