From “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to Britney Spears, the phenomenon of “girl power” has generated millions of dollars in entertainment revenues. But men continue to be on the receiving end of this multimillion-dollar money-maker that has been driven by women.
The Women’s Center will address these and other issues about feminism in the media through its sixth annual “Women’s Film Festival 2002,” running at 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday in 207 Chapman Hall.
“Men making money off of feminism is problematic,” said Heather Mitchell, events coordinator at the Women’s Center.
She said the film festival will address issues such as “what it is to be sexy,” and will include a variety of feminist theories from around the world.
“The films all challenge the higher structure of patriarchy,” Mitchell said, and they will “focus on personal and political experiences of women in U.S. and abroad.”

Lidia Karmadjieva, editor-in-chief of the Siren, the Women’s Center newsletter, said feminism manifests itself in a variety of ways in many countries. During communist control in her native country of Bulgaria, feminists tried to make women like men, she said.
“We thought we had equal opportunities,” she said, but after the fall of communism, she realized that she had simply “been sold” on one version of feminism.
“It’s necessary for people to be aware of other versions of feminism,” she said.
She said there are many different kinds of feminism and as many different groups that are each fighting for different forms of feminism.
Many people try to put women in certain categories, Karmadjieva said, because it is much easier for researchers to “conceptualize people and put them into boxes.”
But women don’t fit conveniently into a categorical box, she said.
“This year (the Women’s Center) has a really good balance of ideas,” she said, and they are “bringing in people from different venues of life” for the film festival.
Kathleen Karlyn said much of the debate on “girl power” in entertainment stems from the idea that nothing in the mainstream can do anything positive for feminism. The more radical messages will always be on the fringes, she said.
“Any artist that is working in the mainstream is going to compromise her principles,” said Karlyn, associate professor in the English department. And perhaps this could be judged as “selling-out.”
But she said as long as men control the media, they will make money from the women that are portrayed. Men make money from producing films with “girl power,” but just because men are making money from these films doesn’t mean the films are anti-feminist, she said.
“The wider the audience, the more diluted the message will be,” she said.
Karlyn said that she often uses the film “Scream” as an example to show how feminism can be found in many places. She said the female characters in this movie could be viewed as empowered women.
“We need to find (feminist) messages wherever they occur,” Karlyn said.