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Third wave feminism essay
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As Third Wave feminism is currently unfolding before us, and its aims encompass a wide array of complex issues, it is often hard to describe what Third Wave feminism is. The feminist theories, mainly associated with First and Second Wave feminism attempt to describe the power imbalances that are found in society, and while doing so expose other oppressions, such as discrimination based on race or sexual orientation. As this essay attempts to place a clear definition to Third Wave feminism, feminists are concurrently trying to deconstruct old definitions and open it up for women to determine what feminism means to them. In other words, no clear definition on what is meant to be a feminist is sufficient, as the Third Wave is about equality and freedom for all citizens, regardless of sex, class, race or sexual orientation.
Origins
The origins of Third Wave feminism are highly debated, as there is no clear commonality that this wave uses to differentiate between the First and Second waves that occurred prior. Emerging during the 1990’s, Third Wave feminism sought to build upon the achievements and ideas that were accomplished during First and Second wave’s, by increasing the significance and accessibility of its ideas to a greater spectrum of people.
The Third Wave may have occurred as a result of Black women’s criticisms of the Second Wave as a strictly white, middle class women’s movement.(Page 64) Canada supports the idea of meritocracy, where everyone has an equal chance of success. This belief undermines the fact that racism was still very evident in the women’s movements. Also an issue that arose from the Second Wave, was the exclusion of transgendered people from the movement.
Still others believe that the Thir...
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...ithout discrimination. Often using the media as a way to quickly generate and spread new theories and ideas, Third Wave feminism is morphing into what is known as ‘Pop feminism.’(Page 82) Increasingly more people are getting involved with the feminist movement, and realizing that people of all ethnicities, social backgrounds, and sexualities should be treated with respect.
Women’s Studies in the Classroom
Women’s Studies classes must be open for considerable discussion and debate regarding the Third Wave agenda, as this new movement can draw on anything from previous waves, as well as anything else feminists feel is important enough to discuss. As several of the issues of Third Wave are touchy subjects, such as transexuality, pornography, and women’s feelings towards their bodies, the class must be open for the consideration of others opposing points of view.
In “Building the Third Wave” Laurie Ouellette addresses her stance on feminism by passing the audience a question as to “why so many young women have shunned feminism”. Ouellette states her response of feminism by giving reasons as to why young women are not supporting feminism. Ouellette states that one reason is because they do not have role models to reach out to young people. Another aspect of the feminism movement that struggled involved a lack of support from the economically disadvantaged and women of color due to the silence of the upper middle class white females. Also, Ouellette mentions that women do not like hearing about the past because they feel as if have been lied to in regards to feminism. Ouellette concludes the article by explaining that it is responsibility of generations past to fight to get more young women into the feminism movement.
... “traditional woman’s role” cannot possibly be empowered. And perhaps most importantly, the third wave feminist movement works in solidarity with other social movements taking place currently, such as GLBTQ rights, immigrant rights, and many others. (Turner, 25-33.)
With the Riot Grrrl movement of the early 90’s providing my case study’s analytical time frame I will be able to amass a detailed collection of contextual analysis on some of the formal, behavioural, sociological and ideological factors that paved the way for third wave feminism. However I must stress that my main purpose is not to define Riot Grrrl (a task that is almost as futile as trying to generalise the Third-W...
Since the late 19th century, the feminist movements have taken great strides towards gender equality. The struggles of first and second wave feminism have provided Western white women with the ability to vote, as well as the ability to venture outside the private realm into culture, politics and the workforce. These freedoms gained by these movements have reached a point where many young women today believe that equality has been achieved and feminism is no longer needed. This essay will discuss how third wave feminists are believed to be undoing the efforts of the mothers of feminism and how, although freer than women of the past, the extensive freedoms afforded to women today does not equal gender equality, as they are still limited and exclusionary.
In the 1960s’, as second-wave feminism developed, two separate branches emerged. The first branch, sometimes referred to as having an “equal rights tendency” was made
This has effectively lead to the common understanding of ‘waves of feminism’. Although Finn Mackay would argue that like waves these classifications of feminism only represent “peaks in the Feminist movement”. The first wave of feminism is naturally the earliest we associate this time of feminism with the suffragette movement, and their eventual success in achieving the vote for women which they achieved to some extent with Representation of the People Act 1918 but later fully achieved in the Equal Franchise Act 1928. When women finally achieved the same voting rights as men a hugely important step towards equality. Women now had more say in their lives and could help shape the society they lived in .Second wave feminism is seen as
“A third wave of feminism is rising - and here’s why we need to surf it now.” The Conversation, 11 Nov, 2015, www.theconversation.com
As Beyoncé took the stage in 2014, performing her song Flawless, the word Feminist was emblazed in large text behind her. Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, was defined in the lyrics. This was the song that defined Beyoncé as one of the most iconic feminists of the 21st century (Seghal, 2015). This paper will be discussing feminism and the importance of feminism throughout the first, second, and third waves and also important events, accomplishments and people.
The second wave of feminism in the United States came at a time of great tumult over the rights of all people within the country. Fresh off of the return of women to the home after having experienced significant time working in the place of male soldiers, women grew increasingly restless while people of color who had fought in the war, were continuously disappointed at their treatment stateside. Oftentimes the issues of feminism are considered the issues of all women, but throughout this era it became apparent that the issues of mainstream feminism were not necessarily the issues of feminism in other ethnic and racial groups. When looking at the literature of the times, particularly articles from magazines and newspapers the aims and concerns
In 1992, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a woman’s right to have an abortion. In 1996, the Supreme court ruled that a public all-boys military school in Virginia had to admit girls to get public funding. Third wave feminism was about reproductive rights and freeing the female body.
In just a few decades The Women’s Liberation Movement has changed typical gender roles that once were never challenged or questioned. As women, those of us who identified as feminist have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at...
Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism introduces ideas by Becky Thompson that contradict the “traditional” teachings of the Second Wave of feminism. She points out that the version of Second Wave feminism that gets told centers around white, middle class, US based women and the central problem being focused on and rallied against is sexism. This history of the Second Wave does not take into consideration feminist movements happening in other countries. Nor does it take into consideration the feminist activism that women of color were behind, that centered not only on sexism, but also racism, and classism as central problems as well. This is where the rise of multiracial feminism is put to the foreground and a different perspective of the Second Wave is shown.
Among the many subjects covered in this book are the three classes of oppression: gender, race and class in addition to the ways in which they intersect. As well as the importance of the movement being all-inclusive, advocating the idea that feminism is in fact for everybody. The author also touches upon education, parenting and violence. She begins her book with her key argument, stating that feminist theory and the movement are mainly led by high class white women who disregarded the circumstances of underprivileged non-white women.
What makes 3rd wave feminism unique from the first two waves is the fact that 3rd wave feminism is not only about advancing women’s rights in society, but allowing women freedom of their own expression in all aspects of life. Pacific University justifies this, by stating that the 3rd wave
The first two waves concentrated on the equal rights of women to men in both political and social economic terms. Whereas the third wave is the rejection of normative distinctions, women define feminine beauty for themselves and not for the patriarchy. They welcome offensive lexis such as “slut” and “bitch” in order to deconstruct to destroy them as verbal weapons. Third wave feminism breaks boundaries.