Patricia Bradley's new book, Mass Media and the Shaping of American Feminism, 1963-1975, is not flying off the shelves, nor are journalists banging down her door for an interview.
But these circumstances are only a small manifestation of the larger problem addressed by a panel yesterday at the Philadelphia Bar Association.
The discussion, entitled "Un-Reliable Sources? Gender Journalism -- From Betty Friedan to Martha Stewart," focused on whether the media have skewed the message of the women's movement, thereby undermining its agenda.
The lack of attention that Bradley's book has received seemed to prove disturbing to many members of the panel -- which included local journalists and Bradley herself -- as well as to the audience, comprised primarily of attorneys.
Arline Jolles Lotman, chairwoman of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Bar-News Media Committee -- the organization that sponsored the event -- provided a brief introduction to the issues at hand.
"Unfortunately, the media has never viewed gender discrimination as an issue of civil rights," she said.
One of Bradley's primary arguments is that women today feel uncomfortable defining themselves as feminists because of the negative connotation carried by the term "feminism."
Bradley said she believes this to be a direct result of media coverage of the women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s, when the term "feminist" was at times equated with "man-hater."
Moderator and local television personality Wally Kennedy proposed the possibility that feminism is no longer part of the national dialogue because its major aims have now been achieved.
Panelist Jill Porter, the first female columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, disagreed, saying, "The battle goes on."
Emilie Lounsberry, panelist and staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, said that as more women enter the field of journalism, greater strides are being made.
Highlighted during the discussion were recent examples of the media's portrayal of famous women who have experienced legal trouble, such as Janet Jackson and Martha Stewart.
Jackson was reprimanded by the Federal Communications Commission for her Super Bowl halftime show, in which one of her breasts was exposed. Panelist and lifestyle reporter for The Philadelphia Tribune Bobbi Booker suggested that the media had unfairly focused a great deal criticism on Jackson.
Booker said that while Jackson was attacked by the media in the days and weeks following the Super Bowl, Justin Timberlake --who was also involved in the incident -- received only a slight admonishment.
Before opening the floor to questions and comments from the audience, Porter spoke about the current state of feminism and its place in the future.
"A lot of this post-feminism is about complacency," she said. "Women who take what has gone before for granted will be motivated to get involved."
Lotman said she was generally pleased with the discussion.
"It went wonderfully ... I liked the candidness and the strength of the questions and the panel," she said.
Attorney Deirdre Downs also spoke highly of the discussion.
"I thought it was interesting and provided a lot of different perspectives on feminism and what that means today as opposed to what it meant 40 years ago."
Still, attorney Cindy Rosenthal said she feels that the battle for gender equality that Porter spoke of remains unresolved.
"I find it amazing that people could consider that there might be equality of the sexes in our country today," Rosenthal said.
"I think sexism is still extremely prevalent in many aspects of our society and I think people need to consciously work to eliminate it," she added.
