THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM THE MOVEMENT THRIVING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

By Susan Graham

THE SECOND-WAVE DAMAGE AND REPAIRS IN THE NEXT DECADE

Third-wave feminism refers to several diverse strains of feminist activity and study, whose exact boundaries in the history of feminism are a subject of debate, but are generally marked as beginning in the early 1990s and continuing to the present. The movement arose partially as a response to the perceived failures of and backlash against initiatives and movements created by second-wave feminism during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, and the perception that women are of "many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds".  Rebecca Walker coined the term "third-wave feminism" in a 1992 essay. It has been proposed that Walker has become somewhat of a symbol of the third wave's focus on queer and non-white women. Third Wave feminists have broadened their goals, focusing on ideas like queer theory, and abolishing gender role expectations and stereotypes.

 Unlike the determined position of second wave feminists about women in pornography, sex work, and prostitution,  third-wave feminists were rather ambiguous and divided about these themes (feminist sex wars).

THE THIRD-WAVE BEGINS IT’S COURSE

The shift from second wave feminism came about with many of the legal and institutional rights that were extended to women. In addition to these institutional gains, third-wave feminists believed there needed to be further changes in stereotypes, media portrayals, and language to define women. Third-wave ideology focuses on a more post-structuralism interpretation of gender and sexuality. In "Deconstructing Equality-versus-Difference: Or, the Uses of Poststructuralist Theory for Feminism," Joan W. Scott describes how language has been used as a way to understand the world, however, "post-structuralisms insist that words and texts have no fixed or intrinsic meanings, that there is no transparent or self-evident relationship between them and either ideas or things, no basic or ultimate correspondence between language and the world" Thus, while language has been used to create binaries (such as male/female), post-structuralisms see these binaries as artificial constructs created to maintain the power of dominant groups.

THE CHALLENGES OF THE THIRD WAVE

Third-wave feminism deals with issues which appear to limit or oppress women, as well as other marginalized identities. Consciousness-raising activism, which has been referred to as "the collective critical reconstitution of the meaning of women’s social experience, as women live through it“

Consciousness among women is what caused this [change], and consciousness, one's ability to open their mind to the fact that male domination does affect the women of our generation, is what we need... The presence of feminism in our lives is taken for granted. For our generation, feminism is like fluoride. We scarcely notice we have it – it's simply in the water.

THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM ORIGINS

Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, arising as a response to perceived failures of the second wave and to address the backlash against initiatives and movements created by the second wave. However, the fundamental rights and programs gained by feminist activists of the second wave – including the creation of domestic-abuse shelters for women and children and the acknowledgment of abuse and rape of women on a public level, access to contraception and other reproductive services (including the legalization of abortion), the creation and enforcement of sexual-harassment policies for women in the workplace, child-care services, equal or greater educational and extracurricular funding for young women, women's studies programs, and much more – have also served as a foundation and a tool for third-wave feminists. Feminist leaders rooted in the second wave like Gloria Anzaldúa, Bell Hooks, Kerry Ann Kane, Cherríe Moraga, Audre Lorde, Maxine Hong Kingston, Reena Walker and many other feminists of color, sought to negotiate a space within feminist thought for consideration of subjects related to race.

The roots of the third wave began, however, in the mid-1980s. Feminist leaders rooted in the second wave called for a new subjectivity in feminist voice. They sought to negotiate prominent space within feminist thought for consideration of race-related subjectivities. This focus on the intersection between race and gender remained prominent through the Hill-Thomas hearings, but was perceived[by whom?] to shift with the Freedom Ride 1992, the first project of the Walker-led Third Wave Direct Action Corporation. This drive to register voters in poor minority communities was surrounded with rhetoric that focused on rallying young women.

ANITA HILL ALLEGATIONS 1991

Toward the end of the confirmation hearings, an FBI interview with Anita Hill was leaked. Hill, an attorney, had worked for Thomas at the Department of Education and had subsequently moved with Thomas to the EEOC. After the leak, Hill was called to testify at Thomas's confirmation hearings. She testified that Thomas had subjected her to comments of a sexual nature, which she felt constituted sexual harassment or at least "behavior that is unbefitting an individual who will be a member of the Court. Hill's testimony included lurid details, and some Senators aggressively questioned her.

In 1991, Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas, a man nominated to the United States Supreme Court, of sexual harassment. Thomas denied the accusations and, after extensive debate, the United States Senate voted 52–48 in favor of Thomas.

Hill was the only person to testify at the Senate hearings that there had been unsolicited sexual advances. Angela Wright, who worked under Thomas at the EEOC before he fired her, decided not to testify, but submitted a written statement alleging that Thomas had pressured her for a date and had made comments about the anatomy of women. However, she said she did not feel his behavior was intimidating nor did she feel sexually harassed, though she allowed that "Some other women might have". Also, Sukari Hardnett, a former Thomas assistant, wrote to the Senate committee that although Thomas had not harassed her, "If you were young, black, female and reasonably attractive, you knew full well you were being inspected and auditioned as a female."

Hill agreed to take a polygraph test. The results supported the veracity of her statements; Thomas declined the test. He made a vehement and complete denial, saying that he was being subjected to a "high-tech lynching for uppity blacks" by white liberals who were seeking to block a black conservative from taking a seat on the Supreme Court.

On October 9, 2010, Virginia Thomas left a voicemail message for Anita Hill, whose accusations of sexual harassment complicated her husband's Senate confirmation hearings 19 years earlier. In the voice mail, Thomas said that Hill should apologize to Thomas's husband. Hill responded that she believed there was nothing to apologize for and said that her 1991 testimony about her interactions with Clarence Thomas was truthful. A couple of months later, Virginia Thomas said that the message to Anita Hill "was probably a mistake" and "a private matter".

THIRD-WAVE PROMINENT ISSUES

Gender violence Gender violence has become a central issue for third-wave feminists. Organizations such as V-Day have formed with

the goal of ending gender violence, and artistic expressions such as The Vagina Monologues have generated awareness and action around issues relating to women's sexuality. Third-wave feminists want to transform the traditional notions of sexuality and embrace “an exploration of women’s feelings about sexuality that included vagina-centered topics as diverse as orgasm, birth, and rape.“

Reproductive rights One of feminism's primary goals is to demonstrate that access to contraception and abortion are women's reproductive

rights. According to Baumgartner and Richards, "It is not feminism's goal to control any woman's fertility, only to free each woman to control her own". South Dakota's 2006 attempt to ban abortion in all cases, except when necessary to protect the mother's life, and the US Supreme Court's recent vote to uphold the partial birth abortion ban are viewed by many feminists as restrictions on women's civil and reproductive rights. Restrictions on abortion in the United States, which was mostly legalized by the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade,, are becoming more common in states around the country. Such restrictions include mandatory waiting periods, parental-consent laws, and spousal-consent laws.

Rape Since 2011, the utility of the reclamation strategy has been a hot topic among third-wave feminists with the

introduction of SlutWalks. The first SlutWalk took place in Toronto on April 3, 2011, in response to Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti's statement that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." The SlutWalk movement caught on rapidly and additional SlutWalks sprung up internationally with marchers contending a reclamation of the word "slut", their position being that if victimized women are sluts, then all women must be, since anyone can be victimized regardless of what they are wearing. SlutWalks have occurred in many international major cities, including New York City, Berlin, Seattle, West Hollywood, and London. Third-wave feminist bloggers have both praised and criticized the Slutwalks, with the reclamation of the word "slut" being questioned for its possible exclusion of some cultural groups.

THIRD-WAVE OTHER TOPICS

Third-wave feminism regards race, social class, transgender rights, and sexual liberation as central issues. However, it also pays attention to workplace matters such as the glass ceiling, sexual harassment, unfair maternity-leave policies, motherhood – support for single mothers by means of welfare and child care and respect for working mothers and for mothers who decide to leave their careers to raise their children full-time.

Third-wave feminism is often associated[by whom?] with the emergence of so-called "lipstick" or "girly" feminisms and with the rise of "raunchy culture". This is because these new feminisms advocated for "expressions of femininity and female sexuality as a challenge to objectification". Accordingly, this included the dismissal of any restriction, whether deemed patriarchal or feminist, to define or control how women or girls can dress, act, or generally express themselves. These emerging positions stood in stark contrast with the anti-pornography strains of feminism prevalent in the 1980s. These new feminisms posit that the ability to make autonomous choices about self-expression can be an empowering act of resistance, not simply internalized oppression. However, such views have been critiqued[by whom?] because of the subjective nature of empowerment and autonomy. Scholars are unsure if empowerment is best measured as an "internal feeling of power and agency" or as an external "measure of power and control". Moreover, they critique an over-investment in "a model of free will and choice" in the marketplace of identities and ideas. Regardless, the "girly" feminisms attempted to be open to all different selves while maintaining a dialogue about the meaning of identity and femininity in the contemporary world.

Third-wave Feminists claim that these view-points shouldn't be limited by the label "girly" feminism or regarded as simply advocating for "raunchy culture". Rather, these feminisms seek to be inclusive of the many diverse relationships and roles women fulfill. Gender scholars Linda Duits and Liesbet van Zoonen highlight this inclusiveness by looking at the politicization of women's clothing choices and how the "controversial sartorial choices of girls" and women are constituted in public discourse as "a locus of necessary regulation". Thus the "hijab" and the "belly shirt", as dress choices, are both identified as requiring regulation but for different reasons. The two clothing items of women that have caused a great deal of controversy initially appear to be opposing forms of self-expression. However, through the lens of "girly" feminisms, one can view both as symbolic of "political agency and resistance to objectification". The "hijab" can be seen as an act of resistance against western ambivalence towards Islamic identity, while the "belly shirt" can be viewed as an act of resistance towards patriarchal society’s narrow views of female sexuality: Both are regarded as valid forms of self-expression.

Back In 1992, the "Year of the Woman" saw four women enter the United States Senate to join the two already there. The following year another woman (Kay Bailey Hutchison) won a special election, bringing the number to seven. The 1990s also saw the first female United States Attorney General and Secretary of State, as well as the second woman on the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the first US First Lady (Hillary Rodham Clinton) to have an independent political, legal, corporate executive, activist, and public service career. However, the Equal Rights Amendment, which is supported by second- and third-wave feminists, remains a work in progress.

TIMELINE OF THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM WORLDWIDE 1990’S

In the early 1990s, the Riot grrrl movement began in Olympia, Washington and Washington, D.C.. It sought to give women the power to control their voices and artistic expressions.

1991: In Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that employers could not exclude women from jobs in which exposure to toxic substances could harm a developing fetus.

1991: Opportunity 2000 was launched. It was the first campaign in the United Kingdom aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of women's employment opportunities.

1991: The U. S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to open combat positions for women aviators.

1991: American feminist Susan Faludi published Backlash, about the backlash to feminism in the 1980s.

1992: The "Year of the Woman" saw four women enter the United States Senate to join the two already there.

1992: Third Wave Direct Action Corporation was founded by the American feminists Rebecca Walker and Shannon Liss as a multiracial, multicultural, multi-issue organization to support young activists. The organization’s initial mission was to fill a void in young women’s leadership and to mobilize young people to become more involved socially and politically in their communities.

1992: In response to the Anita Hill sexual harassment case, American feminist Rebecca Walker published an article in Ms. Magazine entitled "Becoming the Third Wave" in which she stated, "I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the third-wave."

1993: The Family and Medical Leave Act became law in the U.S.

1993: Janet Reno was nominated and confirmed as the first female U.S. Attorney General, after both of Bill Clinton's previous choices, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, had problems when it was revealed both had previously employed illegal immigrants as nannies.

1993: Take Our Daughters to Work Day debuted, designed to build American girls' self-esteem and open their eyes to a variety of career possibilities for women. It is now called Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

1994: Women taking back the word bitch was helped by the single "All Women Are Bitches" by the all-woman Canadian band Fifth Column.

1994: The Gender Equity in Education Act became law in the U.S. It banned sex-role stereotyping and gender discrimination in the classroom.

1994: Marital rape was declared illegal in the United Kingdom as part of the Criminal Justice Act.

1994: The Violence Against Women Act became law in the U.S.

1995: The Fourth World Conference on Women was held in China.

1996: The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition was founded.

1996: The feminist play The Vagina Monologues, written by American playwright Eve Ensler, premiered in New York.

1996: In United States v. Virginia the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the male-only admissions policy of the state-supported Virginia Military Institute violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

1997: Layli Miller-Muro founded the Tahirih Justice Center in the U.S. in 1997 following a well-publicized asylum case in which she was involved as a student attorney dealing with female genital mutilation.

1998: Eve Ensler and others, including Willa Shalit, a producer of the Westside Theatre production of The Vagina Monologues, launched V-Day, a global non-profit movement that has raised over $75 million for women's anti-violence groups through benefits performances.

1999: The book Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women by the American author Elizabeth Wurtzel was published. In the successful declaration of the word bitch, Wurtzel introduced her philosophy: "I intend to scream, shout, race the engine, call when I feel like it, throw tantrums in Bloomingdale's if I feel like it and confess intimate details about my life to complete strangers. I intend to do what I want to do and be whom I want to be and answer only to myself: that is, quite simply, the bitch philosophy."

TIMELINE OF THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM WORLDWIDE 2000’S

2000: CBS agreed to pay $8 million to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 200 women.

2001: The Isle of Man passed its first sex discrimination bill.

2004: The March for Women's Lives was held in Washington, D.C., to support the right to abortion, access to birth control, scientifically accurate sex education, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and to show public support for mothers and children.

2004: Asylum Gender Guidelines were introduced by the Home Office of the United Kingdom to tackle issues involving women fleeing their countries.

2007: The Gender Equality Duty of the Equality Act 2006 came into effect in the United Kingdom. It requires that public bodies promote equality of opportunity with a special focus on gender equality. It is each public body’s duty to publish a gender equality scheme which is to be revised every three years. There also has to be an annual report on what actions were taken to achieve objectives outlined in the equality scheme.

2008: Norway requires all companies to have at least forty percent women on their boards.

2008: Diana Bijon's husband Michael takes her last name upon marriage, after their lawsuit which led to a new California state law guaranteeing the rights of both married couples and registered domestic partners to choose whichever last name they prefer on their marriage and driving licenses.

2008: The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act came into force in the United Kingdom.

TIMELINE OF THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM WORLDWIDE 2010’S

2011: The first SlutWalk took place in Toronto on April 3, 2011 in response to Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti's statement that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." Additional SlutWalks sprung up rapidly in cities all over the world, with marchers reclaiming the word "slut" with the belief that if victimized women are sluts, then all women must be, since anyone can be victimized regardless of what they are wearing.

2012: The Atheism Plus movement was founded, in large measure to bring Feminist thought in general and Third Wave Feminism specifically to the New Atheist movement.

2013: The first woman to bring a gender discrimination lawsuit in China, a 23 year old who goes by the pseudonym of Cao Ju, won a small settlement of 30,000 yuan and an official apology from the Juren Academy.