Lean out

Dawn Foster unpicks how the purportedly feminist message of Sheryl Sandberg's business advice book, 'Lean In', neatly exempts patriarchy, capitalism and business from any responsibility for changing the position of women in contemporary culture.

She looks at the rise of a corporate '1% feminism', and at how feminism has been defanged and depoliticised at a time when women have borne the brunt of the financial crash and the gap between rich and poor is widening faster than ever.

Surveying business, media, culture and politics, she asks whether this 'trickledown' feminism offers any material gain for women collectively, and concludes that 'leaning out' of the corporate model is a more effective way of securing change than leaning in.