The article depicts feminine subjectivity among women of the millennial generation. Content analysis of an open question relating to the answers of 623 Israeli participants reveals perceptions of femininity as at once gender conscious and non-political. Respondents express a strong sense of entitlement to gender equality yet retain an essentialized perception of gender differences. They are aware of the contradictory demands directed at women, but avoid problematizing them, instead priding themselves on their capacity to encompass both feminine and masculine traits without losing femininity. We identify in the women’s framing a strong commitment to a harmonious worldview and a non-political outlook and trace it to the influences of the global, late-modern generational preoccupation with personal transformation, self-governmentality, and positive thinking.
AdamsonM (2016) Postfeminism, neoliberalism and a ‘successfully’ balanced femininity in celebrity CEO autobiographies. Gender, Work and Organization24(3): 314–327.
2.
Barak-BrandesSLachoverE (2016) Branding relations: Mother-daughter discourse on beauty and body in an Israeli campaign by Dove. Communication, Culture and Critique9: 379–394.
3.
BaraltLCarianEKJohnsonAL, et al. (2020) Millennials and gender in an era of growing inequality. Sociological Perspectives63(3): 452–460.
4.
Ben-PoratA (2020) Cosi (non) Fan Tutte: Women’s football ‘made in Israel’. Soccer & Society21(1): 39–49.
5.
Ben-ShitritLElad-TrengerJHirsch-HoeflerS (2021) ‘Pinkwashing’ the radical-right: Gender and the mainstreaming of radical-right policies and actions. European Journal of Political Research61: 86–110.
6.
BudgeonS (2011) The contradictions of successful femininity: Third-wave feminism, postfeminism and ‘new’ femininities. In: RosalindGScharffC (eds) New Femininities: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.279–292.
7.
CurtisNCardoV (2018) Superheroes and third-wave feminism. Feminist Media Studies18(3): 381–396.
8.
DavidsonSRibakR (2017) ‘Yes, I’m worth it’: The economy of girls’ photo rating in social network sites. Communication, Culture and Critique10(1): 2–19.
9.
DavisSKDornDSOrrAJ (2020) Celebrating PSA 90 years: Presenting the past and present to address the challenges facing millennials in the future. Sociological Perspectives63(3): 428–442.
10.
DonnellyKTwengeJM (2017) Masculine and feminine traits on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, 1993–2012: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Sex Roles76: 556–565.
11.
EhrenreichB (2009) Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. New York: Metropolitan Books.
12.
EliasASGillR (2018) Beauty surveillance: The digital self- monitoring cultures of neoliberalism. European Journal of Cultural Studies21(1): 59–77.
13.
FriedmanA (1999) On feminism, femininity and power of women in Israel. In: IzraeliDNriedmanADahan-KalevH (eds) Sex Gender and Politics. Tel-Aviv, Israel: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House, pp.19–46 (in Hebrew).
14.
GillR (2017) The affective, cultural and psychic life of postfeminism: A postfeminist sensibility 10 years on. European Journal of Cultural Studies20(6): 606–626.
15.
GillRScharffC (eds) (2011) New Femininities: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
16.
GötzMLemishD (eds) (2012) Sexy Girls, Heroes and Funny Losers: Gender Representations in Children’s TV around the World. New York: Peter Lang.
17.
GvionLLeedonN (2019) Incorporating the home into the restaurant kitchen: The case of Israeli female chefs. Food and Foodways27(4): 296–315.
18.
HamiltonLTArmstrongEASeelyJL, et al. (2019) Hegemonic femininities and intersectional domination. Sociological Theory37(4): 315–341.
19.
Hashiloni-DolevY (2015) Posthumous Reproduction (PHR) in Israel: Policy rationales versus lay people’s concerns. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry39(4): 634–650.
20.
HerzogH (2013) A generational and gender perspective on the tent protest. Theory and Criticism41: 69–96 (in Hebrew).
21.
HillCEKnoxSThompsonBJ, et al. (2005) Consensual qualitative research: An update. Journal of Counseling Psychology52(2): 196–205.
22.
IvryT (2010) Embodying Culture: Pregnancy in Japan and Israel (Series in Medical Anthropology). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
23.
LachoverEPeledEKomemM (eds) (2017) Girls and Their Bodies: Voice, Presence, Absence. Jerusalem, Israel: Magnes Press (in Hebrew).
24.
LavieNKaplanATalN (2021) The Y generation myth: Young Israelis’ perceptions of gender and family life. Journal of Youth Studies25: 380–399.
25.
LewisRMarineS (2015) Weaving a tapestry, compassionately: Toward an understanding of young women’s feminisms. Feminist Formations27(1): 118–140.
26.
McElhinnyB (1995) Challenging hegemonic masculinities: Female and male police officers handling domestic violence. In: HallKBucholtzM (eds) Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed Self. New York: Routledge, pp.217–244.
27.
McRobbieA (2008) Young women and consumer culture. Cultural Studies22(5): 531–550.
28.
MandelHBirgierDP (2016) The gender revolution in Israel: Progress and stagnation. In: KhattabNMiaariSStierH (eds) Socioeconomic Inequality in Israel: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.153–184.
29.
OksalaJ (2011) The neoliberal subject of feminism. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology421: 104–120.
30.
OrtnerSB (2013) Not Hollywood: Independent Film at the Twilight of the American Dream. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press.
31.
PendergastD (2010) Getting to know the Y generation. In: BenckendorffPMoscardoGPendergastD (eds) Tourism and Generation Y. Wallingford: CABI Books, pp.1–15.
32.
RamU (2007) The Globalization of Israel: McWorld in Tel Aviv, Jihad in Jerusalem. New York: Routledge.
33.
RamUFilcD (2013) The 14th of July of Daphni Leef: The rise and fall of the social protest. Theory and Criticism41: 17–43 (in Hebrew).
34.
RismanBJ (2018) Where the Millennials Will Take Us: A New Generation Wrestles with the Gender Structure. New York: Oxford University Press.
35.
RottenbergC (2014) The rise of neoliberal feminism. Cultural Studies28(3): 418–437.
36.
Sa’arA (2016) Economic Citizenship: Neoliberal Paradoxes of Empowerment. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.
37.
Sa’arA (in press) Economic citizenship at the intersection of nation, class and gender: The case of Palestinian women in Israel. Current Anthropology.
38.
Sa’arAAharoniSLewinA (2021) Emotionalizing national security: Depoliticizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Emotions and Society3(1): 55–71.
39.
Sa’arALewinACSimchaiD (2017) Feminist identifications across the ethnic-national divide: Jewish and Palestinian students in Israel. Ethnic and Racial Studies406: 1026–1045.
40.
Sasson-LevyO (2006) Identities in Uniform: Masculinities and Femininities in the Israeli Military. Jerusalem, Israel: Magnes Press (in Hebrew).
41.
ShenhavY (2013) The carnival: Protest in a society with no oppositions. Theory and Criticism41: 121–145 (in Hebrew).
42.
SimchaiDShoshanaA (2018) The ethics of spirituality and the non-angry subject. Ethos46(1): 115–133.
43.
VaismanCL (2014) Beautiful script, cute spelling and glamorous words: Doing girlhood through language playfulness on Israeli blogs. Language and Communication34(1): 69–80.
44.
ViningerA (2016) Data on Undergraduate Students by Subject and Socio-Economic Status. Jerusalem, Israel: The Israeli Knesset Research and Information Center (in Hebrew).
45.
YiftachelO (2006) Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
