Feminist Waves
Is there a Wave (or Type) of feminism which you are more convinced by? If so, which one and why?
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This blog is exclusively for students on the Theorising Social Life module of the Sociology degree at West Suffolk College.
Personally, I am most convinced by fourth wave feminism. I believe that the use of technology has a big impact on the forces that drive feminism foward and that it is an easier way of making situations known to a wider community. Fourth wave feminism is more inclusive of differing sexualities and genders therfore making it easier to incorporate others into the movements set out. It not only sets out to achieve fairness for women but comes up against white male supremacy and attempts to break the patterns of injustice of power within social systems. Fourth wave feminism addresses sexual harassment, rape culture and body shaming, which are prominent in the world of social media of today and by taking action against the aforementioned, using social media and other technology, society begins to take it more seriously. Tarana Burke is a prime example of fourth wave feminist, she is the founder of the #metoo movement and set out to give help to other people (note- not limited to women), who had been in similar situations for example, victims of sexual violence. Burke argues that sexual violence does not discriminate and the #metoo movement is an opportunity for all people to come together in unity to try to put an end to it. The hashtag #metoo, from Twitter, was so powerful that, as a consequence of it, over 200,000 people came forward to express their past experiences using that exact hashtag. Therefore this shows that social media can be used for the greater good. So fourth wave feminism is moving in the right direction to get an even bigger following and, potentially, more action taken against sexual violence and injustice people have to deal with.
ReplyDeleteFor many women housework is the norm, they take it for granted that it is their responsibility, without even questioning it!! It is one of the first obligations taken on as women transform from child to adult as they move out of their childhood family home. Moreover, as the family and house size expand, including the pets (however lovely they are), increase the amount of housework that needs to be done. Thus, extending the time needed to complete the chores. Not sure how many women can hand on heart say they enjoy the thankless task of cleaning the house, however, maybe they might enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when it is completed and a sense of pride that the house is clean and tidy albeit only short-lived until the members of the family return.
ReplyDeleteI like the feminist’s that make women think about their own situations and how they are treated, such as Ann Oakley who expressed her ideas in the 1970’s highlighting housework as unpaid labour and a way of subordinating women. Oakley’s proposal that housework should be thought of the same as paid work with the hour’s women spend cleaning, tidying and generally spending within the home, must have felt revolutionary at the time.
Around the same time as Oakley, liberal feminists started campaigning for equal opportunities for women and equal pay opening up the labour market so women could have choices of different jobs open to them. Go back four decades and you can understand why they were campaigning, school career advisors pushed many working-class girls towards the bright lights of either clerical, caring, cleaning, catering or cashiering work. Technically there were not any major forces in play, actually stopping women from pursuing any career they wanted (except for the exceptionally bright) however many would not have realised what else was on offer due to the social norms at the time. Nevertheless, even though the progress made by the liberal feminist’s was not immediate it has been more of a slow natural change as business, institutions and society cope with the transformations.
Skip forward to 2021, and women can see the results of the liberal feminist’s reforms with the specific legislations helping women within the public sphere such as the ever reducing the gender pay gap. However, today’s social norms presume women have some sort of employment from a lower-paid part-time job to fit around the children’s schooling to a higher paid occupation (unless they have young children or a husband with good pay). This expectation is placed upon them by society and often surprises people if they are not employed. So, it is great that on one hand women are now free to choose to work, a family or both, however, more often than not, they do have it all but still perform more housework than their husbands leaving them exhausted and struggling when they are unable to cope.
Each wave or type of Feminism has a place in the role of fighting women’s suppression- from the earliest of suffragettes to the ‘metoo’ movement of the 21st century. The fourth wave has taken women’s voices further by starting the metoo movement and the Everyday Sexism project, to encourage women to speak out against sexual harassment and victims of sexual violence and male oppression.
ReplyDeleteThe wave that probably resonates with me the most would be third wave feminism. Having been born in the late 60s, this would be the time I was most aware of the women’s cause and understand it more. It emerged in the mid -1990s by the ‘Generation Xers’ born like myself in the 60s and 70s . The third wave built on the ideas of the first and second waves, but they sought to question and redefine further the media and society’s ideas of womanhood , beauty, gender, sexuality and both masculinity and femininity . Their question was challenging perceptions of gender, why were some characteristics associated with one gender and not the other, so gender identity was shaped by society’s ideas of gender construction and, the journey to express one’s own authentic identity.
The third wave seemed to challenge things that had previously not been in the public conscious . It included women of colour and the opposition of the traditional woman being weak passive and suppressed. It saw women as powerful .in control and assertive , in charge of their own minds and decisions- giving way to female icons such as Madonna and film roles with strong powerful women. The internet gave a voice to women to share their thoughts and ideas and opinions to a massive audience that were previously not able to reach .
The London Feminist Network (LFN) is involved in type of feminist activities but mostly know for the ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches which are now held annually since 2004. According to historian Finn McKay, they were ‘ the first documented incidence of an organised , urban, women’s night-time march against male violence against women.’ Since the death of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman ,in March 2021, it has reignited women’s interest in the march.
Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, both feminist writers stated in their book Manifesta :Young women , Feminism and the Future ‘For women of The Third Wave – that is , women who were reared in the wake of the women’s liberation movement of the 80s- a good dinner party or any gathering of women is just as likely to be a place to see politics at work as is a rally. It’s a place to map a strategy for our continuing liberation’ .
Third wave spread further into the through and pop culture and had emphasis on the voices of the young girl . Music could spread messages of female empowerment as previously mentioned with icons such as Madonna and started discussions of body images among teenagers. This impact was also seen in the movie industry through films such as ‘Thelma and Louise’ with strong assertive female characters . It prompted the discussions for gender, body image and sexuality which was at the heart of third wave feminism ideology.
I am most convinced by 4th wave feminism because it's the most modern wave of feminism and arguably the most inclusive wave of feminism. 4th wave feminism was founded in 2012 and it encompasses everything that feminists have been striving to achieve from the first suffragette movement. 8 is a movement for body autonomy, equal pay, overcoming gender norms and the great representation of women of colour trans women who are traditionally marginalised groups. The Internet provides a huge space to provide a voice for females.
ReplyDeleteA recent movement which is all you really for for a feminism following the death of Sarah Everard. The death of Sarah prompted countless women posting on social media of the acts of abuse they faced to raise awareness that society has classed it as a privilege or lucky two have not suffered abuse or a sexual assault at the hands of another; trying to overturn the normalisation of women being victims. While every wave of feminism has played a key part in the fourth wave feminism that we see today the inclusion of the Internet and social media Ann mass media to promote feminism has arguably achieved the goals being spread father and accomplished quicker.
However, Kim Barker and Olga Jurasz argue that while 4th wave feminism has arguably achieved some of its goals the Internet is still a hostile place for women which in itself is a limitation. For example the first black member of parliament Diane Abbott was targeted with more than 8000 abusive tweet and messages sent directly to her Twitter account in the first six months of 2017 and there are countless other high profile women becoming targets of abuse and threatened messages including the likes of the Scottish MP Joanna cherry mayor Victoria Lisa helps and women who aren't involved in politics. and there has been a significant rise of harmful speech and online violence against women and gender based online abuse resulting in 46% of women worldwide receiving sexist or misogynistic comments as a form of online abuse (Barker, K., & Jurasz, O. (2019). However, the backlash that comes from the feminist movements as they harnessed power isn't solely found in 4th wave feminism, it is merely a power struggle between an arguably dominant power and a perceived weaker power striving for social change which can be linked to Michel Foucault.
For me personally 4th wave feminism embodies postmodernity, with the inclusion of trans women and women of colour. As well as enabling men to parent their children with emotion removing the gender stereotypes and the labels we place upon men and women which is something I am especially passionate about.