The Third Wave of Feminism - Essay Example

RADICAL FEMINISM MOST EFFECTIVE FOR THE THIRD WAVE OF FEMINISM Radical Feminism Most Effective for the Third Wave of Feminism The term feminist began with a bright stigma of strength and courage. This view quickly dissipated into that of extremist, lesbian whiners. The first and second waves of feminism fought for equality based on political, economic and institutionalized rights. The third and current wave of feminism, is fighting for structural social inequalities, which most people aren’t aware exist. If women are equal on paper, then feminist must be complaining for no reason (Larson & Orlandic, 2013). It is for that reason that the current wave of feminism requires stronger push for change. Passive methods of action will only do so much as structural and societal constraints will prevail. Unless there is a more radical outreach, women will remain the “underdog” in society, especially because the focus is more on conceptual ideologies such as the abolishment of gender role expectations. These issues, much like in the second wave of feminism, will only become marginalized by other social outcries such as welfare that are apparent and seem to need greater attention. Radical Feminism has proven to be the more effective choice of action since it promotes a greater, positive dialogue and initiates a course of action in support of feminist ideals. Therefore, radical feminism may arguably be considered more appropriate for the third wave of feminism. The following paper will define the term radical in relation to feminism and identify boundaries due to its significant spectrum. Furthermore, to support the above-mentioned claims, cases in which radical feminist movements in the past have been more effective from relatively passive movements in the incidence of the Women’s Suffrage, will be identified. Like much of feminism, radical feminism too is highly misunderstood. The textbook definition of the term is as follows, “Radical feminism is a "current" within feminism that focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on an assumption of "male supremacy" used to oppress women”. Additionally, “Radical feminists tend to be more militant in their approach (radical as "getting to the root") than other feminists are” (Lewis, 2014). The first part defines the term in a broad ideological sense whereas the second shares the thought response. In the technical sense this is fair considering being a militant refers to a broad group of people such as activists, revolutionaries, terrorists or even insurgents, and feminists can be both revolutionaries and activists. The predicament with using this term however is the common mainstream stigma that resonates with it to be harmfully and unnecessarily aggressive. This is significant as feminism in itself has a negative appearance for those who do not truly understand it. Combine the two and there is an even worse conception of feminism than previously stated. As a result, radical feminism is seemingly the most stereotyped and negatively viewed division of feminism (Khunnam, 2012). This diverts the definition from the true value set by radical feminists in the second wave of feminism. Those that are well aware of the true feminist agenda, also face misguidance in their interpretation of what radical feminism really entails. Well-versed and educated individuals on the history of feminism in today’s world tend to associate radical feminism with any form of outspoken feminism expression as being radical, when it is quite liberal in nature (Fudge, 2005). For example, documents such as S.C.U.M. Manifesto that advocate for the abolishment of capitalism by the means of eliminating “the male sex” are seen to be radical publishes, making the author Valerie Solana a radical feminist. However, by simply writing a manifesto, a feminist cannot be coined as a radical. This is because radical feminism takes much more than simply drafting a manifesto. Therefore, in order to urge feminists to adopt a radical stance, it becomes important to define true radical feminism, so that it is done correctly. Established by the short-lived phase of the late 1960’s and early 70’s, radical feminism has three basic requirements. Most feminists have been unable to agree on a set definition of radical feminism. However, the following three aspects were commonalities found among most. Radical feminist must be collective in their actions in an established group or movement, with a political agenda to deal with the larger patriarchal issue, and finally a determined rise that is able to correct its past mistakes and continually push for the cause until success is achieved. The need to justify these conclusions necessitates a critical study focusing on the roots of radical feminism. Radical feminism sparked in the 1960s with most of its members comprising people who had earlier engaged in the fight against racism. For example arguably the first protest that disrupted an American pageant in 1968 had one of its agendas as fighting racism (Dow, 2003, p.5). This implies that the fight against racism had great contributors to facilitation of radical feminism. By radically fighting against racial discrimination and gaining significant success, the pioneers of radical feminism acquired motivation to fight for women rights as well. Radical feminism mainly fought for issues affecting women such as abortion, equal rights as men and equal pay among others. However, at first these efforts did not gain the expected momentum with some women especially those of color adamant to fully join the struggle. This was attributed to the feeling that radical feminism only addressed few relevant matters in reference to women with a working background. Nevertheless, there were still significant numbers of women who were compelled to join the struggle and they took the fight to the streets amid efforts to recruit more participants. This marked the first wave of radical feminism and its general effect was arguably low. However, all was not in vain since this first wave can be considered to have laid a foundation for the second wave which gained significant popularity and acceptance. In the second wave of radical feminism, there were more participants especially from women of color. In this period it was evident that matters revolving around women oppression did not only affect a small portion of affairs but also other important issues such as social and political matters. From this perspective it was clearer that these fields were mostly male dominated hence the need to fight for increased women participation. Most of the participants were those from mainstream cultural settings. Therefore, the second wave of radical feminism was mainly common in such countries as the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition, the second wave of radical feminism sought to rectify the mistakes and improve on the failures of the previous groups. However, engagement in this activities was still much concentrated in the major cities such as New York and Chicago. In the course of the second wave, groups were formed comprising of mainly intellectuals, workers and middle class women. These groups met occasionally, to discuss their experiences and this made contributions towards improving and strengthening the movement. As a result of these discussions, women came to the realization that women issues were similar regardless of the different social classes and political affiliations. This implied that the most effective way of fighting for women’s rights was to do away with patriarchy and laying more focus on reducing men supremacy. Radical feminism had the view that men holding powerful positions either at individual levels or the general society was a form of women domination by men. Therefore there was need to have equality in the various sectors and that women were supposed to be accorded equal opportunities as the men. Taking a look at the activities and ideologies advanced by the second wave there are similarities even with the third wave which seemingly gained more success. The similarities can be used to define and give a better summary of what radical feminism entails. All these groups sought to fight against patriarchy and had more focus on correcting mistakes arising from actions of the predecessors. In reference to this, radical feminism can be defined as efforts of feminists to bring an end to patriarchy hence attaining equality through establishment of movements that facilitate this agenda and in the process ensuring that past mistakes are not repeated. The third wave of radical feminism took over in the 1990s taking over from the second wave that run through to the 80s. The main agenda of the third wave was to cover the loop holes that emerged during the second wave by facilitating “feminist thoughts and practice” (Bobel, 2010, p.3). This implies that the third wave can be considered as a redemption seeking to correct the mistakes made by the second wave. The third wave is in effect up to date but the agendas are seemingly different although they are still related to women. The third wave borrowed a lot from the second wave and its main purpose was to see the ideologies started in the second wave to completion. Some of these ideologies included acknowledgement of abuse and rape in public, legalizing abortion, and equal education opportunities for younger women among others. Just like the previous feminist waves, the third waves had increasingly many ties to political issues. However, there seemed to be focus on younger women with many groups seeking to bring more attention to issues surrounding them and creating awareness on the importance of protecting the younger generation. Activities of feminists in the third wave mainly involved artistic expressions and this saw establishment of several bands such as the riot grrrl. The third wave thrived amid increased awareness and stronger advocacies for the rights of women. In this period there was increased focus on extending legal and institutional rights to women. However, achieving legal and institutional rights for women was not enough for third wave feminists who went further to seek a changes in the general outlook of women in relation to media and language. This meant to improve the general portrayal of women and the definition in entirety. This implies that third wave feminist have more focus on the overall interpretation of gender and sexuality. This has led to further efforts that have resulted to the questioning of more matters that are seemingly related to feminism just slightly. For instance, third wave feminists have raised concerns over the role of language in promoting further gender divide. The arguments are based on the view that language has been used to create binaries such as male and or female with the aim of sustaining power by the dominant groups. However, third wave feminists have also challenged some of the current contemporary issues such as those revolving around sex. For example, unlike the second wave, a significantly high number of the third wave feminists do not share the view that participants in pornography and sex work are being exploited. The second wave of radical feminists regarded pornography as a weapon by men to show dominance over women (Bronstein, 2011, p.241-242). However, this is not necessarily true since in the modern day there is more on focus on preventing sexual harassment and participation in such issues may be deemed an individual choice. Third wave’s stand on pornography can be attributed to the incorporation of intellectuals and critical thinkers in matters pertaining to women. Additionally, this strengthens the third wave feminism as it gives it an outlook that they are not just for general issues without clear reason but they are fighting for real issues that are pressing and need to be addressed. Nevertheless, amid the great success attained by the third wave there has been several barriers. Third wave feminism has faced unending critic with arguments ranging from claims of bias to inequality in executing their agenda. For example, the main aim of feminism should be to address global issues and not just issues emanating from one region. This is because from the first all through to the third wave seem to have closer ties with the American feminists. This then raises the question of how such a movement that is seemingly regional will deal with global political issues. Additionally, feminism seems to have lesser than needed support due to arguably failure to compel and provide relevance and importance to some people. This can be attributed to the shared view that gender equality has already been achieved hence erasing the need for further push. Moreover, this may be seen as a struggle to not only attain gender equity but to actually surpass the men. In the modern day this is already evident especially, focusing on the developing nations where there has been over emphasis on the importance of protecting the girl child seemingly neglecting the boy child. Furthermore, this seemingly over emphasis may be seen as exaggeration of the actual state of women and position held by women in the society. This has led the likes of Donna LaFromboise to argue that third wave feminism is perpetuating a myth of female martyrdom that actually does not exist. However, amid all these challenges and opposition, radical feminism has thrived and is still strongly fighting for women freedom and incorporation in all matters. Despite the critics, employing open mindedness and avoiding bias to world matters, there is still much to be done and arguably total gender equality has not yet been achieved. For instance in the modern day there is still some cultures that have a low view of women and regard them as ‘weak’ hence should not be incorporated in important matters. This implies that there is need for more to be done and in relation to empowering women. Amid the three main waves of feminism, there emerged the issue of women’s suffrage. Women’s suffrage refers to women’s rights to vote and to possession of a chance to stand for an electoral position. Women’s suffrage in the United States was facilitated by several groups. For starters there was the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) that was formed in 1869. NWSA sought to incorporate women’s voting rights in the Fifteenth Amendment failure to which it would oppose the amendments. Stanton, NWSA’s leader argued that it was “wrong to elevate an ignorant and politically irresponsible class of men over the heads of women of wealth and culture” (DuBois, 1978, p.178). Membership of NWSA ‘comprise both men and women but the leadership roles were to be held only by women. NWSA argued that women deserved to vote since they were citizens, taxed without representation, governed without their consent and faced trial without presence of their peers in the jury. During this period there was also another group, American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which also sought to accomplish women’s suffrage. However, unlike NWSA, AWSA was against inclusion of women’s rights to vote in the Fifteenth Amendment with fears that this would hinder its chances of passing. In relation to the Fifteenth Amendment, AWSA was in support of incorporation of Negros right to vote. However, this is not to say that AWSA did not advocate for women’s suffrage but they advanced this agenda through other means. AWSA preferred use of state-by-state campaigns to advocate for the need to include women in voting. Nevertheless and despite the ideological differences between NWSA and AWSA, they merged to form National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890. NAWSA was now the largest party advocating for women’s suffrage and their efforts were marked by success in ensuring women voting rights at state and local levels. At this time NAWSA focused on incorporating women’s suffrage in the American constitution with the key aim targeting the Nineteenth Amendment. NAWSA’ target of the Nineteenth Amendment was a success and this can arguably be considered its greatest achievement. However, NAWSA later evolved to become the league of women voters that kept the agenda alive and is in existence up to date. Another significant movement during the time was the National Association of Colored Womens Clubs (NACWC) that was formed in 1896. NACWC was as a result of mergers between several parties and smaller groups such as National Federation of African-American Women and Womens Era Club among others. NACWC focused more advocating for rights of women of color and with an aim of changing the general view towards them. Its ideologies were advanced through campaigns which also sought to incorporate women in the voting process. Among their agenda was also the fight towards equal education opportunities for women. 1913 saw the formation of yet another movement, National Womans Party (NWP), whose main focus was women’s suffrage. It emanated from a section of NAWSA and was based in Washington with the sole purpose of attaining constitutional amendment in favor of women’s suffrage. Unlike the other movements, NWP employed radicalized techniques that involved publicly shaming and bringing damage to the Democratic Party. NWP’s was seemingly following the footsteps of the militant suffragettes in Britain and considered this technique more effective and compelling to win support for women suffrage rights. Additionally, its members engaged in hunger strikes and intentional arrests in a bid to gain more publicity. This actions were followed by numerous critics but this did not deter its campaign. After the Nineteenth Amendment allowed women to vote, NWP shifted focus to fight for constitutional amendments with provisions for equal rights. NWP’s mode of operation that incorporated increased radicalization is considered its main strength and the main contributor of its success that was much more than the movements attained. Conclusively, it is evident that radical feminism sparks more reaction as opposed to other methods such as campaigns and dialogue. However, radical feminism has been misunderstood hence gaining increased opposition. Radical feminism mainly entails fighting for women’s rights in order to attain equality although it uses struggle power and seemingly more of demands than requests. This though can be justified since with the increased oppression and inequality women faced it is only fair to get retaliations. With the critics following radical feminism some view it as a militant revolt, perhaps, due to some of its methods that slightly resemble militant expeditions. This can be clearly seen with a closer focus on the second wave of feminism that saw formation of several movements such as NWP. NWP employed radicalized tactics to advance their ideologies and air their grievances. These tactics were relatively aggressive rendering some of its member’s arrests and unending clashes with the authorities. However, in comparison to other movements during the time, NWP had a much greater impact and saw several changes in favor of women such as women suffrage. This may be used to justify radical feminism since it seems that radicalization has better and greater impact. With the third wave of feminism there were more radicalized tactics and this is somewhat justifiable since it was a continuation of the second wave. With greater success being achieved through radicalized tactics it was only fair to employ the same tactics to address other issues. The third wave has had great success since it has touched on a wide range of issues of which most have been implemented. It has seen more acceptance and incorporation of women even in state matters with women holding high positions in the government such as presidents, ministers and ambassadors. There is also a wide range of other issues addressed such as women oppression and the third wave has also strengthened laws relating to rape and other inhuman injustices. Nevertheless, there is still room for more to be done and although gender equality has almost been achieved there is are still some loop holes that need to be addressed. With the success seen so far it is fair to conclude that radical feminism is the right way to go in attaining gender equality and facilitating women empowerment. References Bobel, C. (2010). New blood: Third-wave feminism and the politics of menstruation. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. Bronstein, C 2011, ‘Battling pornography: the American feminist anti-pornography movement, 1976-1986’, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Dow, B 2003, ‘Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology’, Rhetoric & Public Affairs,Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 127-160 DuBois, E. C. (1978). Feminism and suffrage: The emergence of an independent womens movement in America, 1848-1869. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Read More