Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the recent all-female spaceflight on April 14, 2025. Why yes, this is an amazing scientific accomplishment, the messaging around Jeff Bezos' monumental Blue Origin flight has been incredibly tone-deaf. While I am sure it was an amazing experience for all the women on board, the constant media coverage and photo shoots/” candid” moments after the NS-31 flight crew returned to earth have left a poor taste in my mouth. Yet shouldn’t we be happy? An all-female crew finally went into space (well, the edge of it). Is that a huge step forward? No, not really, not all it. In fact, it screams Performative Feminism.
Image taken from Blue Origin Flight on 4.15.25 picturing Katy Perry holding a flower in space.
What is Performative Feminism?
Much like performative femininity, which I talked about in a previous episode, performative feminism is just as harmful to women. Yet in some ways, more so because instead of men and the patriarchy forcing women to abide by strict gender roles, women are the ones reinforcing the rhetoric.
Let me explain.
Performative feminism is typically the first step in an individual’s feminist awakening process. (I say individual, because yes, men, women, or anyone, regardless of gender expression, can be a feminist.) Quite literally being a feminist means that you believe in the equality of the sexes. That’s it. There is secret trick or extra steps. It’s just believing that individuals who are biologically defined as men and women at birth are inherently equal.
But why do they have to call themselves “feminists”? Well, if you listen to my podcast, I break down why the word feminist, with its origins in the word “feminine,” is so important. Because to truly be a supporter of equal rights, you have to be ok with others (namely other men perceiving you as feminine. This is true for BOTH men and women.
We all have internalized misogyny, which causes us to reject our feminine aspects within us…it’s what Freud called the Id and Jung called the shadow. If we only accept the light aspects of ourselves (even if those are classically defined as “feminine” qualities in the eyes of patriarchal society), well then, we are only half living. We are only half of ourselves, and we are still performing for the male gaze…
Thus, we end up stuck at either end of the Goddess-Witch Spectrum™.
What is real girl power?
So, how do we get out of the cycle? The answer we learn not to be likable. We learn to embrace our witchy side (for real!).
Because being a feminist is more than girl power anthems and flying into space. It’s advocating for the hundreds of women across the world and the United States who are fearful, no, terrified, for their lives. Whose rights have been stripped away. The women who don’t have the luxury of turning a blind eye to the ugliness of society when you aren’t rich, White, or friends with billionaires who can send you into space.
And that is real feminism, that’s when we’re really embracing our feminine power, which is always hidden in the dark.
OX,
Your Dark Fairy Godmother
Want to break out of the trap of performative feminism and femininity? Consider joining my LIVE virtual course coming this fall on The Goddess-Witch Spectrum™. Click the link below to sign up!
Share this post