Breaking the Waves:
Continuities and Discontinuities Between Second and Third Wave Feminism

a thesis in progress by Jenn Frederick

Introduction

Third Wave¹ feminism emerged in the 1980s, the 1990s, or has not yet emerged, depending on whom you talk to. While some may not see the legitimacy of the Third Wave, the very fact that there are so many young women claiming that identity makes it a very real phenomenon. However, this has led to a fair amount of hostility between feminists of different ages and ideological stances, and this hostility has led to bitter divisions between feminists.

Third Wave feminists are generally thought to be those feminists who fall into "Generation X" generally speaking, those born between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. This definition, however, would imply that age is the only determinant for being a Third Wave feminist. It is more complex than that, as some feminists who fall with that age group identify as Second Wave (either denying the existence of the Third Wave or acknowledging the existence but separating themselves from it ideologically) as well as feminists who fall into another category of feminism, that being "post-feminism" (there are some questions as to whether post-feminism is a form of feminism or is anti-feminism, but the point remains that it is distinct from Third Wave feminism). So, if age is not the only determinant, what else distinguishes Third Wave feminism from Second Wave feminism?

According to many Third Wave writers, one of the primary distinguishing features is accepting a feminism with contradictions and ambiguities. This is certainly not a completely new stance to undertake, as many Second Wave feminists have, themselves, talked about the deals with the patriarchy they have made in order to survive, and other contradictions and ambiguities that exist within their politics and ideologies. However, this seems to be a much more prominent focus within Third Wave feminism than it was in Second Wave feminism. Third Wave feminists have also openly shunned identity politics, the belief that "it is important to affiliate with those who confront similar experiences based on social group characteristics"², which they see as inherent with Second Wave feminism. The idea that Second Wave feminists believe in identity politics is a generalization that certainly cannot apply to all Second Wave feminists, and the question as to whether identity politics is inherently a negative thing is open for question. Many feminists believe that "the most profound politics come out of one's own identity"³. Nonetheless, in the readings of Third Wave feminists, it is something they tend to believe about Second Wave feminists and tend to believe is inherently negative.

Tension between feminists of different generations are not new. Ruth Rosen⁴, in her book The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America, documents some of the tensions that occurred between Second Wave feminists and those of First Wave feminists who were still alive, such as Alice Paul. However, these tensions were minimal, as there were simply fewer First Wave feminists still around and one of the primary goals of First Wave feminism (women's suffrage) had been achieved. Another of the First Wave feminists' goals, passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), was something that First and Second Wave feminists seemed willing to work together on as a common goal.

The tension between Second and Third Wave feminists is much more prominent because of the closeness of the Waves. As a result, this tension has often increased the level of hostility. Some writers, such as Jennifer Baumgarder and Amy Richards⁵ and Cathryn Bailey⁶, have likened the hostility between Second and Third Wave feminists to a mother-daughter dichotomy with the daughter trying to break away and gain her own identity and the mother not wanting to fade into the background. While the analogy can be insulting to those on both sides of the situation, many of the similarities cannot be ignored, at least partly because many of the Third Wave feminists are the daughters of Second Wave feminists.

Much of what has led to this hostility seems to be a mixture of truth and fallacy on both sides, the fallacies often generated by a lack of knowledge about the Wave the feminist is not a part of. Second Wave feminists often see Third Wave feminists ignoring their feminist history, eschewing theory and even going against that which many Second Wave feminists had fought for. Third Wave feminists often see Second Wave feminists as being too enmeshed in academic feminism, steeped in identity politics and unaccepting of a broader focus of feminist politics. While all of these assertions hold a certain level of truth, they are too broad to generalize to all feminists within their respective Waves.

The hostility between the feminist Waves has created divisions among women that must be overcome if we are ever to hope to continue moving feminism forward. Certainly, it is not the first division between feminists. Every Wave contained its own divisions. However, the time spent fighting each other takes away time and energy from fighting the real enemies. Of course, therein lies another division - who the enemy is.

I hope to gather opinions about feminists and theoretical stances of each Wave by reading both Second and Third Wave texts, participate in conversations with feminists of both Waves, both within and between the different Waves, as well as by conducting a survey. By identifying the source of the hostility, defining both the truths and the fallacies, I believe that we can begin to overcome the hostility between Second and Third Wave feminists and move to a point of solidarity.

 ¹Throughout this paper, I will be using capitalization on the Waves. There does not seem to be consistency in the literature as to whether
      capitalization should be used. However, for consistency in this paper, I will be using it.
² Ryan, Barbara. 2001. "Identity politics: The past, the present, and the future." In Identity politics in the women's movement. Edited by Barbara Ryan. New York: New York University Press.
³Nicholson, Linda. 1997. "Early Statements." In The Second Wave: A reader in feminist theory. Edited by Linda Nicholson. New York: Routledge.
⁴ Rosen, Ruth. 2001. The world split open: How the modern women's movement changed America. New York: Viking Press.
⁵ Baumgardner, Jennifer, and Richards, Amy. 2000. Manifesta: Young women, feminism, and the future. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
⁶ Bailey, Cathryn. Draft. "Unpacking the mother/daughter baggage: Reassessing Second Wave power and Third Wave resistance."