From salad bar feminism to denotative portraiture: How neoliberalism shapes feminism in AI-Generated visuals

This article investigates how three major generative AI systems—DALL·E 3, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion—visualize feminism through 2,400 images, using both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. We identify three overarching representational strategies: salad bar feminism in DALL·E 3, which combines diverse feminist icons and motifs, notably into pop-style collages; painterly touches of feminism in Midjourney, favouring aesthetic coherence and the visibilization of individuals who best fit capitalist codes of fashion and beauty; and denotative women’s portraiture in Stable Diffusion, privileging indexical-like, often individualized depictions. Across these modes, seven visual trends emerge: (1) symbolic engagement versus symbolic void, (2) celebrating feminism in pop collages, (3) commodity diversity, (4) the aestheticization of urban protest, (5) sexualization, (6) cuteness, and (7) the remixing of Rosie the Riveter and the celebration of pastness. Together, these patterns reveal the dominance of neoliberal feminism in AI imagery, where intersectional struggles are translated into glossy aesthetics that prioritize positivity. Ultimately, generative AI reproduces the neoliberal and postfeminist logics of stock photography, rebranding feminism as a visually appealing but politically sanitized commodity.