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Jessica Qualters
Professor DiSarro
ENG101 Sec. 5
8 April 2014
Feminism
Feminism is not what people think it is. It is not about hating men, or believing that
women are the highest form of being. It is about equality. It is not even specifically about
equality of the sexes. It is about all around equality, meaning equality around sexual
orientation, politics, and economics. According to the website everydayfeminism.com, third
wave feminism is really about knowledge and equal opportunity. This means that, Sharing
knowledge helps dispel the notion that feminism is pointless and, [feminism] [is]
actively inclusive. I believe in this definition of feminism. Feminism is for everyone who
believes that everyone should have equal opportunities. Using a variety of sources such as
university publication, a website that looks at feminism in the media, and newspaper
articles I want to prove what it really means to be a feminist. I feel sure people will never
cringe again when they hear that word. Instead, they will understand and have more
knowledge about feminism.
According to Amy Brown (2012), a professor of Womens Studies, feminism is a
200-year-old movement with three distinct parts. The first wave of feminism started in the
later part of the 19
th
century and the earlier part of the 20
th
century where the goal was
mainly womens suffrage. The second wave came about in the 1960s and into the 90s, the
big issues being sexuality and reproductive rights. This wave brought in more of a wide-
range of women, unlike the middle class white wom (Mackey) (Fox) (Messner)en of the
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first wave. The third wave started in the mid-90s and continues today. This wave includes
the ideas of universal womanhood, body, gender, sexuality and heteronormative. In
Barbara Yellows book One, Two, Three she indicates that without the first wave of
feminism the next two waves could not have happened. It is true; the first wave of
feminism started an entire movement of women fighting for equal rights. There are certain
ideals from these eras, though, that disagree with one another.
These feminist ideals include equal pay, abortion rights, opportunities in school and
sports. The lip-sticked, high-heeled women of the third wave appall many of the first and
second wave feminists. The second wave is without a doubt more of the, Be strong and
show men you can do what they can do type of movement, while the third wave is not
afraid to show femininity because everyone has the right to be who they are. There is a lot
of controversy over ideals and the fact that many first and second wavers think that
feminism is taking steps back. Despite these disagreements, this shows that feminism is not
just about one thing and one thing only. It enables women who are feminists to not feel that
they are being forced to act against religion or their own morals. Third wave feminism is a
bigger, broader movement all about women pursuing their own ideas or sense of what it
means to be a woman. Sometimes the media supports this and sometimes it completely is
lost on them.
There are many strong examples of third wave feminism in the media. New Girl is a
sitcom with a female lead, Jessica Day, who wears dresses, teaches elementary kids, and
loves feminist rants. Shes not your ordinary female lead who is a strong female
character; shes a third wave feminist. In one episode a second wave feminist named Julia, a
lawyer, dislikes Jesss third wave extreme femininity and polka dot dresses. Jess confronts
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Julia, who tells her that if she acted like Jess no one would take her seriously at work while
Jess states that her students, my students would turn in really weird, dark dioramas
(Jess & Julia, 2012). Jess sums up her point by saying even though she works with kids all
day and wears polka-dots, that doesnt mean Im not tough, and smart, and strong (Jess
& Julia, 2012). In an article written by Susan Mackey title Third-Wave Feminism in New
Girl she states that, When light-hearted media is so blatantly sexist we should
acknowledge those forms of media that, even in subtle ways, subvert the sexist norm (para
1).
Going along with the third wave logic of woman being able to do whatever they
want, certain television programs effectively portray different kinds of women. There is no
right type of woman. Instead, there are many right types of women. Specifically this
stance is present in the show Teen Wolf. The show Teen Wolfs character Allison Argent, a
crossbow-wielding hunter, is a normal teenage girl that hunts werewolves and has a
werewolf boyfriend. In the beginning of the show she starts out as this seemingly innocent,
friendly girl who used to do archery as a hobby until she learns about what her family does
as a side job. She goes through rigorous training to become a leader, since in hunting
families the women are the leaders. Her mother is a bit overbearing and it comes to the
point where Allison breaks down because her mother keeps telling her to be strong, Cant I
be strong and go to prom? to which her mother ends up letting her go. Allison is the
perfect mix of danger and femininity.
A commercial created by Carls Jr. makes me want to gouge my eyes out. Mystique is
a mutant super-villain with the ability to shape-shift and kick ass. Carls Jr. decides to forget
the fact that she can literally beat anyone into a bloody pulp and focuses in on her mutation
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to shape-shift into something cooler. like a strong man. The only way someone can eat
their Western X-Tra Bacon Thickburger is to Man Up, literally stated in the commercial.
Screaming at the T.V. screen would it do anyone any good because the media is not too
caring about feminism and the fact that they had the opportunity to do something really
amazing with a female super-villain, but they choked on masculinity.
Speaking of masculinity, there is a countermovement to feminism called Mens
Rights Movement and it consists of men who believe that they do not have enough rights
as it is and that men deserve more power than women. Funny, is it not? Misogynistic?
Absolutely. If women get more rights it will hurt their masculinity and feelings. This
movement seems to think that everything feminism is doing is counterproductive. For
example, most feminists are pro-choicers while the MRM wants to give men more of a say
on the abortion. There is actually a part of the movement that brings up men live shorter
lives than women. One man, Michael Messner, a sociologist, states that men have poorer
health because it is the outcome for conformity with the narrow definitions of
masculinity that promise to bring them status and privilege" (para 23). Although the Mens
(Lorde)Rights Movements does call attention to certain issues such as a mans rights
regarding an unborn child and custody following divorce, it does not take in to account that
men already have so much opportunity and privilege.
There are many feminist icons that are huge, there will always be Susan B. Anthony
and Betty Friedan, but who is the third waves icon? This person may not be everyones
favorite singer/songwriter/actress/extraordinaire, which is hard to believe, but she has
taken it to a whole new level. Obviously the person in question is Beyonc Knowles, also
known as Mrs. Carter or Queen B. Many feminists are too hesitant to call her a feminist icon
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because of her music videos and lyrics. But do the problematic aspects of Beyoncs work
really prevent her from ever being termed feminist, or a feminist pop icon? Lets take a
look at the feminist movement for a minute, shall we? The issue of racism within the
feminist movement, written about by Audre Lorde in 1984, recurs all too frequently today,
with white women writers such as Caitlin Moran and Lena Dunham proclaiming not to give
a shit about representing BME women. A portion of the feminist movement are rampantly
trans phobic and believe trans women are just men trying to infiltrate the movement.
There are many feminists who are actively hateful towards other women, and
whose agenda is simply to be able to oppress people as effectively as men can. So, if one
doesnt believe in liberation and equality for all women, but one can call oneself a feminist,
does the term mean anything? Can a feminist movement even exist if the people whore
most visibly fighting for womens rights are people whove become visible by hurting and
silencing other women?
Everyone must be held accountable for problematic things they have said and done,
and any member of an oppressed group has a right to react however they want to someone
who is hateful or propagates bigoted ideas. At the same time though, I think it is important
to forgive ignorance to a certain extent acting as though they are better than another
person because they know more about an issue is problematic in itself. Moreover, if you are
dedicated to the cause of equality, it is important to take inspiration from women with
great art and great ideas wherever you find them. Criticize Beyonc when necessary, but
for gods sake dont deny yourself belting along to Irreplaceable and feeling like they could
do anything. Beyonc might not absolutely adhere to a certain feminism, but shes still a
feminist pop icon.
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How can anyone be against the third wave of feminism? Perhaps they dont know
what it is. I went to a technical school with shops. There was a girl I knew that was the only
female in the otherwise all male Carpentry shop. Many would expect her to be a feminist,
an equality getter. I had thought she was, until one day I logged onto Facebook and saw a
post she had made about her English Professor. She stated, You know it will be a long
semester when your professor says shes attached to the word feminism. She goes onto to
commenting with a boy on her status who says, Is it bad I can already imagine what she
looks like?. This exchange absolutely astounds me, and it is why I wrote this paper: to
enlighten people on what feminism is and to tell you that you are probably a feminist too.













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Works Cited
Lorde, Audre. Audre Lorde on Being a Black Lesbian Feminist Carla Hammond.
University of Illinois , 1980.
Lueptow, Kelsey. Feminism Today. 10 January 2014. 24 April 2014
<www.everydayfeminism.com>.
Mackey, Susan. "Third Wave Feminism in New Girl." 4 November 2013. Bitch Flicks.
10 April 2014 <http://www.btchflcks.com/2013/11/i-kind-of-like-it-when-she-calls-me-a-
bitch-it-makes-me-feel-like-janis-joplin-third-wave-feminism-in-new-
girl.html#.U0RaSa1dXpg>.
Messner, Michael. "Sports and Male Domination: The Female Athlete as Contested
Ideological Terrain." Sociology of Sport Journal (1998).
New Girl. Dir. Alec Berg. Fox. 2012.
Yellow, Barbara. One, Two, Three. Oregon: Pacific University, 2008.