Comments on: Pinning Postfeminism

By: Erin Copple Smith

Erin Copple Smith — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:47:58 +0000

That’s fascinating, Megan! Since we are Pinterest pals, I can say that I’ve always really appreciated the way you use the site (it’s evident to me, if not to outsiders, that you’re pinning research & teaching materials). It’s not the typical use, but it really works and it’s fun for me to see what you’re working on! Your anecdote about the abstraction of images is absolutely right-on, also–decontextualized images take on entirely new meaning, in a fascinating display of semiotics at work.

By: Megan Ankerson

Megan Ankerson — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:27:05 +0000

Thanks for writing about Pinterest, Erin– clearly there’s lots to say about this! After my students couldn’t stop talking about it, I decided to try Pinterest out a few months ago. I came to the site thinking maybe it would be useful for my research. I could pin things relevant to web history or the 90’s dot-com bubble, and then slowly develop this little archive whenever I came across something relevant. I haven’t been very good at keeping to this, but what I found fascinating was the way that images could shed their history and take on new meanings when re-pinned and re-circulated in the Pinterest stream. One of the first things I pinned was an image of the Pets.com sock puppet mascot, which was once an iconic symbol of dot-com excess and hubris. On Pinterest, it was quickly re-pinned to boards like “things to sew” and “products I love.” Any critique of dot-com speculation and (masculine) tech start-up bravado that this image once signified was instantly re-articulated to the feminine domestic sphere, which I found both horrifying and kind of delightful.

By: mabel rosenheck

mabel rosenheck — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:06:04 +0000

though i haven’t actually been using it with any consistency, id add that one of the things i’ve used pinterest for is pinning outfits as inspiration for mornings when i have no idea what to wear. I should say though that i absolutely despise outfits pinned from polyvore and prefer to pin outfits from actual blogs. I think my distaste for polyvore speaks to both to its aspirational quality, its all about putting together outfits based on products you can buy and equally the fact that its disembodied articles of clothing that are designed for a body type that is not mine. In other words, and I think this is what some other commenters are getting at, there are differences in how we use these boards and images, but there are also differences embedded in the images themselves and their construction.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:59:38 +0000

Thanks, and I would love to see a follow up post! At least from my own experience, I use Pinterest almost exclusively to catalog things I want to buy. It’s aspirational mostly -I won’t really buy them – as you and other commenters so smartly noted. That’s why this point of yours rang so true for me – “women understand that they’re allowed to “have it all,” but are unsure what that means or how to achieve it.” The fact that to “have it all” equates with “buying it all” is obviously troubling. I kept thinking about Susan Faludi’s Backlash and the idea that capitalism and commercial forces commodify feminism, or a third wave brand of it, to sell products, that ultimately are supporting anti-feminist notions, as well as the distorting of women’s economic independence in to consumer purchasing power.

By: sarah jedd

sarah jedd — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:47:57 +0000

You are totally right about the subversive sentiments– but how subversive can a much-pinned Someecards really be?

My husband made me a M O M frame for Mothers Day (but he is the PTO VP, so totally breaking the mold there, too 🙂 )

By: Erin Copple Smith

Erin Copple Smith — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:40:45 +0000

Such a good question, and one that deserves its own post! I certainly think that the modus operandi of Pinterest is such that it is frankly nothing BUT consumerist–even the DIY projects are not exactly cheap (though they are often thriftier than buying their counterparts outright). Certainly, as I note above (and as Sarah Murray highlights in her comment), the act of pinning is performative–in the same way that conspicuous consumption is performative. This focus on consumerism is borrowed from third-wave, as you note.

I’m going to keep thinking about this, and maybe there will be a follow-up post (unless one of you other smart folks gets to it first!).

By: Erin Copple Smith

Erin Copple Smith — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:35:20 +0000

Should say, too, in keeping with my point in the post–even those moms who actually use Pinterest suggestions/ideas this way are probably performing postfeminism by repinning some of the subversive inspirational and/or funny content I describe above. That makes it even more (P)interesting (forgive the pun, I couldn’t resist), to my mind.

By: Erin Copple Smith

Erin Copple Smith — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:33:30 +0000

Such a great perspective, Sarah–thank you! I myself have lots of mom friends who use Pinterest in the same way. At least three of them did the three-window picture frame “D” “A” “D” photo for Father’s Day. (I’m not explaining it very well–see this blog post (from a friend) for a visual: http://blogs.babble.com/babys-first-year-blog/2012/06/19/our-diy-fathers-day-gift/ ) By contrast, I do not know any dads either (a) using Pinterest at all (even among my male Pinterest pals, none are dads), or (b) doing crafty DIY mom’s day gifts.

I think your point here is a good contrast to Elana’s point about aspiration vs. advice/choice-making. Gah! This deserves its own post!

By: Sarah Jedd

Sarah Jedd — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:39:48 +0000

I love this post, Erin! In my world– the world of the white, middle class mom of young children– Pinterest is a staple, a common conversational shorthand, and a map for performing suburban motherhood correctly. At the pool yesterday, I talked to no fewer than 5 friends who are using the Dr. Seuss book The Places You Will Go to have heir children’s elementary school teachers write messages for their children to read long after they’re out of school. The question “what’s for dinner?” is commonly answered with “A casserole from Pinterest– check my fall food board.” My Facebook feed is full of back-to-school pictures of kids holding old-fashioned slates, the most common Pinterest- inspired photo-op of the season.

As a working mom in a neighborhood of SAHMS, Pinterest is my ticket into the club. We all showed up to school on Dr. Seuss’ birthday with elaborate treats (mine were pretzel, almond bark and M&M green egg and ham candy), and we all slavishly follow each other’s kiddo-inspired mini-Boden back-to-school boards. Pinterest in used without irony in my world, without reflection, as a tool to make our special snowflakes’ bento-boxed lunch food that much prettier.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:38:06 +0000

Thanks for this piece. I’d be very interested in your thoughts on Pinterest as an expression of the relationship between third wave or postmodern feminism and consumerism.