Third Wave Antifeminism

Feminism, a term often used to show a movement towards equal political, economic, and cultural opportunities for women is becoming widely used. This movement was supported by many females such as Betty Friedan, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, and many other ordinary women. It is universally known that the feminist movement came in three waves. The first wave’s purpose was to get equal political power by allowing women to vote. The second wave was more concerned about the differences between the genders, such their roles and working conditions. Last but not least, the third wave, is often regarded as a continuation of the civil rights movements. As this movement spread, a new way of analyzing literature came to live. This is known as seeing

Watson uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos and pathos to convince her audience to fight against gender inequality by joining her campaign, HeForShe.

Feminism can have a different meaning depending on who you are and what time of history you are speaking of. Most people think of the second-wave of feminism in the 20th century when women fought for their rights for equality not just in the workplace but also their right to vote. The movement for gender equality was originally viewed as a great effort by women for women. Today feminism is a subtitle of equality. Giving us the new definition of feminism called third-wave feminism or gender equality.

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

at the time. Friedan sparked a fervor in women that is unparalleled in the realm of women’s rights. In a society dominated by men and their age old ideals, Friedan was their voice, campaigning for women to stop

While the piece is somewhat outdated, it continues to bring about important points and issues about women, such as a double standard among the sexes. It is important that this piece is still shared to show how much progress has been made and still needs to be made. While at one point in history it was common to see people ignoring or overlooking women’s rights, today’s society has the ability to platform its arguments in ways never before used. Social media, for example, has become a large part in spreading the need for feminism, allowing powerful celebrities and ordinary, everyday people to express the need for change in the world. Quindlen shares with readers how society needs not to fear words, but rather fear the consequences that can result from not taking social action. Quindlen’s piece succeeds in diminishing the daunting or intimidating fear that is the

Women and men are choosing not to be known as a feminist. Women fear of being called a “man hater”, whereas men fear of being called “weak”. Women can easily say they are all for “girl power” and vice versa with men, but can they comprehend why it is so important. Non-feminist and feminist do not understand that women's liberation begins at the acknowledgement of inequality between genders. Emma Watson's speech “he for she”, explains how both genders are fearful of ambition since, ambitions is needed to help fulfill the opportunities of any task. The definition of feminism is explained as “men and woman should have equal rights and opportunities”. Watson explains how the support of men and boys will greatly improve the gender equality dilemma. Women are characterized in the defilement of feminism just as much as men, maybe even more. The male species has had the upper hand for centuries. It may seem different for them to share the “thrown” but in good time it will benefit all. Men will not have to worry about being emotional or strong when need be. They will not be characterized for being a stay at home father for his children. Women will be able to make the same income as men and will be eligible for the same position. In good time all will be equal, all will be

Emma talks about how the word “feminism” has a negative connotation in today’s world. I agree with this idea. I think it goes hand in hand with the idea of a minority speaking up for equality. People don’t like to address the fact that everyone is not in any way equal because it’s easier to avoid an issue that has the ability to be fixed. Those who are on top and have more advantages find it hard to stop and think about those who are not as privileged.

In the month of September a very well know movie star by the name of Emma Watson did something big for all women and girls around the world. She had decided to start a solidarity campaign for gender equality initiated by UN Women. Its goal is to attract men and boys as representative of change for the achievement of gender equality and women's rights, by encouraging them to take action against negative inequalities faced by women and girls. Her first plan of action was to give a speech to get anyones and everyones attention. At the time she actually gave the speech that was called ¨heforshe¨ there was a large amount of misunderstanding and incorrect usage of the word feminism.

The parting words of Watson’s speech are meant to encourage the audience the step up and do something first hand about the issue. Also, the parting words are meant to express how important everyone’s role is in fighting against gender

Watson brings up few stories during her speech which help her join the audience so that her message is more dramatic. Throughout her storytelling, She uses the words just as "Feminism" and "gender inequality". Watson evokes the times she felt unequal compared to a young man. She states "When at 14,I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press” (Watson par 7). As a young girl, she felt the gender unequal.

The end of the third-wave brings post-feminist, which describes a range of reactions to feminism. Post-feminism is not “anti-feminism”, post-feminists believe that women have achieved their goals during the second-wave; and were being critical during the third-wave. The terms post-feminism was first used in the 1980s to describe the backlash against second-wave feminism. From this point on there has been a huge debate on whether or not feminism is still needed during our modern times. To draw a conclusion on whether feminism is still needed in Canada please see Appendix one. This graph shows average hourly wages for both men and women during November 2014 and November of 2015. During the year 2014 women were being paid on average $22.88 an

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.

In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system,

What mainly gave rise to Watson addressing this topic was her emotions attached to the burdens people have felt because of gender inequality. Watson used pathos, an appeal to emotion, to grasp the audience’s attention. Watson provides examples of events in her own life such as, “When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media,” which has helped spark her interest in taking steps to end gender inequality (Watson). Watson provided numerous examples of other women, “When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of sports teams because they didn’t want to appear muscly,” as well as examples of males (Watson). Watson recognizes the fact that men are typically less likely to join in the fight for gender equality. In order for Watson to later “invite” men to join the