First and Second wave feminists set the standard for feminist activism for women and girls………and Third Wave Feminists and by third wave feminists I mean the feminists with the sex-positive ideology, pretty much disregard the wisdom of first and second wave feminists on the grounds that they are radical feminists therefore they are hateful and hate sex with men. I find their ignorance and lack of respect for the women that came before them to be absolutely insulting. If second wave feminism have not been as strong and forthcoming as they were back then, these disrespectful third-wavers might as well forget about having rights at all.
Jessica Valenti, whom I refer to as the Queen of the third wavers because all of these third wave feminists have a similar ideology to her’s and it saddens me because Valenti is a supporter of a very harmful and misogynistic industry known as the pornography industry. The women who assert their sex-positive, libertarian ideology onto young women who have not learned the art of critical thinking are deliberately homogenizing feminism and turning it into a men pleasing movement instead of a woman liberating one. These women basically gobble it up without thinking critically of the ideas especially when they are not specifically focused on women but more focused on gender. Gender is a topic of which has been already analyzed by the feminists of the past and has been concluded to be destructive to women. Third wavers seem to believe that the second wave (i.e. radical feminists during the second wave) analysis is not enough or doesn’t seem to be “modern” enough for them.
It is true that old age does not make a person wiser especially when older women adopt the third wave ideology. Older people are supposed to be our guiding force and our teachers but when they adopt the third wave ideology, it helps solidify the third wave ideology and also keeps male dominance alive in society. Which is dangerous because older women are supposed to be wise to the idea of male domination and women’s liberation but apparently male pleasing does not have an age. It is saddening.
If it wasn’t for second and first wave feminists who have and are fighting for women’s liberation, these women would not have the rights that they have today. I would think these third wavers would thank them for their wisdom and strength but from what I see, the second wavers pretty much wasted their time. It is because of third wave feminists and their apathy toward the plight of women that women are slowly losing rights on a global scale. Do they care? Nope, men matter more to them than women. Women are nothing more than “catty bitches” to them. Any feminist who disagrees with them or has a second wave mindset are immediately labeled as “bigots.”
Radically political feminists such as myself who do not believe in male-pleasing are not here to please the Nigels in the audience. We are here to fight for the rights of women and their liberation from male domination and we will not let men stand in our way or tell us how to be politically active. Radical feminists know who the enemy is and that enemy is patriarchy and its worshippers.
It seems that third-wavers are middle to upper class women who have no concerns for lower class women. They also side with our worst enemy, the men’s rights movement. They believe that if they stay on the men’s good side, they will achieve gender equality which I find that strategy to be a load of crock!
They make excuse after excuse at to why men act the way they do and they forgive men for their actions against women. Third wavers forgiving men like Hugo Schwyzer for attempted murder of his ex-fiance! Yet, they accuse us radical leftists of supporting murderers! HA!
Third wave feminist theory seems to revolve around liberalism which is basically attempting to change the system from within in order for progress to occur. I think it is absolute nonsense! The system cannot be changed through reform and personally, I think that Liberals are spineless for not directly challenging the system. Feminists such as myself would rather attack the system’s weak spots-not participating in hateful behavior- than compromise in the name of “being nice” and getting men on our side.
These men who claim to support feminists also need to be called out for defending their privilege while simultaneously supporting the cause for women. These third wave feminists don’t seem to care about whether the man killed an innocent woman or if one man was stalking was planning to rape a woman, as long as he plays nicely with the feminists, everything is cool. This is how abusers and misogynists infiltrate feminist spaces! They pretend to be interested in women’s concerns and when their misogynist attitudes comes out and the more alert feminists point it out, they get upset and proceed to use misogynist language against feminists! They wonder why we leave men out of women’s discussions! The men who claim to be pro-woman are only interested in getting in our pants and wanting attention!
Women’s issues should the number one concern among feminists but with third wave feminists that never seems to be the case, they thank second wave feminists for their contribution and then yell down at them and call their theories “irrelevant” when their theories are just as relevant!
I am angry at third wavers for not taking feminist activism seriously but I also pity them for feeling that being nice to men will somehow change their misogynist attitudes towards women. The propaganda of compromise that is being fed to them through the mainstream media does not help matters, it just makes it worse and very hard to teach them. Third wavers need to realize that being friends with the enemy is not going to make much of a difference, it is only going to stall progress. The progress of women is an important mission for feminists and when the next generation does nothing about it, it just feels like the war will never be won.
Self awareness, critical thinking and a strong will are important attributes in the feminist movement and when a young woman who claims to be a feminist does not possess these attributes than she might as well rescind her title as a feminist.
