In article <3A5F6921.11E58F33 at unm.edu>, Linnea Ista <lkista at unm.edu>
wrote:
> Pam and all,
>> There is an excellent resource on Third Wave feminism at
>http://www.io.com/~wwwave/> I know that at least two of the authors are female scientists that I have
> interacted with on another list.
>> Happy reading,
> Linnea
>
Thanks, Linnea, and also thanks to Pat for starting this thread.
Although I've barely scratched the surface, the Third Wave site left me
feeling a bit....confused. I like the fact that they don't feel that to
be a feminist you need to be part of a sort of monolithic block of
individuals who agree on every issue. On the other hand it seems that
they are portraying the second wave/boomers as exactly that. However,
this overgeneralization might just be a reaction to the way the second
wave has been lumping the younger crowd together, I haven't read enough
to know if this is the case.
Either way, I think that these generational distinctions rub me the
wrong way, resulting in sweeping generalizations that emphasize
differences rather than commonalities. Within either group, the
differences in life experience are huge. Maybe the problem is that I
seem to be too young to be part of the second wave and too old for the
third :-)
Also, I really feel that Susan and Linnea's point about the fight for
gender equality being about civil rights is on the mark. My impression
is that problems arose because the issue of feminism became associated
with a certain political agenda, which needn't be the case.
Pam
