Anne-Marcelle Ngabirano

USA TODAY

In a series of advertisements, Secret, the antiperspirant, highlights women working up the courage to deliver a business pitch, request a raise, ask for a man's hand in marriage and, in the case of a transgender woman, walk out of a bathroom stall and interact with the cisgender women in the ladies room.

Secret, owned by consumer products powerhouse Procter & Gamble, uses the campaign called #StressTest to take a closer look at situations that lead women to sweat. The ads are part of a growing trend of companies embracing feminist ideals and female empowerment to sell their products.

Open a magazine, scroll through your favorite social media site or turn on the television, and you'll see the convergence of the two "isms" — feminism and capitalism. Brands such as Always feminine hygiene products (also owned by P&G) and Dove, Unilever's brand of moisturizers, shampoos, conditioners, body washes and soaps, sell confidence and strength to women. In a nod to Women's History Month this March, pulp and paper producer Georgia-Pacific replaced its plaid-shirted man with a similarly clad woman on Brawny paper towels.

While some companies are engaged in efforts to aid and empower women, activists fear the commercialization of feminism could water down their efforts. Brands, they argue, use feminism in hopes that consumers will associate it with them and consumers will think well of their products.

The marketing around women's empowerment has reached a fever pitch in recent months. Some attribute it to feminism's growing influence in pop culture and the mobilization of millions across the world for gender equality, such as in the women's marches after the inauguration of President Trump — a figure whose behavior toward, and comments about, women have drawn deep criticism.

"Right now, especially in the wake of the election, there are many more brands that are really grabbing onto feminism and being like, OK, this is a good way to sell products that have nothing to do with feminism or progress," says Andi Ziegler founder of bitchmedia, a feminist media organization. "Marketplace feminism comes to steal the show from more explicit active feminism."

Women are a big target for marketers. They drive 70% to 80% of consumer spending with their purchasing power and influence, according to Boston Consulting Group. Women influence 91% of all home purchases, and 75% identify themselves as the primary shoppers for their households, according to Bridget Brennan, founder and CEO of Female Factor, a consultancy that helps companies market to women.



This has left some women feeling used.

“Most companies tend not to invest in feminist programs, they just tend to use feminist rhetoric to try to get us to spend our money,” says Jennifer Pozner, a media literacy educator and founder ofWomen in Media and News, a media analysis, education and advocacy group.

Dior, the European luxury goods house, sold a $710 T-shirt with the slogan "We should all be feminist" emblazoned on it, referencing an essay in 2014 by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Although a portion of proceeds were given to the Clara Lionel Foundation, pop singer Rihanna's non-profit organization that benefits impoverished communities across the globe with health care and education, many were critical of the fashion house.

"Could you have given your $700 to a women’s shelter or an after-school program for girls?" Pozner says. "Companies trying to redirect that energy and action away from anything subversive and towards hyper-consumerist spending does deep damage to the public because it makes it harder for us to move forward politically."

Many women and activists aren't so quick to write off marketers and advertisers. Jess Weiner, CEO of Talk to Jess, a consulting firm, works with major brands to help them craft a more authentic connection with their audience. “You have to look at brands and say, 'What else are they doing besides advertising to me? Where is their money going? Are they being part of the problem or the solution?' Many brands are not really walking their talk outside of their marketing circle," Weiner says.

One of Weiner's first corporate clients, Dove, launched its "Real Beauty" campaign in 2004. The campaign aimed to shatter beauty standards, but the company received angry backlash partly because the campaign was launched with an advertisement of a cellulite cream, and the company retouched the ads. Critics of the Dove campaign found the message of self-acceptance hypocritical when paired with a pitch for a product convincing consumers that they should fit into a traditional standard of beauty. The brand says it's dedicated to making women feel good about themselves.

“Dove is a brand that is committed to creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety,” says Nick Soukas, vice president of marketing at Dove.

Weiner offers a view that suggests the brand learned from the ire it faced. Since then, Dove has added ethnically diverse women of varying age groups to the campaign. Weiner worked with Dove on the campaign, helping curate and create lesson plans and launch educational workshops on media literacy and female empowerment.

"Dove has been the leader of this conversation for over a decade. There are bound to be moments that don’t always resound with consumers. Sometimes you’re progressive, sometimes you miss the mark," Weiner says.

When companies with a bottom line become part of the mix, even the ones that seem to embody the most feminist values may have issues that fly in the face of the movement's ideals.

Thinx, a brand of underwear that can be worn as a supplement or substitute for tampons and pads, has been lauded as feminist and progressive for speaking frankly about menstrual cycles, which some see as taboo. But co-founder Miki Agrawal recently came under fire after she stepped down from her position as CEO to chief visionary officer, according to a story published this month by Racked, a subsidiary of Vox Media. Racked's account described a volatile work environment and alleged that health care plans were “prohibitively expensive,” including just two weeks of paid maternity leave and one week at a half-pay rate for a parent who has given birth.



Tyler Ford, the first transgender contestant on The Glee Project, a television singing competition on Oxygen and writer and advocate for transgender folks, posted a series of tweets calling an experience working with the company humiliating, uncomfortable and a marketing opportunity.

Agrawal, who commented for this story before the publication of Racked's article, declined to comment to USA TODAY about the allegations in the story or about Ford's tweets. In an email response to Jezebel, a subsidary of Gizmodo Media Group, she said, "Like every other startup, there’s turnover in the first few years. THINX is no different, we have growing pains, too, but now we are on the right track."



People who want to make socially conscious buying decisions need to become more aware of what companies they support are doing, feminism advocates say. Empowering rhetoric might not always come from a place of genuine progress to gender equality.

"It’s very difficult to make perfect decisions as a consumer. Are you supporting a company with family leave policies? Do they use sweatshop labor, exploiting workers overseas?" Pozner says. "If it’s a company using feminist rhetoric to sell their product, are they doing anything that’s feminist?"