MODULE 2

SKETCH OF FEMINISMS

LESSON 1 FEMINISM

LESSON 2 WAVES OF FEMINISM

1
 INTRODUCTION
The gendering of societies has resulted to the sexual asymmetry
between men and women. Men have achieved and maintained dominance in all
social institutions while women have only been perceived to play their
“natural” roles as mothers and wives. While promoting and valuing what men
do, we turn a blind-eye in the conditions and experiences of women in society.

This module seeks to create an understanding of the world from the

perspective of women. Feminism has always been mentioned in television
shows, beauty pageants, radio broadcasts, and other media platforms to
forward the message of women empowerment. However, whenever we are
confronted with the question “What is feminism?”, our instinct just tells us that
it is all about women being equal to men. In this module, we are to go beyond
the idea of gender equality by situating feminism in the history of women’s
struggle in fighting against invisibility and oppression.

Women subordination is a key issue in gender and society. Recognizing

the inequalities between men and women is just the beginning of what
feminism does. More than this, it also attempts to change and improve the
social world so as to make it a more just place for all the people.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Define feminism;
2. Identify feminist motivations; and
3. Situate feminism in the history of women’s struggle.

 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

1. Study each lesson in the module.

2. Answer the learning activities and summative test.
3. Refer to supplemental materials or virtual meetings for deepening of
understanding.
4. There is a need to read the lessons, links, and related presentation
materials one by one without skipping any of them. One lesson is the
continuation of the next lesson. The presentation materials are essential
in the deepening of the lessons.
5. There are evaluation activities within and at the end of each lesson.
There is also a summative test at the end of the module. Please answer
them and be sure that you answer them properly

2
Lesson 1


What is Feminism?
FEMINISM AND ITS MOTIVATIONS

Developed from a woman-centered perspective, feminism is a theory

about social life and human experience that investigates the conditions and
experiences of women in society. Feminist theory seeks to understand the
social world from the vantage points of women based on the premise that
most sociological theories only emphasized the male-dominated character of
society (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 454). With the increase in the
number of feminist scholars, artists, and activists in the international
community, feminism continues to grow as an interdisciplinary discipline by
focusing on the political, economic, and social settings of women and reveals
their subordinate position in the institutions of family, work, school, media and
religion. It is, therefore, the goal of feminism to empower and broaden the
understanding of women in order to create a better world that is perceived to
be more just and humane.

The stimulus for the establishment of an alternative account of women

begins in the simple question: “What about women?” (Ibid., 454-455). This
question mainly focuses in laying down a contextual analysis of women in the
world through the investigation of their situations and experiences in social
institutions. Feminist scholarship has answered this perennial question by
arguing some general answers. Although women are present in most social
institutions, there have been deliberate efforts to exclude them to ensure that
the traditional setting is preserved. In situations where women are present,
conventional roles as wives and mothers are still associated with them
amidst their notable contributions in societal development as politicians,
scholars, development workers, and activists. To address the issue of
inequality, it is vital that feminist theory recognizes the invisibility of women
in society as they have been less privileged than and subordinate to the roles
of men.

Feminism’s second basic question is “Why is all this as it is?” (Ibid.,

455). Prior to the existence of feminist theory, people were already well-aware
of how men and women were assigned to various posts in the society, but the
recognition of inequality only happened when there was a platform to look into
it through the vantage point of women. Although there was sexual asymmetry,
only few steps had been taken to address such problem. It was only in the
development of the term “gender” in the 1970s that people saw the
distinction between the biological difference between male and female and
the socially-learned behaviors associated with masculinity and femininity
(Connell 2009, 11). The understanding of gender as a social construction is vital
for people to realize that there are no predestined commitments for men and
women in the roles that they will play in society. It is in this line of thinking
that feminist scholars argued that women can go beyond the idea of
3
motherhood as a natural process and the domestic responsibility of doing the
household chores and taking care of their children.

Recognizing the inequalities between men and women is one thing. More
importantly, feminist scholars also attempt to answer the question “How can
we change and improve the social world as to make it a more just place for
all people?” (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 455). In our past discussions,
the unequal distribution of power, wealth, and prestige has resulted to a
conventional thinking that what men do is more important than what women
do since they are naturally perceived to be the ones who will provide basic
necessities for their families (Richardson and Taylor 1987, 91). It is in this
reason that women were forced to follow the standards that men imposed to
them which resulted to subordination. To fight the existing conceptions about
women is no easy task and feminism is up for the challenge of confronting
injustices in specific political, social, and historical contexts in its commitment
to make a just and better place for everyone.

In a larger scale, feminist theory is not just about women. It is a

revolutionary switch in our understanding of the world as it reveals that the
knowledge which shapes society that we have taken to believe to be natural
and essential in a long time is derived from the most powerful sector and the
privileged in society (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 456). From the vantage
point of women who are historically deemed to be powerless and invisible,
feminist theory brings into the limelight a discovery that raises questions about
what we thought we knew about society and its implications (Ibid.). As such, it
also deconstructs the established systems of knowledge by unveiling their
masculinist bias and the existing power arrangements of the things that we
thought only to be natural and absolute.

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.1.1

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Fill in the blanks.

1. Feminist theory claims that most sociological theories only emphasized

the _______________ character of society, leaving the experiences of
women behind.

2. Amidst their notable contributions in societal development as

politicians, scholars, development workers, and activists, women’s
conventional roles as ___________ and ____________ are still associated
with them.

3. Although women are present in most social institutions, feminist theory

recognizes their ____________ as they have been less privileged than
and subordinate to the roles of men.

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4. It was only in the development of the term “gender” in the 1970s that
people realized the distinction between ____________ difference
between male and female, and the ____________ behaviors associated
with masculinity and femininity.

5. By understanding that gender is a social construction, feminist theory

argues that there are no _____________ commitments for men and
women in the roles that they will play in society.

6. The unequal distribution of __________, ______________, and

_____________ has resulted to a conventional thinking that what men do
is more important than what women do.

7. Feminist theory reveals that the knowledge which shapes society that we
have taken to believe to be natural and essential in a long time is
derived from the most __________ sector and _____________ in society.

8. By unveiling the masculinist bias and the existing power arrangements

that influence society, feminist theory ____________ the established
systems of knowledge.

9. Women were forced to follow the standards that men imposed to them
which resulted to their continuous ______________.

10. The goal of feminism in empowering and broadening the understanding

of women is to create w better world that is more _________ and
____________.

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Lesson 2

 WAVES OF FEMINISMS

As a project to recover women from the problem of invisibility and

oppression, feminism has to be contextualized historically to understand
how scholars and activists stood up for women’s rights in different time
periods. The waves of feminism represent the peaks of liberationist
movements in feminist social activism throughout the history of the Western
world. They are divided into four parts: First Wave (1830-1920), Second
Wave (1960-1990), Third Wave (late 1990s to early 2000s), and Fourth
Wave (age of social media).

First Wave: A Struggle for Political Rights

First Wave feminism began in the 1830s as a challenge to the existing
slavery movement and focused on women’s struggle for political rights.
During this period, there was a major resurgence of feminist activity as
Victorian women who opted not to marry were confronted with limited
employment opportunities (Sanders 2001, 20). Economic independence as an
alternative to marriage was nearly impossible to be achieved since there were
only few job openings for them other than teaching, and the education that
they acquired did not prepare them in what was needed for most of the
workplaces. This was due to the notion of the time that the true vocation of
being a lady is to get married and undergo the natural process of motherhood.

Seeking alternatives to marriage and motherhood when they rallied in

the streets to protest for social change, reforms in education and
employment were progressively made. Although employers feared women
might outlast men from various professions, women’s employment
opportunities developed in teaching, philanthropy, and nursing, or the areas
which were perceived to be extensions of their natural character as mothers
and wives (Ibid., 21). Moreover, there was also a movement of colleges to
formalize the education of girls by bringing their lectures closer to the
standards of boys (Ibid.). To have a quite similar education to boys was a big
deal for young girls as it also expanded their employment opportunities to jobs
that were dominated by men. For instance, the admission of women in
medical schools, and the opening of posts in public and clerical work opened
chances of women to speak in public and to participate in government affairs.

Championing women’s rights for the Victorian women was no easy task
but they were able to mobilize specific reforms in the areas of work and
educational opportunities, child custody rights, and government regulation
for anti-discrimination in the workplace, within the span of over thirty
years (Ibid., 22-23). However, what had remained to be unachieved by the end
of the nineteenth century was women’s suffrage or their right to vote.

6
 What are the implications of allowing women to vote? Primarily, it
recognizes their existence as rights holders and gives them the opportunity to
participate in the creation of laws in a country. In a more personal level, it
symbolizes a sense of belongingness for women and equality towards men by
pushing for their interests in various fields. However, it was only in 1928 that
the fruits of women’s struggle came into existence when the majority of the
vote finally went on their side which viewed them in similar terms as men.
Although political rights were given to women, feminist thinking and activism
declined between 1920 and 1960 as the world was trying to respond to more
“important” social crises, such as World War I and its aftermath, the Great
Depression, World War II and its aftermath, and the Cold War of the 1950s
(Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 457).

Woman’s suffrage march in New York City circa 1900.

SOURCE: https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth

In the struggle for women’s political rights to seek for economic

independence, two forms of feminism emerged: Liberal feminism and Marxist
feminism.

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.1

Identify the situations of Victorian women before the period of Enlightenment,

and the reforms made for them in the First Wave of feminist struggle.

Women Before FIRST WAVE FEMINISM Reforms Made for

Enlightenment Women

Employment

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 Education

Roles in Marriage

Participation in Society

• Liberal Feminism

Since the 1700s, advocates of liberal feminism have been campaigning

for equality of access and provision in education and employment opportunities
(Weedon 2007, 39). The need for social reform is due to the notion that
women are as rational as men and gender should not affect the kind of
education that people receive. It is therefore identified by liberal feminists
that gender inequality is the root of oppression and women subordination. As a
result of the sexist patterning of the division of labor, gender inequality
exists in key institutions of law, work, family, education, and media
(Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 466-467). By advocating for social reforms
that anchor on the principle of inclusivity within civil rights, legislation, access
to education, and equality of opportunity, liberal feminists claim that we can
transform the conventional division of labor and view women as similar to men
in the face of the law (Weedon 2007, 40).

In 1848, the first women’s rights convention was held at Seneca Falls,
New York which drafted the Declaration of Sentiments that claimed for
women the rights accorded to all human beings under the natural law
(Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 467). Gender equality can be achieved by
relying on the premise that all human beings have certain essential features –
capacity for reason, moral agency, and self-actualization – that make us all
equal under natural law. In the long history of women subordination, liberal
feminists argued that the denial of women’s rights by governments instituted
by men violates the natural law, and therefore calls for change in law and
custom to allow women in assuming their equal place in society. In other
words, the division of labor and gender stereotypes assigned to both men
and women have no natural basis, which demands for the recognition of
universal rights of human beings in the form of organized appeal to a
reasonable public and the use of the state (Ibid.). It is in this light that
reformatory changes are being pushed forward by liberal feminists for
achievement of gender equality. Over the centuries, liberal feminists have
campaigned for equal access to education and employment options, property
rights, the right to vote, and all other rights enjoyed by men (Weedon 2007,
40).

In the early 1700s, Mary Astell’s A Serious Proposal to the Ladies became
a proto-feminist treatise that articulated women’s demand for equality with
men (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 468). Aside from this, Mary
Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman emerged in the 1790s
from the social and political conflict brought by the French Revolution (Sanders
2001, 15). She was mainly concerned on how society constructed and imposed
an inadequate conception of femininity which misdirected the education of
8
young girls. In supporting middle-class women, especially those who were
mothers, in her writing, Wollstonecraft emphasized the need for women to be
rational and educated for human virtue to progress and for improvement in
knowledge to happen (Ibid.). Her kind of thinking did not portray women as
superior to men and only wished for the overall improvement in intellectual
and moral compass by making all citizens rational.

• Marxist Feminism

Unlike the liberal perspective that campaigns for reformatory changes,

Marxist Feminists argued that the solutions needed in advocating for women
empowerment are not merely technical but political (Bandarage 1984, 500).
With the rise of industrial capitalism in the 19th century, the bourgeoisie
(capitalists) owned and managed the production of goods, while the proletariat
(workers), who had no other property except their ability to work, had to
succumb themselves to the control of the capitalists. Under capitalism, social
reforms were not appropriate since the structural system in its entirety put the
profit of the few at the expense of the human needs of the many.

Marx and Engels established a new continent of thought to demonstrate

how capitalism was able to grow by the exploitation of labor. Within the
relations of capitalism, Marxism historicized social reproduction as a form of
labor (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 475). In order to sustain the capitalist
structure, the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat had to
be preserved through the process of procreation. It was in this light that
Marxist feminists highlighted the reproductive value of housewives in the
structure of capitalism. In any industrial economy, housewives are necessary
because their unpaid work in the home maintains bosses and workers, and
reproduces the next generation of bosses and workers (Lorber 1997, 10-11).

Aside from the capitalist and worker relationship, the power relation
between the husband and wife manifested how gender roles were passed on
from generation to generation (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 475). Under
the control of men, the wives of capitalists and workers had to do the bulk of
all reproductive labor. Moreover, if a capitalist husband experiences hard
times, his wife has no choice but to earn extra income by doing intricate work
in the home such as dressmaking (Lorber 1997, 11). If a worker husband fails to
give the wage that is needed to feed his family, his wife has to also work for
wages in factories or other people’s homes (Ibid.). While helping their
husbands in providing money for their families, it was a common sight in the
1900s industrial setting that women had to juggle work with their inherited
roles as mothers and wives.

Central to the claims of Marxist Feminism is the notion that women’s

subordination was neither biologically natural nor God-given (Marx and
Engels 1964). Unlike the liberals who believed in sameness of human beings
under natural law, the analysis of human beings must begin with the class
relations of capitalism as the divide between the rich and the poor also
reinforces women’s oppression. In order to sustain capitalism, there is a need
for families to demean women’s abilities and prevent them from learning
9
valuable technological skills, so that capitalist and worker husbands preserve
them as exploitable reserve army of social and reproductive labor (Disch
2003, 10). By situating human beings in a historical context, Marxist Feminism
was able to show how male supremacy became a historically-determined
phenomenon that was passed on from generation to generation in the light of
capitalist-industrialist set-up of society. The focus, therefore, of activism is to
address the state through revolutionary means or by eradicating the entire
economic system itself to put a stop to the cyclical power relations within the
confines of capitalism.

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.2

1. What is the basis of liberal feminists in claiming that there ought to be

equal access for both men and women in education and employment
opportunities?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
2. According to the Marxist framework, what kind of labor did women do in
the 19th century? How did it sustain the industrial capitalist system?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Second Wave Feminism: “The Personal is Political”

Second wave feminism challenged the liberal democratic definition of
politics as it failed to encompass the existing power relations in the structures
and relationships between men and women. In the period of 1960 to 1990,
feminist scholars and activists worked to situate basic political rights into the
socio-economic arena to include various personal lives of women in the
pursuit of full citizenship and equality (Holmes 2000, 235). In the United
States, many radical women’s groups have emerged throughout the country
due to the realization that women were always playing secondary roles to men
on every facet of their personal lives. In personal activities that men and
women shared in building a relationship, such as marriage, child-rearing,
and sexual practices, the emergence of second wave feminism sprung from
the awareness that what had been first assumed to be a personal problem

10
was in fact deeply rooted in a social and political inequality (Thornham 2001,
26). It is therefore manifested in this period that the struggle for gender
equality requires politicising the relationship between men and women so that
diversity can be recognized and that feminists can begin to consider how to
represent themselves and their interests in more complex ways (Holmes 2000,
235).

9/7/1968-Atlantic City, NJ-Demonstrators from the National Women’s

Liberation Movement picketing the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City,
New Jersey. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
SOURCE: https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth

Several concerns were materialized into various actions. The kind of

oppression that women suffered from men made several feminists to realize
that it was not enough that women formed liberationist groups. Commitment in
joining such groups necessitated them to undergo a process of consciousness-
raising where in their personal problems were discussed and accounted into the
general analysis that what is personal is also political (Thornham 2001, 26).
The first major action of the Woman’s Liberation movement in the United
States was in 1968 against the Miss America beauty pageant. In beauty
pageants before, contestants were forced to follow the epitome of beauty and
femininity that is an “apolitical, unoffending, passive, and delicate” woman
in order for them to snatch the crown (Ibid.). For several feminists, this was a
clear manifestation of how the ideals of femininity were shaped by patriarchal
standards that continued to dictate women to fit in. Aside from raising
consciousness, the key concerns of second wave feminism also included
inequalities in the workplace, legalizing abortion and birth control, and
sexual liberation of women.

In combating gender and structural oppression, two types of feminist

thought emerged: Radical feminism and Socialist feminism.

11
 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.3

In Miss America before, contestants were forced to follow the Western

epitome of beauty and femininity that is an “apolitical, unoffending, passive,
and delicate” woman. In your opinion, do beauty pageants nowadays deviate
from these patriarchal standards or do they continue to dictate women to fit
in?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

• Radical Feminism

In the late 1960s, radical feminism emerged as a response to the failure

of liberal feminism to see the many aspects of women’s oppression and to the
Marxist attitudes toward women (Banks 2007, 42). By examining the socio-
economic arena where women are situated, radical feminists argued that
women’s liberation cannot be achieved by the theoretical framework and
political practice of liberalism that create provision for the rights of abstract
individuals irrespective of their gender relation and social class. Despite the
sameness that we have as human beings, the development of our reason, moral
agency, and self-actualization, is always dependent to the society’s most
basic social arrangements, such as heterosexuality, class, caste, race,
ethnicity, age, and gender (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 473).

Although radical feminism has somewhat mirrored the Marxist feminist

formulation, its deviation from it is that women’s oppression is the primary and
fundamental form of oppression. In the past discussion, Marxist feminists only
regarded women’s subordination as a secondary problem that occurred as a
result of class oppression, and the socio-economic structures of the capitalist
mode of production. Radical feminism believed that it is only in the realization
of the existence of an elaborate system of male domination in all social
institutions that we can address the primary form of oppression that is
women’s oppression (Banks 2007, 42).

The theoretical watchword for male domination is patriarchy.

Irrespective of the historical, cultural, class and racial differences, patriarchy
expresses men’s pervasive oppression and exploitation of women which can
happen wherever they are in contact with each other (Lorber 1997, 16). The
image of patriarchy in society is not limited to the physical violence of male-
dominated organizations against women. It can also be found in the ideals that
women follow in order for them to be called “women”, such as standards of
fashion, beauty, motherhood, and heterosexuality (Lengermann and Niebrugge
12
2010, 473). Concrete manifestations of these standards can be seen in beauty
pageants and pornography. Although beauty pageants are already campaigning
for women empowerment, the ideal size and skin complexion of women that
are created by patriarchal standards still influence how the contestants are
being scored by the board of judges and fans from around the world. Moreover,
radical feminism strongly condemned pornography due mainly in its
objectification of women and the perpetrators of such activity are men who
owned these porn companies.

According to George Ritzer, men have real interest in making women

as compliant tools because their bodies are essential for the production of
children, and they also serve as ornamental signs of male power and status
(Ritzer 2007). This kind of thinking has already been embedded in the male
consciousness which makes it hard for feminist scholars and activists to destroy
all manifestations of patriarchy. In the attempt to create a just and better
world for women, radical feminism advocates for a basic reworking of
women’s consciousness so that each woman recognizes her own value and
strength (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 474). Although it might take a long
time for women to do this, there should be a progressive rejection of
patriarchal pressures that see them as weak, dependent, and second-class. This
can be done by forming non-hierarchical, supportive, woman-only spaces
where women can independently think and act, and be free from the confines
of their homes where the threat of rape and violence is prevalent (Lorber 1997,
17). As a movement of separation from men, the establishment of sisterhoods
has opened the possibility of creating woman-oriented healthcare facilities that
will provide appropriate treatment and comfort to women who experience the
adverse impacts of male domination.

• Socialist Feminism

The theoretical project of socialist feminism recognized the problems

identified by Marxist and radical feminisms and created a holistic approach to
understand their relations. In the Marxist formulation, capitalism was
perceived to be an exploitative structure as it only determined the value of
individuals based on their accumulation of property. For the Radicals, women’s
oppression could occur anywhere as the very structure itself of the world is
built on patriarchal standards. Like gender oppression theories, socialist
feminism recognizes that oppression results from the fact that some groups
gain a dominant position in the world from controlling and using other
groups of people.

Irrespective of the location, what has been a development of socialist

thinking is the idea that societies are always constructed with arrangements
of power that continue to manifest the exploitative structures of
patriarchy, capitalism, racism, and heterosexism (Lengermann and Niebrugge
2010, 475). It is, therefore, argued by socialist feminism that women’s
experiences of oppression are a result of the interplay of these structures as
they mutually reinforce each other. For instance, a black woman working in a
transnational company dominated by American and European employees would
definitely experience various forms of oppression due to the link between
13
white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism. Socialist feminism uses the term
domination to explain all forms of social oppression. In any structural
arrangement or social relationship, there is always a dominant and a
subordinate. The power relation between these social actors is not due to their
individual intentions and will because everything that we know and do in
society is always shaped by a large-scale structural arrangement that is
composed of various structures.

In order to get rid of domination, there is a need to address the state

through parliamentary means. As compared to the revolutionary proposal and
separatist plan of Marxist and radical feminists respectively, socialist feminists
call for global solidarity among women by using the state as a means for the
effective redistribution of societal resources (Ibid., 481). To continuously
lessen the gap between the dominant and the subordinate, men and women
have to be given equal opportunities in occupying government positions so that
gender representations are manifested and different voices are heard. In
terms of allocating resources, there ought to be a provision of an extensively
safety net of public services, such as state-sponsored education, healthcare,
transportation, childcare, and housing. To ensure that we reduce the wide
disparities of income between the rich and the poor, there must be a
progressive tax structure that demands individuals to pay based on their
economic gains. Lastly, all members of the community must be guaranteed of a
living wage as people’s material condition is also linked with other facets of
their lives, such as involvement in procreation, sexuality, and production of
knowledge.

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.4

TRUE OR FALSE. Write TRUE if the statement is true and FALSE if otherwise.

______________1. Radical feminism argues that women’s liberation can be

achieved by retaining the provision of the liberals that all human beings have
certain essential features.

______________2. Patriarchy is a universal problem that exploits women

irrespective of the historical, cultural, class, and racial differences.

______________3. Radical feminists condemn pornography due to its

objectification of women, and put the blame on men who own these porn
companies.

______________4. In order to destroy all manifestations of patriarchy, there is

a need to create separate spaces for women that will allow them to
independently think and act, and be free from the confines of their homes
where the threat of rape and violence is prevalent.

______________5. The image of patriarchy in society can only be found in the

physical violence of male-dominated organizations against women.
14
______________6. For socialist feminism, societies are always constructed with
arrangements of power that continue to manifest structural combinations of
patriarchy, capitalism, racism, and heterosexism.

______________7. Socialist feminism uses the term “domination” to explain all

forms of social oppression.

______________8. In order to get rid of domination, socialist feminists claimed

that there is a need to address the state through revolutionary means like the
Marxist.

______________9. A black woman working in a transnational company

dominated by white men is prone to experience multiple oppressions.

______________10. Like gender oppression theories, socialist feminism

recognizes that oppression results from the fact that some groups gain a
dominant position in the world from controlling and using other groups of
people.

Third Wave Feminism: “The Girl Power” Movement

Third wave feminism was described as a wide array of responses by
women of color, lesbians, and working class women to the general ideas of
white professional women claiming to be the voice of Second wave feminism in
the beginning of the 21st century (Feree 2009). Although it challenged the
existing narrative of women empowerment, the vision of third wave feminism
is hard to thematize for several reasons. For one, the majority of the texts
used are anecdotal and autobiographical in nature which makes it difficult to
come up with generalities in the first-person narratives (Snyder 2008, 177). As
a way of reaching more people, feminist thinking has also moved from
universities and political institutions to the platform of media to create icons,
portrayals, images, identities, and discourses about the sexuality of women.

However, what can be argued to be a similar trait of third wave

feminists is the aim of their writing which is to debunk the universal claim of
second wave feminism concerning gender and structural oppression. Since
they already lived in a different century, they necessarily have to have their
own distinctive version of feminism that is characterized with a sense of
entitlement and self-fulfilment (Feree 2009). This is clearly a reaction to the
basic premise of the second wave that the personal lives of women are always
shaped by the existing power arrangements in the society dominated by men.

Aside from this, the idea that women are always oppressed regardless of
the context is proved to be fallacious for the young feminists, for their own
version of feminism addresses their different societal contexts and the
particular set of challenges that they face (Snyder 2008, 178). This can be
done via respecting the differences between women based on race, ethnicity,
religion, economic standing, as well as their various identities. In a global
context, the discrimination faced by black women is far different from the
experiences of women from the West. In micro scale, personal differences
among black women also play a factor in understanding their individual
15
motivations. Moreover, the problem of women in the 21 st century does not just
revolve in the lack of representation in the academe and governmental
positions as they also face a world colonized by mass media and information
technology.

Bikini Kill and Joan Jett (center), 1994. Steve

Eichner/WireImage/Getty Images
SOURCE: https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-
fourth

In contrast to the perception of second wave feminism that subordinated

women, girl power or girl culture has been campaigned as a central idea of
the movement to describe women’s entitlement to interact with men as
equals, to claim sexual pleasure when they desire it, and to vigorously use
their femininity to their own advantage (Ibid., 179). This means that the
younger generation is involved in the process of reclaiming notions that were
thought to be offensive. Terms like “bitch”, “slut”, and “cunt” can now be
used to describe women enjoying their sexual pleasures and desires. Barbie
dolls, make-up, fashion magazines, and high heels that were perceived as signs
of satisfying male standards can just be interpreted as a woman’s way of
portraying her femininity.

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.5

What are the negative connotations attached to the word “slut”? How did Third
Wave Feminism change its meaning to empower women?

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16
 • Postmodern Feminism

Postmodernism feminism has presented a strong challenge to the general

claims of the Second Wave concerning women’s oppression. In general,
postmodernism is an umbrella term for all theorists who critique modernism
and the humanistic assumptions that are attached to it (Banks 2007, 55). In
the past discussions, the emergence of various types of feminism can be argued
to have basic or foundational truths. It was through the use of these
foundational truths that schools of thought were able to frame the experiences
of women.

In liberal feminism, the insistence of gender equality is due to the

foundational truth that all human beings have certain essential features. In
Marxist feminism, capitalism has served as a basic truth and a superstructure to
explain how class relations result to women subordination. Radical feminism
also began with a foundational truth that the society is built up of an elaborate
system of male domination called patriarchy. In socialist feminism, domination
is a result of the interrelated systems of oppression. These are all debunked by
postmodernism as they gave rise to a number of fallacious certainties of the
world. For instance, the identification of patriarchy and capitalism as
exploitative structures are manifestations of grand narratives that try to
explain the complexities of the world. However, they failed to consider that
not all societies in the world are capitalist and male-dominated. The rejection
of these truths of the world is due to postmodern feminism’s insistence on
perspective: “Whose truth? Whose nature? Whose version of reason? Whose
history? Whose tradition?” (Bordo 1990, 136-137).

The practical manifestation of postmodernism was the discontent of

Third World feminists in the writings of white feminist scholars who believed
that they encompassed the reality of the world. The foundationalist and
universalist tendencies of their works have been the subject of rejection in the
project of feminist scholars of the time to decenter and deconstruct such
ideas (Nicholson 1992, 54). In decentering, they suggest alternative
epistemological practices that focus on understanding the standpoint of non-
privileged groups (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 486). In deconstructing,
they deem it necessary to explain how concepts that we use to understand the
world are historically constructed and contain contradictions. It was because of
these projects that postmodernism attracted the likes of women who were not
included in the foundational truths and are continuously unheard, such as the
lesbians and the women of color. To understand the narratives of these
women, it is vital that we remove universal claims and start to look into the
plurality of differences, experiences, and identities.

The most important contributor of postmodern feminist theory is Judith

Butler. Central to her philosophy is questioning the category of “women” as it
is produces limitations for the gender construction of individuals. Her definition
of “performativity” revolves around the idea that the practice of attaching
categories to individuals has resulted for them to perform in a predictable way
in their interaction with other people (Butler 1995, 134). For instance, when a
judge or a minister says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife”, people have
17
no choice but to perform actions that are attached to such categories. In
Butler’s thinking, gender is created and sustained through the process of
imitating the performances of other people that reek of rigid cultural
constructions of masculinity and femininity.

• Psychoanalytic Feminism

The writings of Sigmund Freud and his intellectual heirs have

attempted to explain male domination and women subordination using the
theory of personal development. Like the second wave theorists,
psychoanalytic feminists also believed that patriarchy is a universal system in
which men subjugate women in all forms of social interaction. However, the
attempt to explain such phenomenon has been a challenging task for feminists
as they must also take into account why sexist and patriarchal standards
continue to shape the world. It is in this light that psychoanalytic feminism
turns their analytic lens on the socio-emotional environment in which the
personality of a young child takes form (Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 471-
472).

The gendered personalities of boys and girls are a result of the “Oedipus
complex” or the child’s separation from the mother (Lorber 1997, 20). In all
societies, infants and children experience their earliest and most crucial
development in a close and intimate rapport with a woman (mother or
caregiver). As infants and children, they still lack the capability to
communicate with the people around them so the earliest phases of personal
development revolve around their use of various emotions to express how they
feel. In recalling these memories as they grow up, they will progressively
understand that the woman/mother/caregiver has been the prime mover of
their socio-emotional environment by giving them feelings of need, love,
dependence, and possessiveness while their relationship with their father/man
is only secondary and occasional since they have to leave their homes for work
(Lengermann and Niebrugge 2010, 472).

Because the woman is the primary parent, infants bond them. However,
the establishment of masculinity for boys requires them to separate with their
mothers and identify with the activities of their fathers. When there are
changes in their physical body, boys have to ask their fathers. This is also the
explanation why boys are usually into ball sports as they also want to mimic
what their fathers do. In adulthood, the feelings of love and possessiveness
that they experience in their early childhood development energize them to
look for a woman that can supply their emotional needs.

On the other hand, the sensitiveness and empathy of girls are a result
of their continuous affiliation with their mothers. As they grow up, they
become aware of their feminine nature by observing what their mothers do.
This is the explanation why mothers usually teach their daughters how to do
the household chores since these activities, along with their sensitiveness and
empathy, make them good and responsible mothers in the future. Since men
are perceived to be distant and emotionally guarded, women usually want to
have children to bond with. When a child is born, the psychological gendering is
18
continuously sustained. In order to break this cycle of gendered personality
structures, psychoanalytic feminists suggest that husbands and wives should
be involved in shared parenting so that children do not attach feelings to both
genders in the early part of their lives (Lorber 1997, 20).

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.6

True or False. Write TRUE if the statement is true and FALSE if otherwise.

______________1. Postmodernism claims that there are foundational truths to

understand the experiences of women in society.

______________2. The writings of white feminist scholars are seconded by

Third World feminists as they also believe that universal truths shape the
reality of the world.

______________3. Postmodern feminist thinking involves decentering and

deconstructing past ideas about women to include those who are continuously
unheard such as the lesbians and women of color.

______________4. Central to the philosophy of Judith Butler is the notion of

“performativity” which determines sex in the process of imitating the
performances of other people.

______________5. Postmodern feminism insists on the importance of

differences in women’s perspective.

______________6. Psychoanalytic feminists argue that the development of a

child outside his/her home is an important contributor in the continuity of
patriarchy.

______________7. The gendered personalities of boys and girls are a result of

“Oedipus complex”.

______________8. At an early age, the establishment of masculinity for boys

requires them to separate with their mothers and identify with the activities of
their fathers.

______________9. In adulthood, the feelings of love and possessiveness that

men experience in their early childhood development energize them to look for
a woman that can supply their emotional needs.

______________10. In order to break this cycle of gendered personality

structures, psychoanalytic feminists suggest that husbands and wives should be
involved in shared parenting.

19
Fourth Wave Feminism: The Rise of Social Media Activism
In these contemporary times, the Internet has emerged as an
increasingly important platform for feminist activism (Political Insight 2013).
Social media networks and sites such as Facebook and Twitter are endlessly
used by people to connect and reach to other populations across cultural and
national borders. Aside from being a tool for communication, the increasing use
of social media networks enabled people to participate in voicing out their
advocacies, and in the creation of online political contents addressing the
issues of society. Contemporary feminist activism is an example of a political
movement that uses social media and technology to call out and challenge
sexism and misogyny, and to further its main goal to empower women in
both the physical and online worlds.

Fourth wave feminism is known for its reliance on social media to call
out and tackle many of the same issues that the first, second, and third waves
have identified. Patriarchy, capitalism, toxic heterosexuality, and white
supremacy are among the problems that feminist activists continue to talk
about online by creating blogs, Twitter campaigns, Facebook posts, and
other online media arrangements to show their consciousness of such
problems. This kind of activism is called clicktivism which encompasses online
political activities that demonstrate support or solidarity (Mazak and Stetka
2016 in Dimapilis 2019).

In the United States, Twitter has served as an intersection where social

media and feminism meet as political hashtags such as #YesAllWomen,
#HobbyLobby, and #AskHerMore went viral and brought national attention to
women’s advocacy groups fighting against reproductive rights and sexual
violence (Looft 2017, 3-4). The #MeToo movement has also yielded solidarity of
women who were victims of different manifestations of sexual violence, which
made them realize that it is a structural problem and that the personal is
always political (Mendes et al. 2018). Aside from these initiatives, such
activism has struggled against global terrorism through the use of the hashtag
#bringbackourgirls to raise awareness about the mass abduction of over two-
hundred Nigerian schools by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram (Rivers
2017, 107). Thus, it can be said that hashtag activism does not just inform
people of the issues that women face, but it also creates a virtual space
where survivors of inequality could co-exist together in a community that
acknowledges their pain, narrative, and isolation (Mendes et al. 2018).

In the context of the Philippines, #BabaeAko has been a prominent

hashtag to further the feminist agenda. Due to the remarks of President
Duterte in ordering soldiers to shoot female rebels in their vaginas, joking
about raping the Miss Universe, and commenting on Vice President Robredo’s
legs among others, the movement continuously serves as an avenue for
contemporary Filipino feminists to materialize their rage against manifestations
of misogyny and the effects that it may have in the consciousness of Filipinos
(Dollanganger 2018). Aside from #BabaeAko, other online movements also
emerged, such as #SaveMaryJane which shed light on the issue of women as

20
victims of human trafficking, and the #NaanoLangAko which was a movement
against the statement of Senator Tito Sotto to describe women who got
pregnant in one-night stands (Dimapilis 2019).

As compared to the other waves of feminism, the critics of clicktivism

have argued that it cannot translate into concrete social action since it does
not go beyond the boundaries of the Internet. Although challenging on their
part, supporters of clicktivism have responded to the critiques by claiming that
online activism energizes social movements in its creation of online
petitions, consciousness-raising groups, and pressing contents on social
networks (Mazak and Stetka 2016 in Dimapilis 2019). In order words, the
feminist remarks in social media must be translated in social demonstrations
and lobbying in order to instigate social change.

 LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2.7

The use of hashtag has been the symbol of Fourth Wave Feminism to
demonstrate solidarity for online campaigns that further women
empowerment. Imagine yourself as an online feminist activist and create your
own hashtag to support women’s struggle against a certain issue. Answer the
following questions:

Why did you pick this issue? How does this affect the lives of women?
What are the possible projects and solutions that your hashtag proposes?

____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________

In Lesson 1, you were introduced to the basic ideas attached to theory of

feminism. Coming from the vantage points of women, it seeks to understand
the various experiences and conditions of women in society. By recognizing the
invisibility and oppression that women face, feminist theory attempts to create
a revolutionary shift in our understanding of the world as what we believe to
be “natural” actually exhibits masculinist. In challenging existing truths,
feminism aims to empower and broaden the understanding of women in order
to create a better world that is perceived to be more just and humane.

21
 In Lesson 2, you were able to contextualize feminism historically to
understand how scholars and activists stood up for women’s rights in different
time periods.

The First Wave focused on women’s struggle for political rights such as
formal education, women’s suffrage, and better employment opportunities.

The Second Wave relied on the idea that what is personal is also
political, arguing that the personal relationship between men and women is
deeply rooted in a much larger frame of social and political inequality.

The Third Wave debunked the universal and foundational truths

introduced by the First and Second, and campaigned for “girl power” as a way
of describing women’s entitlement to interact with men as equals, to claim
sexual pleasure when they desire it, and to vigorously use their femininity to
their own advantage.

In our present time, the rise of social media has resulted to the
emergence of the Fourth Wave. Contemporary feminist activism is an example
of a political movement that uses social media and technology to call out and
challenge sexism and misogyny, and to further its main goal to empower
women in both the physical and online worlds.

 SUMMATIVE TEST

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Write the letter of your answer in the space provided
before each number.

______1. Which of the following is a characteristic of Postmodern

Feminism?

A. Essentialism that claims that people are constituted by core and

unchanging qualities

B. Individual Narrative that focuses on the individual experiences and

differences

C. Universalism that asserts that there are discoverable principles that

everywhere govern the world

D. Foundationalism that identifies certain rules of analysis as always

appropriate

______2. Which of the following is the concern of First Wave Feminism?

A. Economic and social equality for women

B. Perspectives of women of color and working-class women

C. Political rights

22
D. Re-establishment of a feminist perspective in universities

______3. Which of the following is true about structural oppression?

A. It is the identified problem of radical feminism

B. It is an arrangement of various structures that contradict one another.

C. Patriarchy and capitalism are two distinctive yet interrelated dimensions

of oppression

D. It has enactments of domination in the interplay of structures

______4. Which of the following claims on women’s identity is not true for
Radical Feminism?

A. Women are different from men

B. Women are different from each other

C. Women are equal to men

D. Women are separate from men

______5. How is patriarchy defeated according to Psychoanalytic Feminism?

A. Effective redistribution of societal resources

B. By re-defining a child’s socioemotional environment

C. Through the legal recognition of women’s rights

D. By raising women’s consciousness

______6. Which of the following is a manifestation of an effective use of

the state to make a just society?

A. A progressive tax structure

B. Women-run businesses, households, and communities

C. Destruction of capitalism and patriarchy through revolutionary means

D. Address other women through consciousness raising groups

______7. Which of the following is true about patriarchy?

A. It is only in the form of overt physical cruelty done by male-dominated

societies

B. Standards of beauty and fashion, chastity, monogamy and other things

that women believe in are products of their own understanding of the world

C. Women can be ornamental signs of male status and power

D. It depends on historical, racial, cultural, and class differences

______8. Which of the following is not a key principle of Marxist Feminism?

23
A. Women’s subordination was neither biologically natural nor God-given

B. Class relations of capitalism enforced the gender hierarchies that

anchored women’s oppression

C. Patriarchy occupies the same position of capitalism as main problems

that continue to view the home as a site of oppression

D. Address the state through revolutionary means

______9. Which of the following is not true about the claims of

Pyschoanalytic Feminism?

A. The importance of infancy and early childhood in the patterning of

emotions

B. Emotions are often deeply buried in the subconscious or unconscious

areas of the psyche

C. Patriarchy is a universal pervasive system in which men subjugate

women durable over time and space

D. The focus on the character development of an individual outside the

home since there are various sites of oppression

______10. Which of the following claims is not true about women’s identity
in the perspective of Socialist Feminism?

A. Women are equal to men

B. Women are not separate as a sex

C. Women are separate from men

D. Women’s oppression is based on the class relations of the population

______11. Which of the following is not true about the development of a

male child using a psychoanalytic lens?

A. He is growing up in a culture that positively values femaleness and

devalues maleness

B. He attempts to achieve an awkwardly rapid separation of identity from

his mother he grows up

C. In adulthood, the separation of the man from his mother will result to
the emergence of feelings of need, love, hate, and possessiveness

D. The experience of the man when he was a male child would result to his
urge to dominate and find recognition at the expense of his partner

______12. Which wave of feminism in history highlighted the influence of

feminist sociologists in the universities?

A. First Wave Feminism

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B. Second Wave Feminism

C. Third Wave Feminism

D. Fourth Wave Feminism

______13. According to the Declaration of Sentiments drafted at Seneca

Falls in New York, under what terms are all human beings equal?

A. Under the natural law

B. Under the formal law

C. Under the informal law

D. Under the conventional law

______14. Based on the assumptions of Liberal Feminism, which of the

following is not an essential feature of a human being?

A. moral agency

B. self-actualization

C. social class

D. capacity to reason

______15. Which of the following claims concerning women’s identity is not

true for liberal feminism?

A. Women have essential features

B. Women are equal to men

C. Women are not different from men

D. Women are different from each other

IDENTIFICATION. Identify the wave of feminism that is described for each

number.

___________16. Situating basic political rights into the socio-economic arena to

include the various personal lives of women

___________17. Wide array of responses by women of color, lesbians, and

working class women to the general ideas of white professional women in
universities

___________18. Reforms in education and employment were made as

alternatives to marriage and motherhood.

___________19. The use of social media and technology to call out and
challenge sexism and misogyny

25
___________20. Debunking the universal claim concerning gender and
structural oppression

___________21. Movement of colleges to formalize the education of girls by

bringing their lectures closer to the standards of boys

___________22. The first major action of this movement was in 1968 against
the Miss America beauty pageant.

___________23. The personal is political

___________24. Terms like “bitch”, “slut”, and “cunt” can mean

empowerment to women as they enjoy their sexual pleasures and desires.

___________25. Legalizing abortion and birth control

___________26. The struggle for women’s suffrage

___________27. It encompasses online political activities that demonstrate

support or solidarity.

___________28. “Girl power” has been campaigned as a central idea of this

movement to describe women’s entitlement to interact with men as co-equals,
to claim sexual pleasure when they desire it, and to vigorously use their
femininity to their own advantage.

___________29. Pushing for a brand of equality that treated women as similar

to men

___________30. The use of hashtags to not just inform the people of the issues
that women face, but to create a virtual space where survivors of inequality
could co-exist together in a community that acknowledges their pain,
narrative, and isolation.

26