Although there are certainly more powerful women in film, news, television, and music, it seems that these women are either tokens, some sort of exception, or their presence has been used as a means of criticizing feminism. Some examples include the popular Thelma and Louise and Boys On The Side. The women in these films place their relationships with women as central to their lives, and they often blatantly reject current gender expectations for women. Looks like it's tough to be a happy feminist lately. One minute you might be watching an Alanis Morrisette video where it's just a woman and her music, the next might be a Prince video with women bent over his lap getting a spanking.
Magazines are equally as contradictory.
In any large fashion magazine such as Glamour, Vogue, or Mademoiselle there are images of coy. The mass media are a powerful tool. Their influence in shaping American women's sense of ourselves and our futures is more than significant. The media's ability to convey mixed messages to women that fragment our identities makes it extremely difficult for us to become the unified selves of which Douglas writes. Where The Girls Are.