This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Feminist theology© 2012. The definitive version is available at http://fth.sagepub.com/This article discusses the US TV series Mad Men, which is set in an advertising agency in 1960s New York, in relation to two key elements which seem significant for a consideration of the current state of feminism in church and academy, both of which centre around what it means to remember or (not) to forget

de Beauvoir S

Faludi S

Gamble S

Graham EL

Greif M

Jantzen GM

Kwok Pui-Lan

Levitas R

Morton N

Paglia C

Rahner K

Ruether RR

Schüssler Fiorenza E

Segal L

Siegel DL

Spufford F

Veldhuis R

Volf M

Walker A

English

 The US TV series Mad Men, set in an advertising agency in 1960s New York, offers a vivid portrayal of corporate sexism in pre-feminist America, and yet its creators defend it as a ‘feminist’ show. Reflecting on the series, I will draw out two key elements which seem significant for a consideration of the current state of feminism in church and academy, both of which centre around what it means to remember or (not) to forget. First, there is the power of what might be called ‘the allegorical past’ in helping to shape the sensibilities of both feminist theory and feminist theology: reimagining the past in order to destabilize the present and to re-envision the future. But second there is the question of whether we have become too complacent – and forgetful about the sexual revolution of the past 50 years, and whether a new wave of ‘re-membering’ our feminist heritage is required, in order to rejuvenate progressive visions of critique and transformation. </jats:p

Elaine Graham

Crossref

Feminist Theology

A Remembrance of Things (Best) Forgotten: the ‘allegorical past’ and the Feminist Imagination

Graham, Elaine

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A remembrance of things (best) forgotten: The 'allegorical past' and the feminist imagination

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A remembrance of things (best) forgotten: The 'allegorical past' and the feminist imagination

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