Third Wave Feminism

1
Third Wave Feminism
2
Third Wave Feminism

• Third Wave Feminism emerged into North American
  public consciousness in the early 1990s
• Expressed criticism the second wave feminists
  were too dogmatic and too limited in scope

3
Feminism on Campus

• During the 1980s feminist theory became driving
  concern in many disciplines in the humanities
• This interest was spurred on by the development
  of interdisciplinary Womens and Cultural Studies
  programs, and Campus Womens Centers
• Drawing on linguistic and postmodern theory,
  expanded the vocabulary of feminist issues

4
French Feminist theory

• Julia Kristeva was critical of the idea of a
  feminine voice and advocated multiple sexual
  identities
• Luce Irigaray uses psychoanalytic theory to
  challenge male dominance in society that can be
  overcome with feminine writing
• Tends to be dense and theoretical but has an
  incredible influence on academic culture

5
bell hooks (1952-)

• Focuses on the interconnectivity of race, class,
  and gender
• Although an academic, argues against the
  elitist character of academic feminist theory
• Argues that feminism pays too little attention to
  race and class paying too much attention to the
  needs of middle class white women

6
Judith Butler (1956-)

• American academic feminist, argued in her book
  Gender Trouble that gender and sex are
  performative acts not identities
• following Foucault argued that the choices of
  gender roles are constructed by regulatory
  discourses
• Argued against feminism that advocated two sexes
  only

7

• In her 1991 book Backlash Susan Faludi argued
  that American popular culture demonized feminism
  in an attempt to curb the advances women had made

8
Naomi Wolf the Beauty Myth

• "The more legal and material hindrances women
  have broken through, the more strictly and
  heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have
  come to weigh upon us... More women have more
  money and power and scope and legal recognition
  than we have ever had before but in terms of how
  we feel about ourselves physically, we may
  actually be worse off than our unliberated
  grandmothers."

9
Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill
In July 1991 US President George Bush nominates
Clarence Thomas as second African American
Supreme Court Justice. Thomas confirmation was
controversial from the start because he was a
strong conservative, who was critical of
affirmative action and rumored to be against
Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion
At his confirmation hearing, his former assistant
Anita Hill testified that that she was repeatedly
sexually harassed by Thomas. Another witness
testified to the same treatment. The media picked
up on the story and brought the issue of sexual
harassment to a national and global audience
10
Rebecca Williams

• Let Thomas confirmation serve to remind you, as
  it did me, that the fight is far from over. Let
  this dismissal of a womans experience move you
  to anger. Turn that outrage into political power.
  Do not vote for them unless they work for us. Do
  not have sex them with them, do not break bread
  with them, do not nurture them if they dont
  prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and
  our lives. I am not a post-feminist feminist. I
  am the Third Wave.

11
Violence against women

• Third wave feminists also
• In 1994 the American congress passed the Violence
  Against Women Bill

12

• In 1991, a mens group in Montreal began the
  White Ribbon Campaign as a response to the Dec.
  1989 massacre of 14 women at The Ecole
  Polytechnique in Montreal
• It has since evolved into an international event

13
Abortion debate
14
Riot Grrrl!

• A movement of young women devoted to activism
  using music and zines to share their ideas
• Emphasis on individuality of expression and
  inclusiveness
• Builds upon the aesthetic of punk rock and
  independence from corporate culture with bands
  like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile

15
issues

• Gender
• Sexuality
• Sexism
• AIDS
• The environment

16
(No Transcript)