Third Wave Feminism? Or Post-Feminist gender fluid philosophy?

[MysticSang'ha]

One of the criticisms surrounding Third Wave Feminism is that it does not have a cogent binding goal. First Wave had the vote. Second Wave had equality in the workforce. But Third Wave began in the late '80s and early '90s with small grassroots movements (like Riot Grrrl groups) and specifically became named after Rebecca Walker stated in Ms. magazine in 1991, "I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave."

What I have found to be fair critiques of Third Wave construct is that some of the issues surrounding current feminist literature seem to be extensions of Second Wave. SlutWalks stem from the sexual revolution. Closing the wage gap is a featured element of Second Wave. Reproductive choice is, again, a featured element of Second Wave. My mothers generation called to light the reality of domestic violence and marital rape, and began advocating for battered women shelters as a result.....and Third Wave embracing the fight against domestic violence for all genders is yet seemingly another extension of Second Wave.

Personally, I think these are fair points. My inclination is to address why I still acknowledge another wave has been occurring in the Feminist Wave construct. I'll list them one by one:

1) Feminism does not evolve in a vacuum. It weaves and dances with culture and politics and the state of education and economy as much as other philosophies and movements. As a culture evolves in technological capability, or in re-districting, or in family demographics....so does feminism.

2) Women in the military and in higher offices is a major step forward in introducing newer developments that are not extensions of Second Wave. When "The Year of the Woman" occured back in the 1990s, we were just beginning to acknowledge women in combat roles, as fighter pilots, and offered the possibility of women in special forces (thank you G.I. Jane). With greater involvement in the military and having a generation of experience, feminism is now able to not only theoretically confront gender stereotypes in battle theatres, but with numbers and statistical analysis.

3) The recognition of gender fluidity in the argument for a Post-Feminist construct offers Third Wave a unique and far-reaching opportunity to show how feminism is not merely a "woman-only" movement. By recognizing that feminine qualities are present in people of different orientations and gender identities, the binary construct becomes irrelevant and archaic.

4) Globalization....hate NAFTA for it's impact on the exploitation of Third World slave wage earners, but love globalization for broadening feminism far beyond the problems of the white middle class female. We now are concerned with women and girls who suffer from FGM, having acid thrown in their faces, or are shot in the head for trying to get an education.

Given these four points as a starter, do you have anything to add to or edit from this list if you recognize feminism as having a Third Wave? Or do you see all this as a post-wave construct list compilation?

 

[Sunstone]

I think one of the strongest arguments for the notion there is indeed a distinct Third Wave is what you have called "globalization". But hasn't this broadening of the movement taken place not just through globalization but through such things as the inclusion of women of color, and perhaps other groups, who criticized Second Wave feminism for not including them?

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I think one of the strongest arguments for the notion there is indeed a distinct Third Wave is what you have called "globalization". But hasn't this broadening of the movement taken place not just through globalization but through such things as the inclusion of women of color, and perhaps other groups, who criticized Second Wave feminism for not including them?

I think it did begin with the inclusion of women of color, yes. But I'm skeptical of that specifically opening the door to globalization. Second Wave, from my understanding, had little to no desire to combat human trafficking at the level Third Wave does, where globalization broadens feminist concern beyond American borders and includes other whites from around the world. I think the inclusion of women of color and the queer community was an overlap with the market globalization and the awareness of sweat shops and the military involvement in Iraq (and having their culture televised for the last umpteen years).

You raise a good point, though. I might think on this a bit more.

 

[crossfire]

Just as there can be the notion of feminists being misandrists with their emphasis on women, there can also be the notion of 3rd wavers being racist/classist with their emphasis on race/class. **sigh** I think that the closer examination of the elements of racism/classism demonstrates the need for changing hearts and minds of individuals, a bottom up approach, rather than a top-down, governmental driven coercion effort. Individual enlightenment is better than blanketing dogma, imo. Focusing of the global manifestations of misogyny, such as trafficking, is a good way to unify feminism, but the major work is still in the enlightening of individuals, imo.

 

[dust1n]

If I'm not mistaken, the male/female dichotomy wasn't really dismantled to post-structuralist feminism, which is ultimately Third Wave in nature. I've actually kind just viewed Third Wave feminism as feminism informed by post-modern epistemology.

 

[Penumbra]

I think one of the strongest arguments for the notion there is indeed a distinct Third Wave is what you have called "globalization". But hasn't this broadening of the movement taken place not just through globalization but through such things as the inclusion of women of color, and perhaps other groups, who criticized Second Wave feminism for not including them?

That is mostly how I view it.

On a localized level, even without globalization, people sought to make feminism more inclusive or conscious of women of color, LGBT issues, etc. I think there's also just a generation issue involved; the waves are each a generation or two of new ideas and perspectives. A new generation wants a movement of it's own. People tend to spend more time with people in their own age range.

But globalization expanded everything. With internet and social media, everything is everywhere. I find myself more or less keeping up on Egyptian politics, for example. And when Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban for trying to attend school in Pakistan, it became a world news item immediately and then for the long term as she recovered.

So, if in North America and Europe, first wave feminism was mostly about equal political rights (step 1), and second wave feminism was about economic rights and sexual independence (step 2), then in part, third wave feminism is the recognition that different parts of the world are all on different steps. If in some countries, women still don't have the right to vote, they're still on step 1. If in other countries the gender economic divide is still enormous but they do have voting rights and some other things, they're still on step 2. If little girls get shot in the head for going to school, or women are not allowed to drive cars or show any part of their bodies in public, many would say they're on step 0. It's necessarily diverse due to the fact that now, all steps are happening simultaneously, at least when the whole world is considered.

In places that already reached step 2, then I suppose step 3 is intersecting with LGBT rights to combat notions of rigid gender roles and expectations of certain sexual orientations, furthering racial equality and especially for female racial minorities, reducing subtle sexism in how society perceives boys and girls and men and women, determining new ways to reconcile equal gender rights with ideas of spirituality and religion, to close the gap in high-level corporate and government positions, and recognizing the unique issues that men face due to the same problems of rigid gender roles, gender expectations, etc.