Third Wave of

Feminism
Third Wave of Feminism
(Started In Early
1990s)

 Third wave feminism began in the 1990s as a response to

Second Wave Feminism.
 It challenged the definitions of femininity that Second Wave
Feminism created.
 Focuses less on laws and the political process, and more on
individual identity.
 Encourages women to define femininity for themselves.
e.g.: some see it as going out to work, whereas others prefer
staying at home to look after their children
e.g.: Some do not dress modestly, whereas other
people do dress modestly/wear hijab, etc.
 Third-wave feminism is the modern day movement which strives
to be inter-sectional by including women that are of all
colors, ethnicities, religions, and cultural backgrounds.
Third Wave of Feminism
(Started In Early
1990s)

 Another main issue they focus on is rape/rape

culture, and believe people can be victimized
regardless of what they are wearing.
 Presents the idea of more individual women
empowerment and opens it self up to the LGBTQ
community as a starting place for social change
Problems with second wave feminism

• Does The Universal Category Of

Women

 Represent a common
grievances of women
worldwide
 Represent the interest of
all women
 Third wave feminism :key points
1. NON-UNIVERSALIST:
 It rejects the universal category of ‘women’.
 No Generalization and binary terms like-
Men/women, sex/gender etc.

2. INTERSECTIONALITY
 Women's oppression does not based on single factor
of gender
 Instead a woman's condition is determined by the
intersection of many factors including race, class,
caste, ethnicity etc.
Third wave feminism :key points
3. CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 Different culture have different practice and tradition.
 One can not make judgment about other culture
without experiencing it.

4. PLURALITY AND DIVERSITY

 being different does not mean being abnormal.
 Diverse voice and diverse positions should be
accepted.
EVENTS
 implications
1. Diversification of Feminism
• Black feminism
• Post colonial feminism
• Dalit feminism
2. Weakening Of Feminist Politics
• Unity approach was rejected
• Alliance approach was adopted
• No ‘woman's sisterhood’
• Only ‘women solidarity’
• Politics not based on single entity
• No compromises with individual or particular identity
3. Rise of LGBTQ
 POST-FEMINISM
 1980s – present
 Includes a wide range of reactions to the feminist
movement and is often critical of the feminist ideas.
 The word ‘post’ suggests that feminism isn’t relevant
anymore because women have won equal rights.
 Other post feminists ideas argue that younger women
don’t see feminism as relevant to them now. The may
still believe in equal rights for women, but either see
themselves as individuals, not part of a feminist
movement or don’t want to use the word ‘feminist’.
 This has been criticised by feminists as a way of
‘manufacturing consent’ for the fact that women are still
unequal, by getting women to accept their unequal
position in society.
 Judith Butler(1999)
 Judith Butler was a post feminist who
believed that feminism was irrelevant in
society now because things had changed so
much
 She argued that traditional feminist movements
forced us to see gender as a binary (male or
female)
 She believed that feminism has created an us
and them system and has narrowed the choices
people can make in constructing their identity.
 She argues that since gender is a social
construct (sex is innate, gender is taught) it
should be flexible, able to change and not so
binary – more of a spectrum than an either/or.