Feminism has empowered women, especially since the 1960s
McRobbie studied girls' magazines. In the 1970s, the focus was mainly on marriage. Recently, the focus has been on independence and careers, showing images of assertive young women.
This shift in focus to independence means that girls now try harder in school and aim to achieve high grades, no longer desiring the expressive housewife role, and achieve highly in school.
What examples of media like books, adverts, imaging etc has helped to challenge the stereotypical gender identity of women?
Increased advertisement for women's sport (Euros 2022), girl's toys and the slogans with them (Project MC2s 'smart is the new cool' and Barbie's 'you can be anything')
Why may feminism's impact be reduced in recent years?
For some 'feminism' has become a dirty word due to negative attention gained by radical feminists. Consequently, young girls may not want to be perceived as a feminist and some may not work as hard.
Not all girls are equally influenced by feminism, especially working class girls. This may be why statistics show that working class girls typically don't achieve as highly as middle class girls
