To understand the Third Wave, we must first understand the USA post the second wave ‘sex wars.’ The ‘sex wars’ was the name given to the open debate between groups within feminism over pornography and sexual activity. Anti-pornography feminists wanted to limit the porn industry because they believed it catered only to men and encouraged violence towards women. They wanted to end prostitution and saw it as a worst-case scenario for any woman.
A Brief History of Third-Wave Feminism
H I G H L I G H T S
POPULAR CULTURE DURING THIRD WAVE FEMINISM
Bands like Riot Grrl
The Vagina Monologue
Movies like Thelma and Louise
Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women
SlutWalks
The Third Wave was concerned with reclaiming terms used to oppress or label women by the patriarchy and use them as tools of liberation. Terms like “bitch”, “slut”, “cunt”, were embraced and claimed by feminists. The book Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel published in 1999 is just one example of this.
Another is the reclaiming of ‘slut’ with the inception of SlutWalks. The idea was to send a message about the justification of rape by referring to a woman’s clothing and appearance, and rape culture as a whole.
THE QUESTION OF INCLUSIVITY
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