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?
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?