A post-feminist raunch culture reframed sexual objectification as female empowerment.

Evidence

Richardson’s photography dovetailed with a new set of gender norms that critic Ariel Levy labeled “raunch culture.” In this latest stage of feminism, women celebrated sexual objectification as empowerment, thumbing their noses at the seriousness of second-wave feminists. “Female chauvinist pigs” embraced “the sleazy energy and aesthetic of a topless club or a Penthouse shoot.” Lad magazines like Maxim and FHM capitalized on this shift, coaxing top female actors into appearing in “greased” poses, wearing “scraps of fabric,” and mimicking pornographic imagery. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 65

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Levy’s term ‘raunch culture’ — a stage of feminism celebrating objectification as empowerment.
• CANDY: Deitch’s quote about the ’90s being repressed is a light, tweetable moment.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s essay on complaints about immodesty — raunch culture as another iteration of how dress/sexuality signals identity and class.