Do you have role-models? Mentors? A woman you look up to for some reason or other?
Every other week I profile “positive female role models for young women” in my Shameless Women column. They are amazing ladies that I hope inspire the women who read each interview. However, the women I interview tend to be “regular” people.
Back in December, columnist Kate Carraway wrote in her article, “What’s next for sex? Feminism didn’t really work. Oopsie!” that the reason for the lack of motivation and accomplishment (and in her opinion, the failure) of the “third-wave” of feminism is because we have no visible leaders:
“The most crucial indicator of an emerging and useful post-feminism is the total lack of specifically feminist heroes. This decade has offered no celebrity feminists: no Steinem, no Sontag, no Paglia. The best feminist writers have become more ghettoized than ever in the 2000s (in lefty mags; in alienating book-length polemics; in universities): the most visible and vocal woman thinker is grossie Ann Coulter, with Female Chauvinist Pigs writer Ariel Levy a quiet, distant second.What we have now are non-specific feminist heroes. Margaret Cho and Sarah Silverman do comedy that’s as gutteral as their male counterparts’ and as revealing of their personal insecurities. Tina Fey uses her 30 Rock character to act out a quasi-pathetic, baby-crazed life-moron with lettuce in her hair, but she also is the show, among the most absurd and funny on TV. Sasha Grey is both a classically debauched porn star and a shit-hot business lady.”
Do you feel this is true?
Do we lack the kind of central figures that are required to motivate and grow the movement?
Or do we in fact have them? If so, who do you feel they are?
And do we even need them?
Do you think it’s necessary to have central figures at the heart of a movement for others to rally around or look to for guidance/inspiration?
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five comments
I think that is complete and utter bs. The list of third wavers inspiring this movement is long long and it's disappointing for non-thirdwavers to keep telling us what we're like and who we (dont) look up to!!! grrr. The few I glorify, idolize, and am proud to follow in the footsteps of (even if they're only a few years older than me) are: beth ditto, amy richards, vicki howell, etc.
Posted by diandra
January 28, 2010, 2:42 PM
I think the entire point of third-wave feminism is that we don't have one specific "leader" - instead we have countless activists, writers, teachers, organizers, etc who are working toward the kind of change that third-wave feminism strives for. It can't be represented by just a few people because it is about so many things: queer issues, immigration rights, race issues, poverty and class issues, disability activism, sex positive activism, the list could go on forever.
That being said, there are tons of feminist heroes out there: bell hooks, Julia Serano, Jessica Yee, Rachel Maddow, every woman who creates a feminist blog or makes feminist zines - we have so many women working in so many different areas of activism. Everyone can choose their own role models/leaders to represent the kind of change they are personally striving towards.
Posted by amy
January 28, 2010, 2:44 PM
I agree with everything Amy said, I myself look up to my former professors who do amazing work to bring light to social issues internationally, as well as getting younger people to understand and think about women's issues. I also like cartoonists like Abby Denson, who have made great works questioning gender roles and mainstream identities.
The point of the article, however, was that there are no figures central to the movement and questioning whether or not central figures are needed. It's sad, but I think we live in a society (North America), where activism is going to remain peripheral for a long time. There are minority populations who are very active towards their causes, but believe me when I say that the majority of the women I know my age have never heard of Julia Serano, Ariel Levy, bell hooks and so on.
Posted by Steve
January 28, 2010, 10:36 PM
I think third wave feminism is a joke. Basically, I think they have knee jerked themselves out of relevance. When I was raped in college, I reached out to a group of young feminists in hope that I could get some understanding and help...but that is absolutely not what I got.
Instead these 3rd wave feminists are so "sex positive" that they have become TRUE rape apologists. Instead of being concerned that there was a serial(the guy had attacked three other women)rapist on campus...these girls wanted to fight with me about how some women LIKE rape. IB4 BSDM - which I think is fine b/c it is consensual, but I don't think it a topic that NEEDS to be defended by feminism.
At any rate, the third wave feminists I met were more interested in arguing for rape fantasies, environmental justice, and diva cups than they were in helping real women on their campus who had been assaulted and that is pathetic.
And the 3rd wave feminists I have seen on the internet are no better. They just want to fight with people. Eventually I got real help...from a group of feminists their 40's who know that arguing that women like rape is not just counter productive but destructive. Just my two cents.
Posted by SSS
July 18, 2010, 4:17 PM
I'm sorry about your experience, SSS, and would argue that the people you reached out to behaved completely inappropriately. In all self-identified groups, there are people whose views differ from others – and I strongly, strongly disagree that being sex-positive leads to an argument that rape can be wanted. By its definition, rape is not consensual. Power games or BDSM is consensual. Sex-positivity argues for privileging of consent above all else, in fact. The people you reached out to were not sex-positive feminists.
Again, I'm so sorry you went through what you went through.
Posted by Julia
July 21, 2010, 3:47 PM
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