The first time I saw the cover of We Were Feminists Once, I was standing in a bookstore aisle, coffee in hand, doing that thing where you pretend to browse but you're actually just killing time. The title stopped me. Not because it was clever — though it is — but because it felt like someone had finally said the quiet part out loud Worth keeping that in mind..
Andi Zeisler didn't write a memoir. On top of that, marketplace feminism. And the body on the table? She wrote an autopsy. But the version that shows up in Super Bowl ads, on $45 t-shirts, in Instagram captions from brands that still pay garment workers poverty wages. The feminism that's been sanded down, packaged up, and sold back to us as empowerment™ Surprisingly effective..
If you've ever rolled your eyes at a corporation changing its logo to pink for October — or wondered why "girlboss" energy feels hollow by Tuesday — this book is the receipt Worth knowing..
What Is We Were Feminists Once
Published in 2016, We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement is cultural criticism disguised as a history lesson. Zeisler — co-founder of Bitch Media — traces how feminism went from a radical, collective project to a consumer identity you can buy at Target.
The subtitle tells you everything: the buying and selling of a political movement. That's the thesis in six words And that's really what it comes down to..
Zeisler walks through decades of media, advertising, and pop culture to show how feminist language got stripped of its politics. Also, "Empowerment" used to mean structural change — reproductive rights, labor protections, ending violence. Now it means buying the right lipstick. "Choice" used to be about autonomy. Now it's about which lifestyle brand aligns with your aesthetic That's the part that actually makes a difference..
She's not saying individual choices don't matter. That's why she's saying they've been substituted for collective action. And that substitution didn't happen by accident Small thing, real impact..
The marketplace feminism framework
Zeisler coins a term that sticks: marketplace feminism. It's lean-in feminism. It's feminism as brand strategy. It's feminism that asks nothing of power — just that power include a few more women at the top Not complicated — just consistent..
The genius of the book is that Zeisler doesn't just point at bad ads. She shows the machinery. How media conglomerates acquired feminist publications and softened their edges. Worth adding: how "empowerment" became a marketing vertical. How the language of liberation got decoupled from the work of liberation.
You finish the book seeing the pattern everywhere. Still, a bank runs a "women and money" campaign while funding pipelines through Indigenous land. A fashion label prints "The Future Is Female" on a tee made in a factory where women can't unionize. Day to day, the contradiction isn't a bug. It's the business model And that's really what it comes down to..
Why It Matters / Why People Care
Here's the thing: marketplace feminism works. It validates. You buy the mug, you post the quote, you feel like you did something. It feels good. And in a culture that measures engagement in likes and shares, that feeling gets mistaken for impact And that's really what it comes down to. Practical, not theoretical..
But the stakes are real.
When feminism becomes a consumer identity, it stops threatening power structures. Here's the thing — it becomes compatible with them. Now, the most radical demand feminism ever made was redistribution: of power, of resources, of labor, of safety. Also, marketplace feminism replaces redistribution with representation. On the flip side, that's not a neutral shift — it's a strategic capture. And representation, while nice, doesn't feed kids or stop evictions or pass the ERA.
Some disagree here. Fair enough.
Zeisler's book matters because it names the trap. And naming it is the only way out.
The co-optation pipeline
The pipeline goes like this: radical idea → subcultural adoption → media coverage → aesthetic extraction → commercial product → depoliticized slogan.
Riot grrrl becomes "girl power." Consciousness-raising becomes "self-care." Reproductive justice becomes "my body my choice" on a water bottle — while clinics close in half the country.
Zeisler documents each stage with receipts. Also, how Bust and Bitch built independent media ecosystems — and what happened when venture capital came calling. Here's the thing — she shows how *Ms. So naturally, * Magazine struggled while Cosmo ran "feminist" cover lines. How the Spice Girls sold "girl power" to a generation that didn't know it was a Spice Girls marketing term first Worth knowing..
It's not nostalgia. It's pattern recognition.
Why now
The book came out in 2016. Because of that, that timing wasn't accidental. Still, the Hillary Clinton campaign was running on "I'm with her" and glass-ceiling feminism — the exact brand of marketplace feminism Zeisler dissects. That's why the Women's March was months away. #MeToo hadn't broken yet Practical, not theoretical..
Reading it post-2016, post-Dobbs, post-"girlboss" implosion — the book feels prophetic. Or maybe just honest about cycles that repeat because we keep refusing to learn them.
The backlash against "corporate feminism" isn't new. But the vocabulary for it is sharper now. That said, terms like "white feminism," "carceral feminism," "neoliberal feminism" — they're in the discourse because people did the reading. Zeisler's book is one of the texts that made that reading possible.
How It Works: The Mechanics of Co-optation
Zeisler doesn't just describe the phenomenon. She takes it apart. Here's how the machinery operates.
1. Depoliticization through individualization
The core move: take a structural problem, frame it as personal failure, sell the solution.
Wage gap? Don't organize — lean in. Burnout? But don't demand shorter hours — buy a planner. Sexual harassment? Don't dismantle patriarchy — empower yourself with this self-defense keychain And that's really what it comes down to. Which is the point..
Zeisler traces this to the 80s and 90s, when "empowerment" migrated from community organizing to self-help. The language stayed. The politics evaporated. What remained was a feminism that asked women to fix themselves — harder, better, faster — instead of fixing the world Easy to understand, harder to ignore..
2. Aesthetic extraction
Movements have aesthetics. Riot grrrl had zines, baby doll dresses, combat boots. Black feminism had its own visual language. Indigenous feminism, disability feminism, trans feminism — each with distinct cultural markers But it adds up..
Marketplace feminism strips the aesthetics from their contexts. In practice, it sells the look without the analysis. The "feminist" graphic tee. In real terms, the "smash the patriarchy" enamel pin. The "nasty woman" tote bag.
Zeisler is careful here: she's not saying you can't wear the shirt. She's saying the shirt isn't the work. And when the shirt replaces the work, that's by design.
3. Celebrity feminism as brand management
This section hits different now. Worth adding: zeisler breaks down how celebrity feminism functions as PR strategy. Taylor Swift's squad. Beyoncé's Flawless sample. Emma Watson's HeForShe speech.
None of these are bad. But they're not politics. Because of that, they're brand positioning. And when media treats a celebrity's feminist self-identification as the movement's victory condition, the bar lowers. Way down Easy to understand, harder to ignore..
Zeisler quotes bell hooks: "Feminism is not a lifestyle. It's a political commitment." The celebrity-industrial complex has every incentive to blur that line Easy to understand, harder to ignore..
4. The diversity showcase
Marketplace feminism loves visibility. Which means it loves "firsts. " First woman CEO. First woman of color on a magazine cover. First trans model for a major campaign.
Visibility matters. But Zeisler shows how it becomes a substitute for material change. A company adds three women to its board — all from the same class background — and calls it progress.
4. The diversity showcase (continued)
The “diverse campaign” Zeisler describes is only the glossy front of a much larger, often hidden, operation. When a brand showcases a multiracial, multigendered, or neurodiverse cast, it is not merely reflecting a broader consumer base—it is performing a political alibi. The visual diversity masks the structural homogeneity that still controls decision‑making, profit allocation, and labor practices Surprisingly effective..
Honestly, this part trips people up more than it should.
Consider the supply‑chain reality that the excerpt cuts off: while the advertising celebrates a “first” trans model, the factories that produce the garments may employ undocumented workers in low‑wage countries, subject to hazardous conditions and denied collective bargaining rights. The same company might tout a “women‑led innovation lab” while its boardroom remains dominated by a handful of male investors who set the strategic direction.
Zeisler’s point is that visibility alone does not redistribute power; it merely expands the market’s palette. When a company’s diversity metrics are reduced to a marketing brief, the underlying hierarchies remain untouched. The “first” becomes a one‑off story, not a systemic shift. In this way, marketplace feminism turns radical inclusion into a brand asset, not a social transformation.
5. The neoliberal wrap: from protest to purchase
If the earlier sections expose how co‑optation works, this one shows how it is sold. Worth adding: the language of “choice” and “empowerment” is repurposed to sell products, experiences, and lifestyles. Marketplace feminism reframes activism as consumption. The consumer is invited to “join the movement” by buying a limited‑edition tote, wearing a graphic tee, or streaming a celebrity‑curated playlist.
Easier said than done, but still worth knowing.
Zeisler notes that this reframing does not happen by accident. It is the result of a coordinated PR strategy that aligns corporate interests with the aesthetics of protest. The result is a feedback loop: the more visible the brand’s “feminist” messaging, the more it normalizes the idea that purchasing power is the primary mode of political participation. In turn, this diminishes the appetite for collective action, because the market appears to be delivering the change we want—albeit in a sanitized, profit‑driven form.
6. The counter‑logic: re‑politicizing the personal
If marketplace feminism succeeds by depoliticizing structural critique, a reclaimed feminism must re‑embed politics into the personal. Zeisler suggests that the first step is to recognize the difference between self‑improvement and systemic change. When a woman is told to “lean in” to close the wage gap, the underlying issue—unequal pay structures—remains unaddressed. The same logic applies to “self‑care” mantras that encourage individuals to manage burnout without challenging overwork cultures.
A re‑politicized approach asks: *Who benefits from this solution?It demands that personal narratives be linked to collective demands—better labor laws, affordable childcare, universal healthcare, and genuine workplace democracy. Also, * It pushes beyond the individual to ask about the institutions that reproduce inequality. In doing so, it restores the political dimension that marketplace feminism deliberately strips away.
Conclusion: Co‑optation as a Business Model
Zeisler’s Marketplace Feminism offers a clear blueprint of how contemporary feminism is being repurposed to serve commercial interests. The mechanics of co‑optation she outlines—depoliticizing structural problems through individualization, extracting and selling activist aesthetics, leveraging celebrity branding, and showcasing token diversity—function as an integrated system. Each component reinforces the others, creating a self‑sustaining loop that transforms radical critique into market opportunity.
Understanding this system is not an exercise in cynicism; it is a prerequisite for building a feminism that can survive the commercial squeeze. By exposing how marketplace feminism turns visibility into a substitute for redistribution, and how personal “empowerment” can mask systemic neglect, Zeisler equips readers with the analytical tools to demand more than a pink‑branded tote bag.
The challenge, then, is to reclaim the political commitment that marketplace feminism erodes. It means insisting that feminism remains a movement for structural change, not a lifestyle accessory. When we do, we honor the original promise of feminism: to reshape the world, not just to adorn it.
