Introduction

This edited collection explores many aspects of just what it is to be female in the twenty-first century. By studying the social, cultural and technological changes that have influenced this, these essays contextualize feminism and femininity in a range of global locations. Although this collection of essays will examine developments in femininity in the early part of this century, there are many links back to the emergence of second wave feminism nearly half a century before, and the huge technological and social changes of the twentieth century that continue to influence women’s lives, such as in the obsessive attention paid to the sexualized female body. While we can refer to the early twenty-first century as being part of the ‘postfeminist’ era, we can also see traces of an emerging new or ‘fourth wave’ feminist period coming through the use of Web 2.0 as women join up online to raise their voices to campaign for greater equality. In this collection, we will examine how women are open to ever-increasing scrutiny of their bodies and behaviours through the affordances of mass media, and while some exploit such attention for commercial gain, such as celebrities and artists, others find themselves open to humiliation, ridicule and even threats of physical violence such as found on Twitter.