Defining The Third Wave

Published October 04, 2008 @ 04:19PM PT

The F word. Feminism. It's about the human right to be a woman. A woman seeking equality and liberation in a society which often refuses to recognize the female species as worthy of the same treatment and expectations as men.

The F irst Wave was essential: get the vote. The S econd Wave was instrumental: get the choice. The Third Wave starts with a question: is feminism dead?

No. Feminism is not dead. As long as there are women who face misogynistic attacks from the media; who face rape but the rapists don't face trial; who are told they are not beautiful unless they are thin; who are paid less than their male counterparts; who are seen as less instead of as more; who are beaten by husbands, boyfriends and fathers; who are unable to receive health care; who cannot escape the confirms of heteronormativity; who are educated to be nurses instead of doctors, teachers instead of engineers, secretaries instead of elected officials; until these and more realities facing women around the world disappear, feminism will remain.

Feminism is not dead. But where it is going is hard to define.

The Third Wave is innately ambiguous due to the fact that there has yet to be a legal achievement or formalized goal associated with it, like voting rights with the First Wave and Roe vs. Wade with the Second Wave. Many of the outstanding goals seem to be relics of the Second Wave movement, such as striving to elect the first female president in the United States. The stigmatization of the feminist movement by the New Right during the 1980s damaged the pillars of the women's movement and allowed for many women to fall away from the feminist movement and claim to be part of a post-feminist era.

One moment that catalyzed the Third Wave was the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991, when the Senate Judiciary Commission suppressed information about Thomas' alleged sexual harassment of Anita Hill. The hearings brought into focus the intersection between race and gender, and this widely-viewed public controversy created an renewed awareness of the feminist movement, and that it had not yet ended and, in fact, a new generation of activists were just getting started.

Women such as Rebecca Walker, who founded the Third WaveFoundation, have helped to formulate the Third Wave movement. Additionally, Third Wave-focused organizations like National Organization for Women, Women's Action Alliance, Voters for Choice, Students Organizing Students, Take Back the Night, Code Pink, Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance also add to the movement. Third Wave feminists, however, also make it clear that making change in your community - and defining yourself as a feminist - doesn't have to mean joining a preexisting organization. Instead, Third Wavers offer a laundry list of more individualistic titles to define contemporary feminism: power, postmodern, girlie, pro-sex, global, punk, eco, queer, womanism, Latina, and cultural feminism. Plus, many Third Wavers champion issues that are not defined by gender, but instead focus on inequalities of all kinds.

With such a broad set of issues and identities at hand, and the fact that many modern women do not self-identify as feminists, it has been difficult for women's organizations and feminists to call upon a collective action agenda for the women's rights movement.

In order to understand the Third Wave of feminism, you have to be able to see in both forwards and backward time. You have to realize that there is precedent within the feminist movement: the 19^th Amendment, Roe v. Wade, financial liberation, Title IX, and many other action items that were achieved in the name of women's rights. The Third Wave, however, seeks to not only maintain those rights but break through even deeper societal norms. The Third Wave can serve as a movement of equality for women, gay rights, immigrants, transgenders, the disenfranchised, and any underrepresented individual.

Still with a diverse group of interests, we know that feminism does exist, but it's hard to answer the question: what IS feminism today? Is it a catch-all term or does it have a specific purpose and place? Without the lens of history in front of us - showing us the connection between the victories of yesteryear and today's struggles - it is still difficult to truly define what the Third Wave is and what it means to women. But one purpose of the Third Wave has been made abundantly clear: to raise awareness of what discrimination still exists and who is out there, ready to face it.

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"But one purpose of the Third Wave has been made abundantly clear: to
raise awareness of what discrimination still exists and who is out
there, ready to face it."

It wasn't until I realized this (largely due to my involvement with my university's Women's Initiative) that I became comfortable with thinking of myself as a feminist.

Thanks for the good post!

Posted by A H on 10/24/2008 @ 11:13AM PT
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I Love It! No, feminism is not dead and not on its way to becoming a phenomenon of the past. Even when the ideals of feminism first came about it was not easy to define because there were so many issues that women fought for, but franchisement was the bigger issue or the issue that appealed to women who had the power to speak out (middle-class european women). Today, feminism oozes through the cracks of women and men from all walks of life. It is cross-cultural/cross-class/cross-gender and multifaceted. The problem is it does not fit simply in a box. It is not easily defined by one major issue. Unfortunately, so many people feel safe when they can define or label things specifically, and if they can not then they simply write it off as null and void.

As long as gender oppression exists any way, shape or form, then feminism will continue to exist.

Posted by Nicole Carter on 11/13/2008 @ 08:17AM PT
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no, feminism is not dead. i think equal rights and gender equality were marginalized in the face of neoliberalism.

Posted by Sybil Amber on 01/11/2009 @ 07:53AM PT
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It's important to understand that the contemporary aversion to the word "Feminism" did not arise authentically from social progress or cultural evolution. The right-wing, the Christian evangelical conservatives, and their talk-radio mouthpieces have been engaged in a focused, sustained war on feminism (and on women) for over 20 years. Not a day goes by on talk-radio that the "F" word is not used dozens of times, always in a violently hateful and perjorative manner.

It was a concerted effort to silence women from speaking out, and to a large extent, it worked. One of the biggest misconceptions about the women's movement or Feminism, is the belief that "women should be more like men." Sexual promiscuity, in and of itself, is not proof that women are "free." I love the fact that young feminists today feel free to define themselves without having to adopt labels or lifestyles that may not fit them.

Think for yourself! It's the greatest vindication of Feminism!

Posted by Arcadia B on 01/17/2009 @ 12:33PM PT
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Indeed...Well said.

Whether a woman chooses to be a stay at home mother/house wife or she chooses to make a run for president...All women should be honored both individually and collectively as women and not carbon copies of men with boobs and a vagina.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/04/2009 @ 07:16PM PT
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O.k., this feels a bit 'ironic', but here goes. I'm a Dutch (male) nursing student and I'm trying to prepare a groupassignment which I (and my fellow (female) classmates) thought would be nice about the role of feminism on nursing and vice versa.

Can you people give me some nice starters/tips/books/etc?

I cannot help but to be a bit annoyed (for lack of a better word, excuse my vocabulary) about your remark suggesting this hierarchy between nurses and doctors. But, by stating this feminism induced difference of 'importance' or, if you will, 'admiration', aren't you just fueling this misconception? I even can see how this might influence for instance a male perspective on nursing as a 'mothering' task, thus being less suited for a man. (and then ofcourse, they will become doctors, who belittle nurses...) It also sets back the nursing profession to the status of being (just?) a female profession, which I can tell you, it is not.

Posted by Bram Hengeveld on 02/08/2009 @ 04:50AM PT
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Bram - the nurses vs. doctors comparison is not meant to indicate that one is better than the other, but mostly to serve as an example of a professional field lacking women. When there are fewer females in one profession it can often be correlated with either a work environment that is not female or family friendly in addition to precondition of women to take on certain professions instead of others. While women are now making up over 40% of those enrolled in medical school there is a noticeable drop off afterwards, with about 24% acting as working physicians. I'm just asking those - male or female - how to balance out the professional world on either side, such as more male nurses and more female doctors.

Posted by Jen Nedeau on 02/08/2009 @ 10:19AM PT
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"While women are now making up over 40% of those enrolled in medical school there is a noticeable drop off afterwards, with about 24% acting as working physicians."
This is exactly the same problem we have in the digital/new media industry. Women disappear from the work force as their careers progress, and there are not many in senior management. I think this is an important problem to address - why are they leaving? Are they not being given opportunities? Is the workplace an undesirable environment? Are their male partners not taking equal responsibility for housework and children, so they feel they must leave work in order to have work/life balance? I think we won't achieve a proper gender balance in professional life until these issues are identified and solved.

Posted by Nit Noi on 03/03/2009 @ 02:50PM PT
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I spent half a semester trying to understand the theory of feminism and the divisions of its waves in a WNS class. I came away from that feeling that the discussion surrounding the "Third wave" is rather silly. I believe that the wave metaphor has run its course and should be taken out of the women's movement - for a number of reasons.

It seems that the Third wave initially started when the Second Wave's daughters felt the need to break away from their feminist "mothers" and create their own identity - this break appeared most clearly concerning the lack of diversity in the Second Wave. However, I really do not believe that the changing face of feminism should create divisions or barriers between those in the struggle for equality.

Feminism has changed. And rightly so. We should constantly be reevaluating our own practices to be sure that they are in line with our principles. But Second and Third wavers can do that together. There is no need for Third Wavers to "break free of their mothers" as the Second Wavers had to do. Modern day feminists have a foundation to work with. Rather than trying to create distinctions between generations of feminists - wouldn't feminism be better served through the unity of those involved in the struggle? That would look a whole lot like the First Wave - 2 to 3 generations of women working together for the same purpose.

Another thing that we should consider, as diverse equality-for-all "Third Wavers", is the fact that a long-winded continuing discussion of Feminism's Waves is a discussion that is reserved to the educationally priveleged. bel hooks wrote, and I completely agree, that Modern feminists must bring common feminist language back to every street and home. She claims that the Second Wave really started through consciousness raising groups that were comprised of women from all socio-economic classes and races. As Feminism became more academic (being recognized on University campuses as something worthy of study), these groups faded out and Feminism was lost in academia.

If the "Third Wave" is truly concerned with becoming diverse - we should stop trying to figure out what wave we identify with/what identifies our wave and start figuring out a platform where all men and women feel comfortable entering into the conversation.

Cheers bel hooks! And cheers Feminism is for Everybody!

Posted by Jesse Demonbreun on 06/26/2009 @ 11:58AM PT
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3rd para. last sentance - I'm proud to be a man in that struggle now!

Posted by Jesse Demonbreun on 06/26/2009 @ 12:01PM PT
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You ask what the third wave should be about.

In my opinion...The battle cry of the third wave should be "EQUALITY".

Simply because when its all boiled down to its essentials...Thats what its all about...Women being equal with men and vice versa.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 07/04/2009 @ 07:12PM PT
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Author

Jen Nedeau is a social media consultant, progressive activist, feminist speaker and writer. She currently lives in New York City, where she works full-time as the Director of Digital Strategy at Air America Media. In August 2008, Nedeau was selected to be the Editor of the WomensRights.Change.Org where she facilitates daily discussion about the feminist movement. Additionally, Nedeau volunteers as the Chief Technology Officer for New Leaders Council, a non-profit that offers exclusive training for young leaders. You can follow her on Twitter @HumanFolly or learn more here: www.jennedeau.com.