Draped in a crimson, skin-flashing gown, actress Megan Fox speaks to us from the red carpet at the New York Met Gala Ball.
“I’m not afraid to be sexy,” Fox, star of such Arthouse classics as Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, says breathlessly.
“A woman, who is intelligent, and knows how to weaponise her beauty, there is nothing more powerful.
“I feel like all women should embrace the fact that as the divine feminine we have a lot of power and that, instead of rejecting it, I am happy to embrace it and go for the sexy.”
The divine what?
It was not the first time the phrase “divine feminine” has been uttered in a clip, but it was the first time I’d heard it. Now, two years on, it’s everywhere.
On TikTok there are 189.5 million videos that pertain to the divine feminine. These videos have been viewed collectively around 2 billion times. On Instagram the hashtag ‘divine feminine’ has been used over 4.2 million times. Social media platforms are inundated with reels demanding that women embrace their “divine feminine energy.”
The spiritual concept of the divine feminine has a storied history that predates social media; in fact, it precedes BC. The divine feminine has functioned as a female equivalent of the worship of masculine gods that underpin many organised religions.
This worship of female gods or goddesses was common practice in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Mesopotamia, the land of Canaan, Pre-Islamic Arabia, and Ancient Egypt. Goddesses continue today in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Paganism. Now it dominates the red carpet and Tik Tok. Who knew?
Gaia the Goddess of earth is a Greek mythological figure who embodies the historical comprehension of the divine feminine. Known as the great mother, she is associated with the creation of nature and life. Her defining qualities include, nourishing dreams, protecting young children, caring for plants, and her cosmological powers.
Did Fox know all this when she was on that most holy of Hollywood sanctuaries, the Red Carpet?
The “divine feminine” she described – and which thousands of social media reels now celebrate – is, not surprisingly, light years removed from its historical understanding through goddesses like Gaia. Social media strips the concept of its universal spirituality, and instead makes it about individual gain. Of course, it does.
The distorting lens of the male eye
The reels typically involve women sharing a list of practices equated with the “new wave” of feminine energy. These include performing affirmations, adopting a feminine style, not wearing a bra, using sensual touch, daily exercise, dream journaling etc. All are prescribed to reach the optimal state of divine feminine.
Megan Fox’s comments on the divine feminine and weaponizing beauty are similarly misguided. They fuel female self-perception through the male gaze. Fox links female beauty with power. This is a patriarchal trope which has been undermining women throughout history.
“It’s interesting that we’ve seen this resurgence at a time of arguably unprecedented challenge to normative gender roles and identities,” says Dr Zora Simic, a gender studies historian at the University of NSW, adding: “Sometimes these connections become more obvious with the passing of time.”
While there is nothing sexist about embracing feminine energies (past or present), too many social media reels conflate power with a stereotyped version of femininity.
Generation Z has been brought up on social media. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram no longer only function as a communication tools, but as an information galaxy filled with unchecked messages to be absorbed.
With endless reels advertising a sexist notion of femininity, feminism itself may be taking a few unholy steps backwards.
