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Jan. 27th, 2009 04:22 pmI had a pretty terrifying phone conversation today that basically asked me to defend myself as a feminist. I'm standing for a women's rights position - extremely nerve-racking considering that my background in women's activism is limited, but everyone has to start somewhere - and so I was expecting some questions about myself as a feminist, but boy was this conversation frustrating. I was asked to identify which wave of feminism I came from, a notion I find pretty intensely frustrating - there are things about all the waves I applaud, and things about all the waves I deplore; if I had to describe myself it would be a mixture of third-wave and second-wave, heavy on the third wave, but I really think most of that is derived from the fact that third-wave feminism is what surrounds me. And I nevertheless think that there are some pretty heavy problems with third-wave feminism - I am sex positive, for example, but I think there are elements of third-wave feminism that verge on being post-feminist and exploitative in regards to sex. (Of course, I couldn't give any of these examples to show that I do know a little bit about feminism at the time because I was shitting myself.)
But, you know, what I really find frustrating is the notion that it's something that's good or appropriate to do, push someone into a corner and threaten them with academic feminism until they break down and cry. For one thing, I'm pretty sure that serious academic feminism is going to be of minimal use to me in this position - more on that if I get it, which at the moment feels a little unlikely. For another thing - what the hell is the use of asking someone which wave of feminism they're from? What would it tell you about me if I said I was third-wave feminist? - or post-feminist? OK, if I told you I was post-feminist I *might* mean "I am something of an airhead who hasn't been paying attention to the oppression of women", or alternatively I might mean "I am a rightfully angry WoC/queer/poor woman who is frustrated with the way feminism has elided my experiences and do not wish to associate myself with feminism", although then I probably wouldn't call myself post-feminist. But you know what I mean! You learn nothing from a feminist by her identifying herself with a wave because waves are descriptive, even historical terms of a general movement. They're not terms you can use to identify someone - I mean, yes, someone might talk about themselves as a *product of* X wave feminism and I'll always be influenced by the post-feminism that's around me, the third-wave feminists I read, and the second-wave feminists of my mother's generation. They all went into making up me, the feminist. How should I identify?
But, you know, what I really find frustrating is the notion that it's something that's good or appropriate to do, push someone into a corner and threaten them with academic feminism until they break down and cry. For one thing, I'm pretty sure that serious academic feminism is going to be of minimal use to me in this position - more on that if I get it, which at the moment feels a little unlikely. For another thing - what the hell is the use of asking someone which wave of feminism they're from? What would it tell you about me if I said I was third-wave feminist? - or post-feminist? OK, if I told you I was post-feminist I *might* mean "I am something of an airhead who hasn't been paying attention to the oppression of women", or alternatively I might mean "I am a rightfully angry WoC/queer/poor woman who is frustrated with the way feminism has elided my experiences and do not wish to associate myself with feminism", although then I probably wouldn't call myself post-feminist. But you know what I mean! You learn nothing from a feminist by her identifying herself with a wave because waves are descriptive, even historical terms of a general movement. They're not terms you can use to identify someone - I mean, yes, someone might talk about themselves as a *product of* X wave feminism and I'll always be influenced by the post-feminism that's around me, the third-wave feminists I read, and the second-wave feminists of my mother's generation. They all went into making up me, the feminist. How should I identify?
