Feminism Vs 3rd Wave Feminism

Second wave feminism stresses the difference of women, and challenges the centrality of masculine values – either values associated with masculinity (reason, detachment, power) or values inherently masculine (autonomy, aggression). They also stress the difference between sex and gender: sex is our biological and natural being; gender is the social and cultural interpretation of that being. Therefore there is a need to assert women's sex and challenge rigid models of gender. Whereas ‘first wave' feminism insists that sexual identity is inessential or secondary to our humanity. Feminists disagree about what sexism consists in, and what exactly ought to be done about it; they disagree about what it means to be a woman or a man and what social and political implications gender has or should have, it was obvious early on that the movement was not a unified one, with differences emerging between black feminism, lesbian feminism, liberal feminism, and social feminism. Therefore the important topics for feminist theory and politics

However, during this wave the economic independence for women was also a central concern because at this time, American women could not own property. The second wave, also known as the liberation movement, was in the late 1960s to early 1970s. This is when the term “feminist” emerged. Many achievements were made during this wave such as the Equal Pay Act, the Women’s Educational Equity Act, and Title IX. This helped gain gender equality in universal sports, and on an economic and educational standpoint. Although this was a successful time period for women, some argue that the movement did not speak for women of minorities. The third wave is generally dated from 1980 to present time. Third wave feminists continue to fight for many legal and institutional advances that second wave feminists aimed for. While second wave feminists commonly consisted of upper-class, heterosexual white women, the third wave feminists are more diverse (Healey 2003).

The third wave of feminism began sometime in the 1990s. This was when the Riot Grrrl was taking over Washington state. And a woman named Anita Hill was waging a battle against her sexual assaulter, Clarence Thomas a Supreme Court nominee, in court. The court ruled in favor of Thomas. These events worked as a catalyst for the third wave. The third wave focused on ensuring that the accomplishments made by the second wave were not taken for granted. The women involved in the third wave viewed race, transgender rights, sexual liberation, and social class as their central issues. Third-wave feminist wanted each and every woman to have a say when it came to their body. They rebelled against the attempted passage of North Dakota’s complete ban on abortion and the United States Supreme Courts efforts to uphold the partial-birth ban. The third wave was also viewed as more open. Their concentration shifted to being an activist group that was more openminded to how women could dress and act. Their view was that the more they tried to control the

In the third wave, feminists focused on challenging the second wave’s strategy. The third wave

The women’s rights movement vast and know as one of the most notable movements. Furthermore it is split into three waves to present the difference in time and show how much it has evolved. The first wave was in the mid 19th century to early 20th century. They focused on women’s suffrage, their right to work, education rights, etc. The second wave was in the 60s; this is when they addressed broader perspectives. To include birth control, abortion, rape, pornography, etc. The third wave began in the 1990s and was a response to the second wave, as they only focused on struggles that whites middle class women faced. The third wave extended it to include race, class, gender identity, ability, etc. where focus is less on the political process but rather about individual identities. Which leads to the statement I will address through the essay; Would the third wave women’s rights movement in western countries, achieve what it sets out do, namely; extended feminism to include race, sexuality, class, ability, etc. and work towards dismantling the system that oppress some and privilege others, without the participation of collective action to build stronger, more inclusive society. Furthermore, I will attempt to answer the following questions; how does the Third Wave Women’s Rights Movement differ from the first and second? Does media play a role in the success of the third wave women’s rights movement? And lastly, should we implement Feminist Theory with our

Women now were educated, voting, and even aiding their states during war times. In the U.S. many activists were fighting for similar issues addressed by the predecessors, however they were able to take things further, since there was a precedent. Instead of just gaining access to higher education, Second-Wavers were pushing for Women’s Studies classes and departments, and for prominent historical women to be included in academia. Women in the U.S. were also beginning the enduring battle of saving the environment. “Second-Wave feminists brought internal attention to the problems caused by violence against women and by poor environmental practices.”

“Today, the average full-time working woman earns just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns…in 2014, that’s an embarrassment. It is wrong” (Kessler). Nearly every American has heard this claim, or at the very least, others like it. So widespread is the sentiment, that even President Obama himself has repeated it. Many contemporaries point to the widespread availability and acceptance of facts such as these as one of the major accomplishments of modern feminism. However, within the apparent shining bastion of social justice lies a dark shadow; a truth that many would prefer go ignored. Third wave feminism, as a movement, in contrast to first and second wave feminism, is a failure because of its lack of a central, uniform, well defined platform, its inability to win popular support, and its focus on social aspects rather than legal or political ones.

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

As stated, “The third wave was made possible by the greater economic and professional power and status achieved by women of the second wave…” (Brunell & Burkett, 2016). The third wave of the women’s movement started in the 1990s and it continues until now, the present, it all began with a mixture of already feminist and feminist being born. As read, “Proponents of third-wave feminism claim that it allows women to define feminism for themselves by incorporating their own identities into their belief system of what feminism is and what it can become” (Fisher, 2013). The second wave that started 30 years before the 90s, the feminist back then focused on laws but not today’s feminist, who focus on their identities. Today, the women's movement occurs daily, everywhere. Recently a march on Washington, on January 21 - 22, 2017, hundreds of women gathered and walked in Washington. The march came to be after a post a Hawaiian grandmother made on how she felt after Donald J. Trump had move. It states, “...led by hundreds of thousands who overwhelmed the nation's capital, protested the first full day of President Trump's tenure Saturday” (Przybyla & Schouten, 2017). Not only do women today march one day, but every day through social media they continue the movement, the women encourage other women to join them and allow them to become a stronger group. As read, “By removing the barriers of distance and geography, sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram have made activism easier than ever, facilitating public dialogues and creating a platform for awareness and change”(Chittal, 2015). The social media now is allowing the women’s movement to grow rapidly by, announcing marches, organizations. (Fisher, 2013) (Przybyla & Schouten,

Although the first two waves of feminism in the United States, the first from 1848 to the 1920s and the second from the 1960s to the 1980s, had similar causes, the other influences in society and politics at the time gave the two women’s movements different motives, leading to different effects and accomplishments from each wave. Simply put, first-wave feminism and second-wave feminism have similar causes but differ based on their motives and effects. According to several sources, including Robinson1, Stanton2, Zinn6, and a mathematical analysis of the causes of social movements by several professors9, first-wave feminism was caused by women being introduced to the workforce with the Industrial Revolution, and the effects of World War I. Similarly,

Third-wave feminism is the most current movement of feminism, it is characterised with women’s right to sexuality (especially concerning sex workers), the wage gap and the intersectionality of the movement. Former feminist movements have been criticised for not

Second-wave feminism refers to the period of feminist activity that focused on social and legal issues of gender equality such as sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights and equal opportunity in education and the workplace.

The 21st century saw the rise of the third wave feminist in which woman outside the traditional feminist block of white middle-class college graduate started to challenge the feminists establishments. The third wave wanted to include more women in the feminist movement my Nora T lesbians transgender and bisexual women as well as poor and working class with

When referring to the history of feminism in the manner of the first, second, or third wave, one is undermining the experiences that were ongoing during, in middle of, and before those waves that history defines. What ideologies of oppression were being spoken of to raise awareness and whose experience was being excluded/diminished? The articulation of feminism in using the metaphor of waves to describe how the ideologies peaked and rescinded, is incorrect because it focuses only on the voices of those who were able to bring their problems to the surface and excludes those who had a different experience or may have brought awareness in a quieter manner. There are many feminisms and each interpretation is defined by the collective oppression, rather than looking at the situation in an individual perception, which is what creates disagreements and division between feminists. Many definitions of feminism, feminisms, exist simultaneously because it is evolving as fast (or, well, as slow) as the world is changing and if one group of people are to speak of others experience of oppression (or lack of) in place of them, the result can be the glossing over of experiences and therefore, undermine experiences of others.

The idea of women being equal to men has been debated for a very long time. Even when civilizations were just starting, most women were treated very differently from men. When women started fighting against this oppression they were called feminists. Feminism can be separated into three waves. The first wave of feminism was from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s. The second wave was from the 1960s to the 1980s. The third wave of feminism started in the 1990s, but its end is unclear. Some people believe it has ended and the fourth wave of feminism has started, but others believe it continues today. The different waves have been very different in some aspects, but very similar in others. The main differences between the first and third wave of feminism are what they fought for, how they protested, and society’s reaction to their cause.