Talking the "Pest" ûff of Feminism: History, Sexuality, and the Women9sMovement's mini Wave

bv Candis Steenbergen

A thesis submitteâ to the Faculty of

Graduate Studies and Remarch in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arb

in Canadian Studies

The Sdiod of Clnidian Skidie8 National Library Bibliothby nationaie 1*1 ofCamda du Cana a uisitions and Acquisitions et "1Bib iographic Seivices senrices bibliogmphiques

The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive Licence aliowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seii reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous papa or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique.

The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis aor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. This thesis is an exploration of "generations" in the contemporary wornen's movement in Canada. kst as definite demarcations separate the first and second stages of feminkm, a aiird generation - a tMrd wave - has emerged at the millennium, one that conûasts the threat of postfeminism and refutes popular media proclamations of feminism's demise. This study lomtes each of feminism's generations in its historical context and examines conceptual divisions airough the lens of a single issue: women's sexuality.

There are signifiant generational divisions within the women's movement at the present Ume, tensions directly related to concepts of power, participation, and control. The thesis argues that increased dialogue - mutually-res pectfu1, reciprocal exdianges beWeen and among feminism's waves - will help bridge the generation gap and impmve the sdidarity of the movement. This aiesis provides a strong historical foundation for fumer analyses of feminism's geneiations, activism, and theories of resistance, and recommends that women's semiality be examined in greater detail in fukire studies. Acknowledgments

1 would like ta aiank the bllowing people for theIr assistance and support. Wiaiout thern, this thesis and 1 would never have survive&

Tim Sinke, for enduring late-night phone calls and painstaking editing, and Kelli Dllworai, for king available to read (and reread) at the drop of a hat... Unda Rumleski, for Mendship, motivation, and constant reminders that 1 am not deranged ...

Nina Karhu-Manning, Kim Lulashnyk, Tracy Tumbull, Susannah Bush, Elizabeth Novales, Manne Porter, and Joy Judd, for their enthusiasm, support, food and wine at al1 of our thesis group meetings.. .

Judy Rebick for her time, thoughts, guidance, criticism, patience, endless email conversations, and for proving to me that rnutually- respeaful dialogue across feminism's waves is not on1y possible, but worth the effort... Katherine Amup, for her patience in her capacity as thesis advisor ...

My mum, dad, sister and brother (Lynne, khn, James and Heidi Leigh) for their infinite support and care-packages, and to Louis Turpin, for keeping me sane and as stress-free as possible during the writlng stage.. .

And a very special thanks to N. 3. Baxter-Moore, who got me "hooked on generatrons" in the first place. Accegtanca Form wlll eventually go hem... Table d Contsnts

Table Of CûnWnU...... a...... m..m.m...... m.....m...... v

Introduction...... m...... m.....m...... a....m...... 1 Chaptar 1 "Identiîying the Gap: Feminist GenecationsW ...... 22

Chaptar 3 "Bridging Feminist Generations: Putting Sut on the Table" ...... 120 Woman, women, feminine, femininity, "femalinity," femaleness, to be a woman ... so many words, so many concepts that in the collective thinking of women evoke different realities. Ço many words, so many concepts that in the dixourse of the women's movement cal1 for different models to interpret the multiple facets of the individual and collective experience of women and to formulate a theory of gender relations. The plurality and multidimensionality of the contemporary dixourse of women are now recognized. However, the movement of this dixourse, the diversity of its perspectives, and its orientations are not always cleariy grasped.'

Efforts to define "feminism" and attempts to determine the boundaries of what constitutes the "women's movement" in Canada have been and continue to be problematic endeavours for al1 scholarly investigations. Feminism has ben broadly defined as a doctrine that acknowledges women's systemic disadvantage in society, one that defends women's rights and advocates for women's social, political, and econornic equality with men. kminism has also been dexribed as a theoretical framework that became part of wider, often activist, women's m~vement.~That

"women's rnovement" has been dexribed as the collective promotion of "the emancipation, liberation, rights and interests of women, as these are deflned by women, which has existed as a poliücal force in modern times since the early nineteenth century." While standard definitions provide useful (albeit vague) summaries for reference materials, general descriptions erroneously depkt feminism

Frandne Descarries-Wnger, and Shirky Roy, transhW by byennifer man, 'The Wornen's Movernent and 1ts Currwits of Thwght: A Typobgical €Say," (Ottawa: Canadian Research Institute for the Aâvanoement of Women, May 1991) 1. Roger kniton, A Dirtbnan, d Thq&& (London: Pan Books, 1982) 171; Nicholas Aberaombk, Stephen Hill, and 8iysn S. fumer, of Sociohgy, (Markham: Penguin Books, 1988) 96. ' %niton, 495. as an immutable ideology and the women's movement as a unified body following one exclusive strategy for social change.

In reality, the historical and current foundations of feminism and the womenfs movement in Canada are much more intricate and its proponents are far more diverse. "Feminisrn," as Geraldine Finn has noted, "does not speak with one voice.'*

Feminists have ahays expresseâ their desire for social, political, economic and cultural change in a variety of milieus. kminist activity has taken a wide range of forms: from militant political activism, to volunteerism within small communities, to academic research and writing, to the creation of public works of art. Nancy

Adamson, Linda Briskin, and Margaret McPhail acknowledged that the women's movement in Canada has always had a "diverse, cornplex, and shifting reality," and added that ferninists have never followed a unified political ideology While al1 feminisms share certain characteriçbks, signifiant differences in political sbategy, in vision, in attitudes towards men, in understanding the roots of womenfs oppression, and in setting priorities also typify the Canadian womenfs movement.6

'Woments issues" have also changed considerably over Feminists in the late 1960s and early 1970s identified, named, and analyzed women's oppression, particularly as it existed in the private lives of 'ordinary' women. The decade that followed was "a phase of expansion and consolidation," a period in

' Geraldlne Rnn, Concwbn, in Angda Miks and Ceraldine Fïnn, eds, pminism in Canada: From prosure to Poliacs, (Montréal: Bbd< Rose m,1982) 299. Nany Mamson, Uda Bilrldn, and Margaret McPhail, mist OfgmMna For Change: The (Tbmto: Oxford University Press, 1988) 9. Iso Robetta Hamilton, Gendering the Vertical MosaK: (Toronto, Copp Clark LM., 1996) Y). which the women's movement grew in size and visibility, as well as in organizational and strategic terms? Manon Tremblay noted that the 1970s marked the institutionalization of the women's movement with the establishment of state organizations like the Canadian Advisoiy Council on the Status of womenmgIn the

1980s, many of the battles fought by the mainstream women's movement concentrateâ on institutional polky and pditical change.'' The strategies adopted by the women's movement airough al1 three decades were employed in readion to the political conditions of their stniggles. However, they were also the result of constant interna1 checks and balances performed by and among women of strikingly different political persuasions. l' Feminism itself has a ltered and evolved over time as the intricacies of women's positions in uxiety have changed.12

kminism in the last decade has ken no different. By the early 1990s, the battlegrounds for feminist slruggles had altered again. In 1993, Trernblay noted that: ...over the course of the last few years, the feminist movement has devoted itself primarily to fighting to maintain what women have gained In a dimate of political consenratism, of financial austerity, and of the affirmation of a neo-consenrative right wing. In addition, the antifeminist underairrent which Is currently developing in the ' Manon Tmrnbby, %enda and Society: Mhts and Realities," in David Thomas, ed., anada and the N t Corn (kte~rough:Broadview Press, 1993) 275. Io The 1980s wlbiessed significant pditical victoires for women in Canada, Including: the inclusion of a gender equallty dause in the Canadian Constitution (adopted In 1981, in effect by 1985), changes b the Criminal Code regarding the interrogation of senial assauk victims (1983), the Employment Equity Act (1986), erpanded iights for native mwn(setion 12(1)(b) of the Indian Act repealed in 1985, women on resemr granted the vote in 1986), and the Morgentakr &cision (1988). " Hamilton, 54. Wiiting on contemporaiy femlnism's ment pst, Hamilton noted that "kmlnists dlsagreed mt oniy on the acpbnations (k mwnen's inequality, oppressn, adsubordination, but also on the means to transf9mi their sihiaüon." l2 Jeri ûawn Wine and Janiœ L Rfst#k, Inapdm, and -1 C)lppge: Feminist Adhiism (Toronto: James Lorimer 8 Company, 1991) 4; AQmsm, Mskin and Mehail, 9. West has led to the belief that the feminist movement has lost its dmn d'&tre wiai women now having achieved equality with men.13

At the end of the decade, Tremblay's "undercurrent" has komea commonly heard reproach of feminism and its proponents. The "diversified, multifaceted and enriched" nature of feminist activlties has been re-interpreted by oppositional forces

(and perpetuated by popular media) as demonstrative of an antiquated, ineffectual,

"splintered and fragmented" women's rno~ement.'~The evidence supporting the charges has been more disconcerting. The anival of a number of publications in

Canada's very ment past - written predominantîy by Young, female iconoclasts - has incited reports of a "new generation" of feminists, dissidents who tout the coming of feminismts last breath.

In 1992, American Amy Friedman published Nothina Sacred: A Conversation

With kminism. Utilizing Kingston's Queen's University campus as a model,

Friedman asserted that the feminism of the 1960s and 1970s had rnutated, and that she was no longer cornfortable identifying with what the movement, particularly in acaâemia, had become in the early 1990s. Friedman's agitation with academic feminism was multi-faceted: she "deplored [aie] sloppy, inaccurate, lazy language"

used by proponents, was angered by the promotion of "female knowledge as

distinct from male knowledge," and was dlsrnayed by the apparent feminist belief in

"ultimate solutions'' for the aûacfaes of the wodd against w~rnen.~~She argued:

13 Trembby, 276. " Hamilton, 80. * Amy Frieclmcin, A AmWith mnism, (Canada: Oberon Press, 1992) 42, 44,58. ...The new feminist rhetoric - was beginning to sound like other versions of revolutionary fanaticism, and revolutionary fanaticism, we al1 know, has sparked meof the most heinous regimes in humankind's history. No matter who the enemy.16 According to Friedman, feminism - partkularly in academia - lost sight of its original goals, and has fixated on romanticized images of women as powerless victims, encouraged self-pity, and sought to gain strengai in rnarty~dorn.'~ During aie course of the last three decades, she argued, feminism has grown terrified of recognizing diflerences among women, and has not retained the sacredness of the personal.ls Individual stories, she asserted, now served only as "fodder for a

Young Canadian feminist objectors have emerged as well, In 1995, joumalist and author Kate Fillion published li~Service: The Tnith about Wornen's

Parker Side in Love. % and Mendstiip. Fillion examined the complex situation of women today, discussed the myth of female moral superiority, and attempted to deconstruct a number of existing stereotypes, including 'woman as victim," and

"woman as saint." Rllion stated that wornen May adhere to conflicting paradigms: that (largely as a result of the feminist movement) they have increased power and opportunity in relationships and in the workforce, but that many still feel powerless.

She asserted:

Self-determination is what women want, but the myth of female moral superiority tells us that women cannot be actors in their own right. Apparentîy, women are too pure to harôor l6 Friedman, 60. l7 M., 58. la IMd, 59. l9 I W., 42. negative feelings and too virtuous to make mistakes. Agency - having çome control over one's own life - is confuseû with happy endings. When things turn out well, women are given full credit, but when xnnething goes wrong, we are absolved of responsibi~ity.~~

According to Fillion, second wave feminists struggled to achieve sexual liberation, yet they did so through the perpetuation of dangerous dlchotomies: objectJsubject, passive/aggressive, and female/male. Fillion described this phenornenon as the preservation of an age-old sexual script, and that consequently "the common language used to dixuss sexuality in the public arena ...[ has ben] predicated on woments passivity and oppression."' 8ased on her own observations coupled with a handful of personal interviews, Fillion argueâ that women have "made it," and that a new script must be written and put into practice to ensure true sexual equality.

In a similar vein and the very same year, journalist and self-proclaimed

"dissident ferninist" Donna LaFramboise published her debut text, The Princess at the Window: A New GeMer ~oralitv.~~LaFramboise's work directly attacked what she called "establishment ferninisrn," that group of "people who are recognized by sodety at large as legitimate feminist spokesper~ons."~~Citing the publications of

Ann Landers, Ms magazine, Marilyn French, and Catherine MacKinnon, LaFramboise asserted that "aie lunatic Mnge has taken over mainstream fernini~rn."~~Arguing

Kate FilHont Sem: The Tnith About Wmn's DaMr Sein Love. Sex and Fri~n&~& omnto: Harper Collins Publisherst 1995) 318. ~Fill,, m. Donna laFramboisers pemIweb page ((wnd at ~.raz~.com)outlines her own "disskient rWnlnist vision" and provides c30unter-arguments to the barrage of negative reviews that krbook - and selectexl aRkles wrîüen for The Mabns/FkW- have recehfed. Danna LaFramboise, Thc Primat the Window. (Toronto: Pcnquin Book, 1996) 8. LaFtarnbobe, 33. that highly questionable ideas have been elevated to feminist dogma, she claimed that the movement itself has become extremist, self-obsessed, arrogant, and intolerant. LaFramboise was alarmed by the speed at which such "sloppy thinking" has permeated the rhetoric of popular culture and has infiuenced public policy, and she expressed the fear mat allfeminism might become suspect in the near future."

LaFramboise stated that the baditional methods of examining and analyzing wornen'ç issues have become obsolete, and calleci for a reevaluation of underlying assumptions regarding sex and WCroles:

...feminism isn'tan infant any longer and it can no longer be excused for acting like one, for making incessant demands while remaining oblivious to the needs, rights and hurts of othen who share the same planet...26

Like Fillion, LaFramboise believed mat mainsûeam feminism has perpetuated a myth of femininity, one that asseits female martyrdom. The feminist "establishment," she argued, has deliberately maintained such fictions to ensure their own survivat.

While not advocating the death of feminism as a useful theoretical framework for future analyses, LaFramboise differentiated between "a feminism that inbms one's opinions and a feminism that dicta& how one should think."27 Her solution was a cal1 for a more tolerant, flexible, compassionate, and rational fom of feminism, one that advocates "gender" issues as opposed to "women's'' issues.

Although Up Service and Princes at the Window provide captivating

perspectives on the cuvent state of Canadian feminism, both have serious

'S LaFramboise, 48. " Ibid,, 12. Ibid., 323. limitations. RIlionrs text made broad generalizations about "Canadian women" as a unit based upon personal obsewations, individual interviews, and a variety of sociolog ical studies of white, hetemsexual, ablebodied, educated, middle-to-upper dass women. Many of LaFramboise's arguments relied upon qualitative research analyses of Ms magazine articles and letten to Ann Landen, which were then applied to an unspecified notion of "North American feminism." As well, no attempt was made to ddifferentiate behnreen the American and Canadian movements.

One reviewer attacked Fillion and LaFramboise's "highly selective, blinkered vision,"

and stated that their tex& were littîe more than "in-your-face nnt[s]" supported by

"extraordinarily inflated ideas" regarding the prevalence and influence of ferninism in

Myma Kostash, commenting on the arguments of the "dissidents,"

attacked Fillion for erroneously presenüng second wave feminism as "a monolithic

rnovement reducible to a single tendency."O Kostash also suggested that this

newest generation of feminist "dissidentst1 believe that estaMishment ferninism is

anti-male, and that "mainstream feminists hate the very idea of sex with men.'13'

Friedman, Allion and LaFramboise presented iimited analyses of feminism's

past shortcomings and future directions. Instead, they provided insight (albeit

unintentionally) into the state of the Canadian women's movement at the end of the

twentieth centuiy by way of ideological one-upmanship and petty name-calling. All

Ibid., 7. a Chrissa Hwley, ~~inistsEbshing Feminisn: The Prlncea at the Window," The MW Bmnsw&k ReI17 August 19%. Myma Kostash, "Dissing kminist Sexuality," C;dM&n fi,wmt (September 1996) 13. 3L Ibid., 13. of the authors had been exposeci to women's studies departments from various

Canadian univenities, and al1 three directiy targeted the work of feminists in the academy. Interestingly, al1 of the texts falled to iilustrate an in-depth knowledge of the history of the contemporary Canadian women's movernent. As evidence, al1 of the authors utilized items from the popular press, provided snippets of contentious quotations from select feminist theorists (most of whom were American), and relied heavily upon personal interviews and personal experiences. All three expressed concern for the current state and potential future of Canadian feminism, and al1 provided instances in which mainstream second wave praxis has "failed," but none provided viable alternatives. Friedman, Fillion, and LaFramboise al1 viewed communication, tolerance, and flexibility as key factors for future strategies of the wornents movement, yet none attempted it. Individual interviews of select wornen aside, none of the previously mentioned authors succeeded in achieving a sound blend of historical analysis, theory and practice.

Are Amy Friedman, Kate Fillion, and Donna LaFramboise representative of feminism's next generation? Are their perspectives indicative of the woments movement's newest wave? Unfortunately, mainstream media has latched on to the existence of these (and other) "new ferninists" with vehemence. Accepting the insurgence of writings as an indkator of women's successhil liberation and the impending death of feminism, popular dixourse has perpetuated assumptions that

Canada, as it approaches the millennium, has entered a "postféminist" en.

In aie summer of 1998, the cover of nMEmagazine reinforcecl such notions, featuring black and white photos of the antiquated faces (and perspectives) of

Susan B. Anthony, ûetty Medan and Gloria Steinem next to the fresh, full-colour visage of a fidonal primetirne television charader, Ally McBeal. Under McBeal lay the question Ys Feminism Dead?" The cover story announced that a new generation of "enlightened" women has emerged, dismissing the efforts and accomplishments of the women's movernent's very recent past, and active1y promoting a new version of "female empowerment":

...ferninism at the very end of the century seems to be an intellectual undertaking in whlch the complicated, often mundane issues of modem life get liffle attention and the narcissistic ramblings of a few new media-anointed spokeswomen get far too much... What a comeâown for the movement... But if feminism of the 60s and 70s was steeped in research and obsessed with social change, feminism today is wed to the culture of celebrity and self- Obses~ion.~~

Ginia Bellafante posited mat the next generation of feminists is concerned with little more than individual gain, the consumption of material goods, and the exertion of their own 'enlightened' power, and argued that the insurgence of young, self- absorbed women has contributeâ to the "flightiness" of feminism at the millennium.

Critics argued that TIME failed to look at the larger picture, and that

Bdlafante conxiously selected very paiticular written materials as "proof" of the curent apolitical, podtfeminist climate. According to Marcia Ann Gillespie, editor of

Ms Magazine, the Mure to mention aie activism and written work of young feminists was intentional, and that the lack of inteiviews with "any of the many women of that geneiaaon who are doing righteous work," was another indication of

Cinia Bdbfante, "Feminisan: Ifs AY About Me!" 77M; Vol. 151, No. 25,29 kne 1998. the media's misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the women's movement it~elf.~~Young feminist voices have emerged in ment yean, but their voices have ken ovenhadowed by the seemingly more media-sawy postfeminist presence and have eluded mainstream commentaton of Canadian society to date. Often critical of the strategies and tactics of thelr feminist predecessors, these women have been considerably more indicative of feminism's third "wave."

Irshad Manji, a young Toronto-based political commentator, journalist, broadcaster, and columnist has published a numôer of articles concerning the current date of Canadian feminism. Her debut full-length text, Riskina Uto~ia:On the aae of a New Democracy, published in 1997, was originally intended as a written response to postfeminist thought as it has emerged in Canada through the works of writers like Kate Fillion and Donna LaFramboise, as well as a critique of what she called "a troubled femlni~rn."~ While she harshly criticized the

"reductionist arguments" of Fillion and LaFramboise, Manji agreed that "the usual dichotomies [of ferninist praxis] are weighing us down. We have to switch direction."' Manji dexribed her work as a journey of sorts, a voyage to "an ethos of belonging that encourages everyone to be a participant before labeling anyone a deviant. Whether in the feminist movement or in society at large, the challenge is

Marda Ann Giliespie, "Equd Tirne7 W. (Sepemkr/October 1998) 1. See also Hamilton, 43, who nateci that mass media pcodsmtbns of feminismrs demise are not unique to aie current period. In 1977. Wdend h@&he annaunad the death of Minhm in a feature entitled "Beyond Si!5terhood." " Irshad Manji, On the d a New ûemma~,(Val~ouver/Torwlto: Douglas & Mclntyre, 1997) 3. 3~ Ibid., 52. to kl~ng."~~Profilhg Canadian women from coast to coast, the author examined both feminist theory and acüvism as well as the "personal epiphanies" of individuals to supplement her argument.

Borrowing from Trent University Professor John Fekete's 1994 text, Moral

Panic: Biopolitia Rising, Manji argued mat the mainstream womenfs movement has been guilty of practicing identity politid7:

...many feminist communities create their own iron-clad norms and expect aspiring entrants to meet them as a condition of acceptance. Although these non-traditionalists despise the patriarchy, they pay homage to it by constituting a women's auxiliary - the Pink Patriarchy. That is, 1 know straight women who label themselves 'lesbians' because they need an in, a base of credibllity, with certain feminist coteries. Their disclosures of heterosexuality serve only to rnask their humanity. Being sexually suspect, the "breeden" (as straight women often get tagged) are sometimes interrogated about their poli tic^.'^

Manji argued that the practice of identity politics has become a double-edged mord for the women's movement, in that while recognizing diverences among women, unique characteristics particular to each individual can be overlooked by generalizations. She dismisses identity politics as the "Moulinex Reflex," one that has only served to simplify, label and ûottle the complexities of "individual s~uls."~

Manji, 3. 37 See John Hkctc, Moral Pane Bipppllticr (MontreaI/romnto: Rokrt ôavks Publishing, 1995) 22 & 27. nkete argues that "biopoiiücs... is a regression hom politics to a new primitivism whkh pmmaeS sdf-identificaüon through gmups defined by categories liûe race or m."This leads to tk adlw advaMernent of the gmupfs cause, and subsequentiy, to pank Bib&min&mf according to Feûete, is one exampie d thk. "It is built on Wlity and anxîety, and its attention 1s divided ktmen its discourse d aggmskm bnnards its iirhiaMry...*m," and the discwix of fear. .." * Manji, 42. " Ibid., 37. In Riskina Umand elsewhere, Manji expresses concern over the petvasive postfeminist view that "women have won the keys to the 18~floor office - and that now, behind the doon and desk, they are sabotaging their s~ccess."~

Incorporating autobiographical information (including an account of her own "short- lived breakthrough" as the first woman of colour on the editorial board of a major

Canadian newspaper), Manji denounceû the postfeminist assumption that women cumntly enjoy equality with men in the workforce." Such deducbions, she argued, are not only inaccurate, but may lead to distort4 views of policy-making (such as employment equity), and the perpetuation of existing stereotypes of "who deserves a good job and who doesn't" because "breakthrough divas amount to tired tokens if they cant challenge anything more than the complexion of institution^.'^^

Manji's text calls for a new paradigm, one that embraces the tenets of individualism, democracy, communication, and - to a certain extent - chaos, through which al1 people, regardles of their sex, race, or sexual orientation can grow, change, and belong. Called the "Utopia of Complexity," Manji's vision emphasized the significance of values - particularly empathy, agency and accountability." Philosophically sound and convincingly written, Riskina Uto~iaadds an infrequentiy heard voice to the current debates as well as a unique perspective to the complexities of the womenfs movement in Canada.

Irshad Manji, "The BreaMrwgh Syndrome: If You Think kminism's Day is Done, Just ask the Women Whoh 'Made IV," 7M Wm,(March/April1996) 27. 'l Manji (1997) 18-19. '' W., 29. " Iùid, 171. ûther young feminists have expressed their fear for the future of feminism, looked outside the barrage of media reports of feminism's newest, apathetic generation, and found fault inside the women's movement:

If 1 had a quarter for every time I heard some cool, together girl say, "I'm not a feminist, but..." and then proceed to list off al1 her unquestionably feminist beliefs, jeet, 1 would be in Honolulu right now, and not here getting al! stressed out. Now, let's not be funny and pretend that the big bad media has distorted feminism and that's why it does not appear relevant to today's young women - the media's a factor, but it's not the only problem. Let's face up to what is going on here, please, and spare me having to vomit."

Jaime Kirmer-Roberts, writing for a spedal edition of Reweed devoted entirely to the emergence of a new generation of feminists, is a mernber of the 'third wave" of the women's movement. Third wavers admit that there are problems both outside of and within contemporary feminism itself, and insist that tensions - both ideological and strategk - must be resolved if the movement is going to continue to be a potent force for change.

As reports by the media suggest, a new generaüon of young women bas emergeû, aggiessively challenging the amumptions and strategies of mainstream feminism. However, the popular press pinpointed the wrong group of women. The third wave exists within the women's rnovement itself, a generation of young women actively attempting to address the complexities involved in women's everyday experiences and the persunal and structural relations affecting them.

Their crîticisms are intended to fumer the feminist cause, not to slander the

Jaim Kinner-Roberts, "I'm not a fem(nist, but.." R~,"Revolutkn Girl Style," Issue 59/60 (Fall/Winter 1997) 77, movement or its proponents. Nonetheless, solidarity with their feminist predecesson has been difficult to attain. As Rebecca Walker noted:

Young women are stniggling with the feminist label not only, as some prominent Second Wavers have asserted, because we lack knowledge of women's histoiy and have been alienated by the media's generally honlfic characterization of feminisls, and not only because it 1s tedious to always criticize world politics, popular culture and the nuances of social interaction. Young women coming of age wrestle with the term rferninw because they have a very different vantage point on the world than mat of our foremottien. We shy away Rom or modify the label in an attempt to begin to articulate our differences while simultaneously avoiding confrontation?

While recognizing that the accomplishments of the women's movement to date have been remarkable, memben of feminism's third wave have also acknowledged that the world has changed consideably since the 1960s and 1970s, and that the time has corne for a new strategy.

This aiesis is an exploration into the new generation of feminism, its relationship with existing cohorts, and the group's "place" within the Canadian women's movement as a whote. Who constitutes the "third wave? What are their criticisms of second wave feminism? Are the critiques valid? How have memben of the second wave reacted to Meir presence? 1 argue that women coming to feminism (or feminist activism) in the 1990s have experienced and continue to experience the world in a sûikingly different manner than their predecemon. As

Mary Celeste Keamey notes,

In a society which has flnally acknowledged, if not adeqwtely eliminated, its problems with misogyny, homophobia, racism and, to

" Rebecca Walker, ed., Be TMand Chang&~ the Face of Feminism, (New York: DoubWy, 1995) xx%ii-%xxiv. a lesser extent, classism and ageism, the newest generation of feminists [has ken] dealing with issues barely foreseen during the women's liberahion movement of the 1970s when liberal feminist concems focusecl on establishing women's equality with men in the public sphere, and separatist feminists sûuggled to create an alternative culture by adhering to a pro-woman et ho^.^^

Just as a number of definitive borders separate the ideologies of the first and second waves, the third wave of ferninism exists as a new group in the diverse, ever- evolving women's movement. As well, the hostility that often mark relationships between generations appears to be alive and well. Bridging the gap between the two is one of the main goals of #is work.

Of partlcular signifiance to this examination is its Canadian context. Myrna

Kostash, in her text chronicling the social movements and activism of the 1960s in

Canada, commented on the dearth of readily accessible Canadian information concerning the famous decade of "Flower Power." Kostash's prime irritant was that

most accounts presented the Canadian experience as simply a northern reflection of

the American event?' Kostash aserteâ that "the sixües" in Canada was

significantly different from the movement in the United States, but that the

mythology surmunding the decade has had a distinctly American fiavour. The same

holds Crue for historical accounts of the womenS movement, as well as third wave

analyses of second wave writings. While generational divisions within feminism

have ken examined by both second and third wave feminists frorn the south, the

" Mary Cdeste Keamy. "nie Missing Llnk: IWt gml - fiinism - ksbian culture." in Sheib Whrtdy, ed., Mngthe Gmove: (London: Routledge, 1997) Us. 47 wma ~ostash,-Y Fm-~ome: m Stwv of the Sixties ~ennaoaiin cana&, (~omnto: James Lorimer & Company, PuMkhws, 1980) 251. distinction between the Canadian women's movement and the U.S. movement should be made clear.

However, just as "certain politkal and theoretical issues transcend international borders, ebbing and flowing between the hocountries in symbiotic fashion," in some instances herein the use of American references and sources has been unavoidable." In her text, The Trouble With Normal, Mary Louise Adams acknowledged the strong influence that sources from the United States have had on

Canadian research and methods patticularly with regards to popular culture, youth and sexuality. Adams stated that the "incursion of American products into the

Canadian cultural marketplace creates difficulties for Canadian researchen interested in Canadian di~courses.'*~Michael Bliss, analyzing tex& on muality in

Canada in the early nineteenth century, admitted that the most successful series of sex manuals in the country were American in focus and content, and that similar works written by Canadians on the subject either bonowed from or were in total agreement with writers from the south. "In this field," Bliss argued, 'as in so many others, Canadians initially relied on a kind of cross-fertilization from the United c ta tes.'"* Consequently, the American sources aMt appear within this thesis have

'Constance B#khouse, "The Contemporary Wamen's Movements in Canada and the United States: An Intmductlon," In Constance kkhouse and David H. Flaherty, eds.. Challenaina Times: The and the Sb&, (Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Qwen's University Pm, 1992) 3-15,3. " Mary Louise Mams, The Trow-ng of Hetemofuality, Uomnto: University of Toronto Press, 1997) 17. Mams dtEd the Massey Commission's use of Amerkan popuiar culnire (imluding film, tekvision and popular maqazines) buse of the ovenivhelming oonsumptlon of them by Canadians. " Midiael Bliss, "'Pure Book on Avaded Subjects': Peheudbn Sexual Ideas in Canada," in Michiel Horn and Rnnaid Sabaurin, eds., in Csciadian Social Hi- (Toronto: McClelbnd and Stewart, 1974) 326-327. been included because aiey have influenced Canadian theoretical perspectives on contemporary feminism.

This investigation focuses specifically on the English Canadian women's movement. As Tremblay has noted,

feminism In Quebec has become a mode of expression which is very difierent from that found elsewhere in Canada, parücularly because of its historical evolution and its ties to Catholicism and nationalism... In fact, these two branches of the Canadian movernent remain distinct; we recall the positions taken by francophone and anglophone feminists in the 1980 referendum... or during the Meech Lake Constitutional tat kdl

Feminists from English Canada and Quebecois feminists have often shared similar objectives and there have been several successful collaborations between the Mo.

However, a thorough analysis of third wave feminism in Quebec is beyond the xope of this papd2

The organization of this invesügation is as follows. In Chapter 1, 1 link the divisions that have emerged within the contemporary Canadian women's movement in recent years to shi& in Canada's demography, and outline a new method of organizing the complexities of feminism. Using population data, 1 examine

"generations" as a useful methodologkal framework for feminist analyses, and acknowledge the diversity and fluidity of feminism through the application of the

"wave" metaphor. 1s the "third wave" the feminist equivalent of "Generation X?" 1

Trembby, 292. SOphia Phoca and Rebecca Wright, UK: Iton ûooks, 1999) 5, have noted mat distinct demarcations sepamte "Amerkanu and "Frenchwfeminisms, and that "postfminism" has bmepart of acaôemk discourse. Further expiontions of a ''thid wave" in Quebec would be an interesthg endeavor, one that WOUMundou~îy proâuce striWngly different resuits. address and examine feminism's "generation gap," manifest in the tensions that plague relationships ôetween and among the waves, and prescribe mutually respectful dialogue as a potential solution. The significance of communication (ackial, theoretical, and historical) is paramount to this study. As a result the results of an expriment in "purefr dialogue among a diverse group of feminists form a signifiant proportion of Chapter 1.

Although the information collected from the tranxripts of the group dialogue do not form the base from which general conclusions are drawn, the data are utilized as a supplement to other analyses, and the proces of cross-generational feminist dialogue is dissected. As well, select quotations frorn the participants (displayed in

Italics) are interwoven throughout the body of this paper, to augment arguments that are more theoretical. Mistrust and hostility have always plagued relationships behnreen memben of different age gmups, and feminist generations are no different in that regard. 1 argue that intergenerational dialogue is the most effective strategy

- at both the concephial and practical levels - for the womenfs movement as it approaches the millennium.

Chapter 2 builds upon the generational foundation established by the preceding section, and locates the aiird wave within the ongoing narrative of the womenrs movement. Using late nineteenth and twentieth century Canadian history as a guide, 1 delineate the borders of each of feminism's waves, and emphasize the social and political events that have reflected and influenced the perspectives and strategies of each generation of the contemporary women's movement. I illustrate that the first and second waves of feminism were both the product of and a response Co their environments, and argue that the third wave exists as a legitimate descendant of feminism at the millennium. To characterize the third wave, 1 position their perspectives in direct opposition to postfeminist and anti-feminist sentiment. 1 argue that younger feminists will become a more visible and invaluable component of the movement once women on both sides of the generation gap address the current complications through continued, mutually respectful dialogue.

malequality, freedom, and selfapression were among the fundamental feminist goals of the 1960s and 1970s, and it was believed that "women's rights to wtual pleasure and to control Meir own bodies were symbolic of their right to social eq~ality."~ Judy Rebick, a noted second wave feminist, has stated that she

"come[s] from the generaüon that thinks it invented oral sex," and that half of her youth "was spent believing that sexual promiscuity was a political act ... 164

Interestingly, the "claiming [of] one's body and consciously choosing the language used to describe it" is an integral part of the thirâ wave's ~trategy.~~In Chapter 3,I clarify and expand the analysis of the two feminist generations by isolating a single issue: women's wcuality. 1 illustrate that each wave has conceptualized women's sexuality and fonulated strategies for change according to existing cie et al conditions, and note that many of the third wave approaches to sexuality resemble the sûategies of the early woments liberation movement. I argue that the current divisions of the women's movement can be eradicated through the sharing of knowledge, experience and perspectives of women on both sides of the divide.

The concluding chapter reiterates the primary goals of this research: to grasp feminism's cuvent "generation gap," to acknowledge the existence of the "third wave" of the women's movement, and to bridge the gap behnreen the waves through continued dialogue. In essence, oiis research hopes to provide a more complete study of the state of the Canadian women's movement at the end of the

1990s, one that recognizes the limitations of postferninist commentaton, and acknowledges the existence of a third wave. The future of Canadian feminism is not postfeminisrn; it is a strongly supportecl, vigorously active, dynamic group of young women who are determined to push the struggles of the women's rnovement into the next century. The problems plaguing contemporary feminism - of respect, of participation, and of control - can be diminished through simple dialogue bebveen and among feminists. Patient, sensitive, and "real" discussion will not only improve

the bonds of solidarity among feminists of al1 ages, but will eventually assist in the

eradication of popular (rnis)conceptions of where the women's movement in Canada

is headed. Cha-r 1 mIdenwingthe Gap: Feminid Genarations"

Radical social change requires both thought and action: adon infomed by reflecüon, refledion transfomed by action... and SI forth. That is why we cannot and will not define feminisrn once and for all. For what feminism is and does and thinks is a function of what is; and feminism, if it Is to succeed in its revolutionary goals and aspirations, must (and does) change in response to the social reality it is itsdf in the process of ûamfwmlng. What daes not change 1s feminism's commitment to women, women's knowledge and values and women's liberabion.'

The Canadian women's movement has always been highly cornplex. In the last thirty-five yean, striking differences between and among individual feminists have appeared, and women previously marginalirecl within the movement have had their voices and concems heard. Re-examinations of the political and idedogical heterogeneity of ferninism as a conceptual framework occurred throughout each decade, and aiorough documentation followed each oieoretical modification.

Accordingly, feminism has become harder to define, and the currents within the woments movement as a whole have become more arduous to label. As Adamson,

Briskin and McPhail have noted, the ever-increasing complexities have been "further complicated by the fact that the pradice of the woments movement - the way it organizes for change - is also constantly king transformed through self-criticism, through experience, and by changing historia1 circ~mstances."~

Finn (1982) 299. Adamson, Mdcin, cnd PkPbIl, 8. The feminist slogan "the personal is political" provides one way in which definitional quandaries of feminism may be pattially overcome. The maxirn was created by early members of the second wave women's movernent b express the movement's desire to llnk women's lived experiences to a broader political context.

Intended to increase the visibility of women's personal issues in the public realm and to promote a shared condition among women, "the personal is political" epitomized the objectives of the early women's rights activiffs. As the women's movement expanded, the ideology of the adage shifted accordingly, and "has itself been reshaped in the context of dlfferent feminist currents." Many feminist xholan have argued that penonal experiwe is paramount to political mobilization against women's oppression. mers have asserted that "power is recovered in the unity of aieory and pra~tice,~and that al1 feminist stniggles must be waged at both the theoretical and practical levels simuîtaneously if they are to be bely effective.' Nevertheless, as Karen Dubinsky has commented, "the relationship behNeen aieory and practke is never very simple":

While ferninist aieory prides itself on remaining relevant to and in- fomied by women's expeiiences, attempts to "chart" the relationship between feminist theoretical concems and the ongoing experiences of the women's movement must go beyond a reâuctionism which attempts to YW one component neatly and unproblematically into the other.6 The following discussion builds upon the example set by "the personal is political,"

Adamson, BrisWn and McPhriil, 2ôû. 'Kmash (1980) 80. 'Ann (1982) 299. Wren Dubinsky, "Lamt for a 'hûfaichy Lostr: AnU-Fcminism, AntEAboitlon and REAL Women in CanaâatW(Ottawa: Qnidbn Research Imütute fa tht Advamtd Wm,Maidi 1985) 1. and outlines a new meaiod of delineating the intricacies of the women's movement in Canada. Using population data, 1 examine "generations" as a useful methodological famework for feminist analyses, and link the current tensions within the wornen's movement with shifts in Canada's demography. 1 acknowledge the divenity and fluidity of feminisrn through the application of the 'wave' metaphor.

Mistrust and hostility have always plagwd relationships between members of different age groups, and feminist generations are no dlfferent in that regard. 1 argue that intergenerational dialogue is the most advantageous td- at both the conceptual and practical levels - for aie women's movement as it approaches the millennium.

The study of demography has been defined simply as "the analysis of the size, structure and development of human popu~ations.~Under such a broad

definition, demographk investigations could reasonably incorporate an infinite number of variables, including geographical distribution of populations, natural

resource allocation, family and financial planning, social welhre policies, and

unlemployment staastia. As Heather Jon Maroney has noted:

Even when developed market societies do not have a distinct population poîicy, they do make policy decisions with reference to demographic issues - they have a "demographic politics." In partkular, wlde-ranging concerns have been voiced about the consequences of low birth rates and aging populations (or "the demographic crunch")r econornic and social vitality in market, Soviet and post-Soviet sodeties?

- pp 'Niahi Akicmmbk, Wcphcn HM, and Biyiin Tumer, mo(- (Marîcham: Penguin Book Cam, 1988) 63. Heather lon Mamny, "Canadian kminism and Demographic Pdiücs: bme Lersons Fmthe Saith," in Fleg Luxtm, ad., -: RmrYes: Pm(Halifax: P~blishiQ 1997) 27. Studies of population change and demographic forecasts have the potential to influence political decision-making and to affect a broad range of society's institutions. However, the concept of "generations" has not been extensively ernployed as an analytical or the~~ticilltool among acadernics until very recently?

In Canada, the utilization of "generations" as a suitable framework for analyses was initiateâ, in part, by a heightened interest in social history by a number of scho~an.'~The publication of a nurnber of well-received texts concerning the volatile nature of Canada's population over the last century (and the impacts of that demographk shift) also served to broaden the scope of that interest. In 1995, former Minister of Wnance-turned-financial planner Garth Turner released 2015:

After the Boom, a 'how-to' text on suaessful retirement strategies. The following year, David Foot and Daniel Stoffhan released what would become an almost immediate bestseller: Boom. Bust and Echo: How to Profit from the Cominq

Demwhic Sma Foot and Stoffman argued that a cornprehensive analysis of demographic trends could not only lead to an understanding of the past, but al% to reliable (and potentially lucrative) predidions for the Mure. In essence, the authon asserteâ that "demographia [an] explain about two-thirds of everything."ll

Mkhael Adams twisted that adage in his 1997 publication Sex in the Snow: Canadian

--- Kenneth McRobertr, "In~udbnto 'GeneraaonS in Canadian Soekty'," 7M Intwnabbm/ Jourml dO&&n Srudks(Wintn â993) 6. l0 kc Meg Luxton, Than a mrd Cpvc: Three -s of Women's Work in the Home, Toronto: The Womcn's Press, lm);Myma Kostash, Ww hom Homc: The of- in 0- 1980; and Doug Owism, 0om at the RRipbt Tirna: A of the Boom -(Tmbo.. UniwSity of Toronto Rcss, 1996). - Dav&l Foot and Danhl Stamisn, (Tbmto: Mbarbn Walter & Ross, 1996) 2. and raedyben puraantlyished publirhcd the mmilknnium. ial Values the End of the Mlllennium stating instead that "demography is not destin^."'^ AIaKwgh the swell of publications concerning the financial implications of

Canada's changing population has diminished, public interest in the historical patterns and ment shifts in the demography of Canadian society has not. Media attention to the "greying" of Canada has continued to perpetuate the significance of

"geneiations" in the cuvent wdal context. The impending threat of population aging has expanded the discussion from individual investment sûategies and financial planning to debates on the Mure of the social welfare system (parücularly the restnicturing of geriatric are, homecare and OHIP provisions), education, housing, and employment. Analyses that have ken conducted regarding the demographk changes in Canada's recent past (specifically, the shift Rom very high to very IOWbirth rates in the 1960s and 1970s) have indicated that tension, an intergenerational hostility, has emerged in situations where the privileges andior rights of one generation have impinged (or have appeared to encroach) upon the life-chances of another.13 Intergeneational hostility, popularly known as a

'generation gap,' has continued to perrneate headlines, and the ongoing deôate has largely concemed a sbuggle for identity, money and power between a younger,

'rebellious8generation and its predecessors.

The use of "generations" as a principal instniment of organkation has not ken without criticism. Judith Roof argued that the utilization of geneiaaonal

* Michaei Adams, in the Snaw. (Tolwlto: The Pcnguin Group, 1997). MCRO~RS,5. metaphors "assumes a reproductive narrative that produces as many problems as its paradlgm might re~olve."'~ She claimeâ that the adoption of generational frameworks, although convenient for analysesI ... means privileging a kind of family history that organizes generations where they dont exlst, ignores intragenerational differences and intergenerational cornmonalties, and thrives on a paradigm of oppositional change.''

Roof rejected the use of "generatlons" as a useful empirical model, and asserted that such frameworks assume linear, chronological time. Such approaches, she argued, lead to a "reproductive and familial" understanding of change, and create "a

perpetual debt to the past." l6

ûthen have noteâ that the use of "generations" as a methodological tool

holds the "danger of essenaalizing decades, like the '60s, the '70s, the '80s,"'~ and that it necessarily "forces a degree of generaliza~ion."'~The application of stringent

dates to define an entire group of indlviduak can be problematic, particularly

because every society experiences an endless succession of births. Nonetheless, the

concept has played an important role in the social sciences, particularly in

examinations that seek to explain group differences in culture, interests, or political

ôenying the force of generation as a category may in fact serve to prevent the quesüoning of its hold over us. Whether or not

l4 Judith Roof, "GemaW~lDifhltlcr: or, Thc Her of a Barn History," in mtbns:Acaâemiç in (Minneapolis: Univcrslty d Minnesota Press, 1997)-71. l5 IW.,72. " IW.,71. l7 E= Ann Kapbn, 'Introduction 1: An mngc," h Kapian and Looser, cdr., Gmrams: mmic FenWB in D- (Minnapdk: Un- of Min- Press, 1997) 3. l8 ûwram, xiii. l9 AbetPwnMe, et al., 104. "generations" promote "alse" divisions, ferninlst generational xhisms are having and have had material effects - effects, 1 would argue, that can 4e more pmfoundl experienced by the "next" generaüon than by the previous onee22' Despite the conceptual confusion often associateci with the idea, generational perspectives are significant. Creating frameworks and identifying difierences and simitariües (in both perspectives and needs) between and among generations "helps to make sense of an increasingly cornplex ~orld."~~

Any and al1 attempts at generational analysis, however, must be petforrneâ with caution. Every age group must be examineâ in the social, cukural, and historical context in which they were born and raised in order to establish a significant understanding of the paiacular group as a whole. An examination of the age group's intemal atbibutes, or self-dexriptions, as well as the group's relabionship with oaier genenüons, is also pertinent to a comprehensive

examination of a generation. However, an individual's date of birth does not

necessarily denote identification with or affiliation to a speciflc generation. Although

age disparity between gmups of people has been the most predominant factor in

analyses of intergenerational hostility, an individual's alliance with particular

Weologies may also indicate association with a generation, regardless of when they

were bom? In other words, adhemce to similar values and mores also constitutes identification wkh a "generation" - sometimes even more so than demographia. As the motherldaughter wriüng duo Marilyn and Fenella Porter have noted, aie central question to al1 research on relationships between generations should be the way in which difference - in both age and opinion - places groups of people in a kind of 'hiera~hy.'~

The last decade has witnessed a number of notable intergenerational debates. The overwhelmingly large number of children born during the period from

1946 to 1964 has held the interest of Murists, historians, and journalists alike, and the biith, growai, aging, influence, and affluence of the "Baby Boom" continues to receive public attenti~n.~~The earîy 1990s also marked the production of texts conceming the experiences of the generation bom affer the 6aby Boom: Generation y-1~2s Although each of the publications concentrateci on a partkular cohort of young people, al1 of them focused on the characteristics that made that generation unique. That parücular generation gap was manifest in discussions regarding age, but also in historical analyses of social, economic, political, and cultural values.

Following the Second World Wai, four countries, Canada, the United States,

New Zealand and Ausûalia, experienced an unprecedented increase in their overall bilth rates. Alaiough the demographic specifics continue to undergo debate, the upsurge of biiths in Canada began around 1945, marked by a birth rate of approximately 24.3 children per thousand population to 289 per thousand a Poibcr anci Poiter, 26. %wmnr dii. ûwram, xiv, admits that the dates anrcmcwht arMtrary and tha "in culhiral terms thc baby boom war bom sunetirne khmcn the îate war and abwt 1955 or 1956". John Kettk, me Bk.Gwaiathn. (Tmto: McCMbnd & Steward Ud, lm), 19-20, maintains that tk Boom conskW of 6,715,ûûû pcopk bom klween m#-1951 ad1966, addlsmlues bitth rates fmm Mweand aftwth& Ume frame as "not all that startling." " See partkubrîy ûougk Coupland's m.(New York: St. Martin's Ress, 1991). population in 1947. Translatecl into achial numben, the number of babies born in

Canada In 1945 totaled just over 300,000. By 1947, mat number had increased to 372,000, and by 1952, the number of babk bom to Canadian wornen nurnbered more aian 400,000.~~The Baby Boom generation constituted the "ver/ large group of people bom wiaiin a few yean of each other, growing up together, entering in new life experiences together, maturing and growing old together, and al1 the time doing so in a sodety that is several sizes too srna11."~~

Certain geogaphic areas in Canada experlenced the swell in overall population size differently than othen. During the 1950s, the population of Ontario grew by 35 percent. As historian 30y Parr reportecl, the bitth rates in Ontario exceeded 26 per thusand population in the province throughout the decade. As well, European immigration into the province was extensive, accounting for approximately onethird of Ontario's oveall population growth at that tirne. 28 In

Quebec, on the other hand, the total postwar family size increased by only 6 percent? Regardles of the regional dkparities, one thing is certain: the 6aby

Boom period produced the largest generation known in hi~tory.~~

Conûary to popular belief, the unexpected growth in population was not

26~,4; Angus Wren and Menc Mdaren, 7he B&gcum the& (Don Mills: Oxford UniveMy Press, 1997) 125 mprkd that Canada hd a remâ 255,317 'now-or-nmf biiths in 1941, and that the post-uuar baby boom folkwed: hom 20.3 Whs per 1,000 pop. in 1936 to 28.0 in 1956. Kettk, 26. 30y Pan, A of dm:0- 1945-lm InWLKdbn, (Eoconb: University of Toronto Press, 1995) 4; MsLanm and Mdam, 125-126 Wren and Mdaren, 125-126. Susan A. Mcûankl, The Changing Qnadbn Family: Wamai's Rdes and the Impact of Feminism," in sadra But, Lomine Cade, and Undsay Damy, a., Patkms: Women in Canada, 2"d EdRkn, (Toronto: Mddbnd & Stewart, 1993) 424. simply due to the rehim of Canadian soldiers to their wives and homes following the

Second World War. Mer, it was the result of a convergence of late childbearing

(those postponed by the war) and by an upsurge in eady maniages with children bom les than two yeao after wedlock. As well, post-war prosperity promoted an overall increase of family The redefinition of women's roles during the period also helped reshape the size and nature of the Canadian family:

In the post-war period, women retumed to housework and motherhood, leaving the jobs in the labour force they held during the war ...the appearance of wornen's magazines singing the praises of motherhood, of family, and of the joys of making meatloaf. The propaganda of the day pictured wornen at home and strong families as hedges against another war or as ballast in the Cold ~ar.~~

Domestic metaphors pecvaded most of women's activities at that thne, and their roles became more family- and child- centred than they had been in the 1920s and

1930s." As Mariana Valverde has noted, "the baby-boom era has corne to represent a lost age of wcial naivet6, political quiexence, and sexual conformity, an age in which - we imagine - women's worst fear was gang a bad pem."34 By the end of the 1950s, when the Baby Boomers reached their pre-teen years, "the cult of the teenager" was firmly estab~ished.)~Illustrated most vividly by the sheer purchasing power of the age's rniddle-to-upper class youth culture, the consumption of clothing, movie theatre and drive-in passes, records, and television

31 Mcûaniel, 424; Mdann and Mdaren, 125; mm,4. * Md)cinieî, 425. Pan (1995) 5 McDankl, 425. Y Mariana Vatuerde, "BuMing Antl-Dclinquent CommuniblCr: Mofalw, Candcr, and Generatioir in tk City," in 30y Rn, cd., 4LivaJMrd Womai. CTbmnto: University d Tmbhas, 1995) 1945,19. * ûwram, 145. shows increased exponentially. It was a time of unintempted and unprecedented economic gmwth, relative International peace, and the young generation "grew up under the glow of welfare state va~ues."~By that time, as Doug Owram has noted, many members of the Baby Boom generation had corne to the realization that they were "something specia~.',~~By the mid-1960s, the standard of living in Canada was higher than it had ever been for any previous generation of Canadians. Central

Canada was heralded as the country's industrial heartland, and the increased prosperity, "the golden age of capitalism in Ontario," created both the supply and demand for higher standards of social service than had ever been providedD3*

ûernographen and hiturists argue that, "en masse, brger generations carv more clout and ultimately have a greater impact on x~iety.''~~The age group known as the Baby Boom grew to hilfill what Owram has called "a special historical destiny ." The "Woodstock generation," the "revolutionaries, " the "radicalt* counter- culture of the 1960s successfully transformecl popular culture and rapidly became the focus group of virtually every institution: from government and education, to advertking and television programmlng. In essence, the decade in which the Baby

Boomers came of age has becorne the defining period for the entire generation:

It was in 'the sixties' (a period that actually extends, in historlcal ternis, through the early seventles) that tk baby boom became conxious of itself as a generational fme and began to think of itself as spedal, not for the economk affluence it had been given, but for the moral and personal atbibutes it posesecl. The

'ûamard, ct al, 15,217. ûwram, 1%. Parr (1995) 6. " Barnard, et al., 13. '"owram,~. generation and the decade, with al1 the images it connotes, thus became inseparabl y linkd?'

Due, in part, to the enormity of the 6aby Boom's ske and also to the tumultuous political environment (manifesteâ both at home and abroad), the decade of Me

1960s has corne to be known as one of the great mythological eras of modern times. As a result, and also in retrospect, the social, cultural, and economic experiences of an entire group of North Arnericans have ken branded into history.

In 1991, the generation trailing in the wake of the 6aby Boom reached its own coming of age. That year marked the publkation of Vancouver-based author

Douglas Coupland's debut work of fiction. A North Amedcan bestseller, Generation

X: Tales for an Accelerated Culm sealed the young writer's place in the literary world. More significantly, the novel also faunched a media catch phrase that effectively bbeled an entire group of people bom in the late 1960s and early

1970s:~ Remarkably different ftom their predecessors in age structure and

(apparentiy) values, the emerging generation was pbgued by contradiction, and the mainstream media xrambled to define them. Given the poor economic ciraimstances in which they reached adulthood, the successon of the Baby Boom received a multitude of pejorative tags: the Baby Bustes, the Lost Generation, the

13~Generabion, Geneiation Reâux, twentynothings, Grneration Why? Generation

ARer (afkr the 1960s, after k al1 happened), Generation Ecch! The Recycled Generation, and the like? Eight yean and five novels later, Coupland's euphemism has endud the media bornbardment of features and editorials conceming the plight of an entire geneation destinecl to be little more than apathetk slacken, a group of people who have "no identity, standing for nothing, and going for nothing. '* The 6aby Boom generablon assumed epic propomons largely in retrospect, through oversimplifications of events by the mainstream media and grandiose accounts of 'the decade of the sixües' by members of aie cohort? Generation X, a smaller and inflnitely less influential generation in temof broad structural change, has ako been besieged with simple descriptions and comparisons to their large predecemor. Members of the younger generation have responded swiftiy to such condemnations. As Kike Roach explained:

People of my age have been branded "Generation Xtt and accused of apathy and indifkrence. But our realities, anxieties, and accomplishments cannot be sumrnarized or syrnbolized by a letter in the alphabet. Adivism k not unique to any generation. It is not the property of the sixties, although there are a lot of important lessons to be drawn from that the. Progressive young people do exist, and there is still reason for us to organid6 Mainstream media attention to Generation X - and its uneasy relationship with the Baby Boom - has faltered dramatically hom its original level only recently, but it can be assumed bat the myais sunounding both generaüons will continue.

43 SeMoira Fair, 'TalMng 'bout YOUR Gencraüon," m& mmt(Vd. 2!5, No. 586, Deamber 1991), Cicomy Holtz, to (NmYoilr: St. Martin's-Gritirn, 1995, and Nefl Hom and Bill Strauss, fl (New York: Vîntage Ebaûs), 1993. * Cash, as qumd Gray, %enerath X: Uerahire Review and HypothcslstW (kuk 17-22 Déam-, 1995) 4. Owram, 217. * Judy RcMd< and KRre Rmch, S#akina.ananmi:ûougbs & Mdntyre, 1996) 10-11. Although premiçes regarding the concept of generations provide useful fodder

for pulp fiction novels, newspaper items, and stimulating dinner-table conversations, the actual '6aby Boom versus Generation X wai has been waged by a limited

number of Canadians. An~dotaldescriptions of "the way it was," and histoiical accounts of the "magnificent sixties," have generally been provided by those with a voice: white, rdathrely educated, heterosexual, middle to upper-middle class

Canadians. Owam adrnitted that "not al! baby-boomers were -dents at university,

much les students on a picket line. Moreover, many of the best-known radical

leaders of the decade were pre-boomers." mers concur, arguing that despite the

accounts of the legendary decade of 'Flower Power', "those defiant attitudes never

involved al1 young people or even most of the famous Baby Boom generation.'*'

As Dionne Brand pointed out in her Toronto-based short story "Bathurst," the

experiences of some Canadians during the decade of the 1960s were strikingly

different than the ones that have made the 6aby Boom famous:

The stakes were high for us. We were never going b be able to cut our hair and foin brokerage firms twenty yeao later, we would never be aMe to shake Our heads and pass it al1 off as youth, we didnt go b Woodstock ...Our children would never have the floating televlsedsut Geneabion-Xinly-means-white-folk-angst; theirs would be a deathly despeation. There was no comfortable identity to fall badc on, no suburb waiting, it wasn't our mothers and fathers we were dewing, it was history. We watched hippiedom crowd our destiny with Momoff the TV xreens. We said, Aint that just like white folks?

According to most popubr aaounts, tk participants of the various social and

" Omam, 160. MWMcdnd, 7hc Wilting Myth d Rowcr Pomr,' Tlk Or&m8atzien, (12 Match 1998) A17. * Dionne Brand, 'Bathurst. in -cf ston. (Toronto: Coadi Housa Press, 1995) 70. politkal rnovements of the 1960s were not stratified by race at all. Brand's aory proved otheiwise. Reflecüng upon her own involvement in a number of political and social movements in the 1960s, Germaine Greer comrnented that the "Swinging

Sixties" was really "just an ad slogan," and admitted that "the terrible thing about the 1960s was that we forgot about the class sbuggle - we thought revolution was like a religious experience. We had a distaste for discipline and an inability to organl~e.'~~These and other accounts illustate that mythologies surrounding generations have been created, perpehiated, and maintained by the status quo

(frequentîy white, well-eûucated, middle class scholars and joumalists). Until aiorough re-evaluations of history have becorne cornmonplace, sirnila r narratives will rernain "truths" within the pages of histoiy texts and people's minds.

Many accounts of the events, attitudes, and experiences of those who came of age during the decade of 1960s have been guilty of perpetuating a distorted image of the past However, the accomplishments of the political activists of the en and the significance of the historic period cannot be oveistated. Dissatisfaction with political institutions and administrative tactics - both domestrc and foreign - sparked ferwnt protests hom the New Left, stuclent groups, peace organizations and union workers around the woild; demonstrations and rallies that often ended with riots."

" Gcmialne Gm, as intewWed by Julk Whoelwright, "Coritetnporaiy Mavaart Born Out of '60s Msnure," Herizons, (January/Hkwry 1987) 11. 51~anthe 1960s~to~onthcmntsthst~placeln~octh~mcrka,spedflcal)ythe anti-Vietnam war demonstraüons. ûther areas of the worîd were also undergoing massive social change dwlng that pcrkd. "Bbody MonQy", May 6*, 196û mailrrd one of the mo4 vbknt days of the Parisian studeiit revdt alber 5000 students at the Sorbonne marched with support ftom the 4udcnt and hlty unions. The actions d the rtudcnts insQired sympathetic strikes thmughout France, and appmxiw 9 million umbs walked tk linr by My 22"'! President de Gauk twcteâ with swR dcpkymcnt d militaiy tmops, and the hwh mrdmiyfumr dissipated. Mous opposition to the soda1 and political environment - hmthe war in Vietnam to the Soviet Union's invasion of Qechoslovakia to the assassination of Madn Luther King Jr. - was loud and visible on the streets, In municipal parks, at public events, in universities, and on national television. The activities of many members of the Baby Boom generatkn (and its cohoits) launched unprecedented structural changes in political and cultural institutions and in the perspectives of a multitude of

Canadians. Perhaps most significantly, the 1960s sparked soda1 justice and human rights movements aiat would sustain the stniggle for social and political change up to the present time.

The women's movement rose fiom a number of diverse social and political grassroots activist organizations that emerged throughout the 1960s.~~Since that time, the women's movement has grown dramatically in both %ope and size, and the success of feminism's struggtes ln make women's issues visible and valued in the public sphere has ken immeasurable. Confirmation of the extraordinary achievements of the last 35 yean of women's activism can be found virtually everywhere: in women's centres, women's health collecbives, caucuses, and shelters; in Women's Studies programs at Universities; in non-governmental oiganizations at the regional, national and international levels; and in previously male-dominateâ fields of employment. In essence, the triurnphs of the women's

movement can be found *in places where women were not to be found before.la

SZ The ilu of the CaMdbn mwnds movaent will k discuseâ in rnuch mae depth in the chapters that fdkw. * Rorc L Clickman, d Fcmlnists:Yainim-kminkt lWhm Talk About l'kir LLuez, (NmYoilr: R Martin's Press, 1993) xiii; ;Pabcr and Rrkr, 24. The women's movement has been susceptible to generational dexant as well. kminism's latest geneation gap has ken due, in part, to the ever-shlfting global environment, the economic, soda1 and political clnumstances of the present period, and the increased "professionalizaaon" of feminist organizations."

Intergeneratronal hosülity has been expresseci by a younger group of women and their feminist predecessors and has been visible in aieoretical discourse (within academla) and in the public sphere (in popular books, news, radio, and talk shows, and the print media)?' Just as a number of definitive conceptual borden separate the ideoiogies of the tumsf-the-century feminists and the "new feministç" of the

Iate 1960s and early 1970s, women corning to feminism (or feminist activism) in the

1990s have experienced and continue to experience the world in a strikingly different manner than their predecesson. As well, the hostility that often marks relaüonships between generations appean to be dive and well.

It should be noted, however, that any exploration attempting to locate the perspectives and activities of each of feminism's generations in the context of the women's movement as a whole mu& recogniw that the movement itself has not existed in a vacuum. One of the more di#cult tasis of feminist historians and re~ea~henhas been to describe, clearly, what precisely constitutes 'the women's movement' as a collective while also recognizing the multitude of complexities

Porter and h@r,W-25 have argued (wloi piaailar nlemwc b ecomkdevebpnent) that the "polesr(oMIizaknœof the wamn8s movanent has perrnlüd wwn to participate in pevkusly makdominated M, has put mmcn on the agendas in niitkna and intematicmal human riqhts debates, but hsako created authadty structures within its mnùs that must k mcognized. " E. Am Kapbn, "Introâ- 2: Feminism, Aging, and Changing Padigmsta in Cawrahkns: mk (Minmpoiis: UnhmJPy of Minnesata Reo, 1997) 16. intrinsic to it:

The women's movement has a shifting, amoeba-like character; it is, and has always ben, poliücally, ideologically, and strate9 kally diverse. It is not, and has never ken, represented by a single organizational enüty; it has no head office, no single leaders, no membership cards to sign. Indeed, much of the widespread support for women's liberation has had no organizational identification at ail.%

All feminist movements have been fundamentally concerned with the struggle to eradicate women's historical and structural oppression, but the social, economic and political environment of aieir adivlsm hw been strikingly different. While the women's movement in Canada must be viewed as an entity, the historical specificity of the activism of its memben demarcates the generations within it.

Rie wave metaphor has provided a useful methoâ for understanding the complexity of the women's movement: When we speak of a wave, we typically mean "one among othen." "Wave" just doesnt xnind like the right word for the lone occurrence of sornething. Waves that arise In social and political milieus, like waves that arise in water, become defined onl in context, relative to the waves that have corne and gone before. 5Y

Each one of the women's movement's "waves" musl be viewed as separate "speciestr - distinct movements with characteristics unique to tlme and place - within a continuous, larger sbyggle for women's rigMs. The women's rnovement in

Canada has been multi-aceted since its inception; it cannot be comparbnentalized as a solitary association of like-rninded women, as "much of it was never organized

" Adamson, Briskin, and McPhsll, 7. Csthiyn Wley, Wova adOrawing Unes," îîyp8tb, Vol. 12, No.3 (kmmcr 1997) 19. in the traditional sensenfa While al1 generatronal investigations demand historical specifkny if they are b be effave as theoretlcal or rnethodological fiameworks, the diverse feminlst persuasions characteristic of each wave must be acknowledged throughout such research.

kholao and authors of women's soda1 history texts have utilized the wave metaphor in ment yean. The Fîrst Wave occurred at the turn of the century and waned as time progressed, and the Second Wave of feminisrn developed from the dixord of the 1960s. The emergence of the contemporaiy wornen's movement, the

Third Wave of feminism, has been difficult to arrange in such a linear mannermS9As

Micheline Dumont has noted,

France, at the moment, is king swamped by, in my opinion, a terrible concept called "I'apr&s-ferninisrne." It sounds vew much llke "Ifaprès-guerre." This insistence on time, on chronology, and on succession does not help b explain what is taking place. Historical Ume is a complex realiW... Sometimes, however, a historical buth is disorderly.. .60 Although the wave metaphor provides a more comprehensive frarnework to describe the fluidity of the women's movernent, notions of a "first" and "second" and "third" wave of feminkm suggest that historical and social change progresses in a direct, forward-moving fashion. Also, the sole utilization of "wavesf' may lead to distortions of the diverse reality of the movement itself. As Porter and Porter noted, the use of

Hamih, (19%) 52-53. 99 ~tshou# k dtmted thiit "yaithn k not a perequlsih I# identificakn with the third wave of ferninim. Although thc cmgcnoe of 1990s fcminb cdndks quite neatly wWi the expeiknces of "tmrati#i X) Wh rhwld k vîewed as ikdogical generations. Micheline Dumont, "Origins of tha Wamn's Movement In Quebec:," in Backhouse and Raherty, -Tmcr. (MontreaIJKingston: McGiH-Queen'r Unhmsky Press, 1992) 72-73. only one unit of analysis may privikge "as its central identification, the experience[s] of a certain generation of white, middle cîass, northem women of a certain generatkn - that is, women of a certain 'cornmon' experlence.6' Clearly, the dynamks of the wornen's movement have been difficult to encapsulate in a clear methodological frarnework, much less a simple definition. To date, a pleaiora of descriptions have attempted to capture - even sketch - a comprehenslve definition of what constihites feminism. One denotation stated that feminism was a belief in the systemk disadvantage of women in modem sodety, one that advocated equal opportunitles for men and women? Other descriptions have been more poetic:

feminism is about change, about a redistribution of power. It is about challenging the status quo. It is a cal1 for aie definition of the family, the mosque, the temple, the church, and the synagogue, and of love. Change is aireatening to those of us who wield power and those who do not And because it is threatening, it is elecbic and alive and powerful and 1 want to touch ta

Menhave suggested that the women's movement has never been composed of one particular group or preoccupied wiai one specific agenda. Instead, they regard the women's movement as "a number of traditions within a larger movement" dedicated to securing equality for w~men.~

Although some memben of the emerglng new wave of feminism in the 1960s acknowkdgeâ their gratitude to and continuity with their predecessors, the second

61 POnW and Fbrter, 17-10. a Aberaombie, et al, 96. " SimWIüIa Sack, "Why Are Yw A Feminkt?" adlnÇMman SrudksVd. 17, No. 2 (1995) 143. "h~t~.~ckrand~*w~~om~cr,homthc~t~thc~~cll(na:w~ Fanlikm. (Ladon: PWrOn Books, 1996) 21. wave "also daim[ed] to be a distlnctively new movement: a new '~pedes'.*~Given the historkal context in which the rnajority of them came of age, "it was hardly surprising that there was conflkt between these two generationsat& Their parents' postwar adherence to the values of thriîtiness, self-sacrifice, and a strong work ethic, as well as their eagemess for respectability and status was an easy target for the growing cuit of youth in the newly consumer-driven capitalist market of the late

1950s.Q As Lynne Segal has noted, "large numbers of middle-class youth ...with newly found egalitarian delight, hurried on down into the joys of the generation gap - rejecüng middle-class ambition ta dance, get high, and get laid.1m The perceiveci uniqueness of the "new feminism" of the late 1960s and early

1970s was artrculated by many:

Thanks to the early ferninists, we who have mounted this second stage of the feminist revdution have grown up with the right to vote ...we have grown up with the rlght to higher education-and to ernployment and with some, not all, of the legal rights of equality... We do not need to suppress our just grievances. We now have enough courage to express them ...We mu& begin to use the power of our actions: to make women finally v&/b/e as people.. .69 Juûy Rebick has also addressed the generational differences that dlstinguished second wave perspedives from aKMe of the first wave. "When 1 was growing up, oral sex was never dixussed... In those days," she recalled, "goad girls" were supposed to remain virgins, resisting aie fevered dernands of their oversexed boyfriends. As my Aunt Ceil once told

" e&Yt 19. 'Lynn kgd, ((BCihky: Unhnnity d California Press, 1994) 2. " IW., 2-3. 'IW*, 3. " -nt "Out Revdution ir Unique," in Mav Lw Thompcon, cd., Y&s of thcl New me when she suspected 1 was considering semial relations with my boyMend of the moment, "No man wants to buy a sdled plate Mm the shelf." But that was then and this is now. And between then and now, the early women's movernent broke open Aunt Ceil's notions of sexwlity. Women were sexual beings too. We insisted on engaging in sex for our own pleasure as well as the pleasure of our partners. Remember the right to ~rgasrn?~~

Rebick argwd that although the women's movernent successfully shattered numerous traditional notions of gender roles, woments rights and sexwlity, "the perwnal is still politid...Np ite 30 yeais of feminism, grotesquely sexist treatment of women stlll seems acceptableDd1

The existence of a new, emerging feminist generation in the 1990s, when

(and if) acknowledged by xholars, has proven to be problernatic for those attempting to 'fit' it into the women's movement's evolutionaiy timeline. As multi- farious as the fîrst and second waves, memben of the third wave have been classifiecl as dissidents, as "poHerninistf who have been "less concerned about waving a feminist banner than focusing on personal needs ...focus on the pemnal, to hell with the po~itical."~In that context, the third wave is labeled an apathetic group of ungrateful young wornen who have failed to acknowledge the achievements of their foreninners, and who subsequently deride al1 feminists as

"ana-feminine, anti-family, and ana-motherh~od."~Those who have recognized that progressive young feminists ob exist have emphaslzed the generation's demographic

kdy lbbidc, "IVs ChaQiaracba, Stupkl,'' Cs&&n mm,(November 1998) 15. I,, 15. Smn han, "Fust Fefninism and Pomr Dressingta in Tkilst and &ut: A of kminlq in (?oron@: Xcond SbDiy Press, 1992), 123-124. relationship to themsehres. As second waver Rose Glickman, editor of the anthology

In a profound sense al1 wornen rwghly between the ages of eighteen and thiity-five, whether they embrace or reject feminism, are the daughters of feminism, heir to its sbuggles, failures, and suaesses; inheritors willynilly, of the herdc phase of the modem women's movetnent?

While serving to pnwnote the more positive aspects of the third wave, such definitions also tend to perpetwte notions of a motherfdaughter dichotomy.

Presenting the second and third waves in binary opposition inflicts a mentor/apprentice relationship upon the two generations, and maintains the supremacy (and therefore the privilege and the power) of the older, more experienced, second wave feminist perspecüve.

Memben of the third wave have sbuggled with the challenge of defining feminism (both for themselves and generally) and the task of determining the boundaries of the women's movement in the 1990s. That has requireâ not only the theoretical deconstruction of stereotypes, traditional assumptions, and strategies, but also the active redefinition and renaming of women's disparate conditions. As self4escribed third wave feminist writer and academk Devoney Looser has argue&

"younger feminists are not counterfeits in the face of the older and more genuine article. We are not the badly manufactured copies of second-wave origina~s."~~The younger generation of feminists haw expresseâ their desire to expand the meaning of feminism to indude their own experiences and to bring together diverse perspectives. As knella Porter explained:

This is clearly because their experienœ and the way in which they see their own identity as women does not fit into the linear structure of the women's movement as it has ken defined by our mothen. Nor does it fit into the definitkn of Yeminismt as it has been defined and lived by Our mothers. Feminlsm, if it is to include the experience of al1 women, needs to be much more diverse and complicated - uncontmllable e~en.'~

In other words, as jeannine de lombard has suggested, "waves - which, by definition, curve akemately in opposite directions - embody c~ntradiction.~'~ Memben of the aiird wave have stretcheâ the limits of "waves" and "generations" to incorporate diversity, include inconsistencies of thought and modes of activism, and confront the seemingly irreconcilable paradoxes of what constiMes feminism in the

In the introduction to her 1997 anthology entitled Çlick: Becornina Feminists,

Lynn Crosbie recalled a recurring incident in which her students would kgin a sentence with the qualifier, Tm not a feminist, but...":

...They told me that they did not know what [feminism] meant, that it seerned to mean rnany different things. After giving them my standard Une, via Robin Morgan, mat feminism exists wherever women meet and talk and testiw, I thought that confusion is what we have inherited after the fact. After the clearly defined and folkw-theadr feminism of the second wave."

Crosbie's *dents shared the convictions of many wornen coming to and struggling with feminism and feminist theory in the 1990s." ûy definition, her students weie

- pp " hter and Porter, 10. jeannine âe bmbarû, "Hmmenism," in RckaEa Walkr, cd, (NmYork: AKhor Bodo, 1995) 21. * ~ynn cd., ai& (~o~ato:~aaaibi\e, Walter (l ROSS, 1997) 4. " QoM, 4; Partidparitr~~Igmup dialogua rqmteû hearing simila statements fmm thar dkagua, undefgduate w#naits studkr &dents, and Mendr. sufferen of what has becorne known as the "I'm not a feminist, but..." Syndrome. Even among women who support gender equality and many of the tenets that feminisrn has historically espoused, the word 'Ykminist" has been said to evoke negative connotations which they seek to avoid? But for what purpose?

Porter and Porter have suggested that young women reject the terrn

'feminist' as a form of resistance to and defiance against the power and authority

(both real and perceiveci) of mainstream feminist commentators and organizations at the present time. The authors observeâ a significant generatlon gap between the second and third waves, and argued that older, established feminists have not taken the initiative to listen to and learn from the perspectives of the emerging generation.

For their part, "younger feminists [have been] too busy resisting the power/authority of their 'mothers' to leam from thern."@l Although generaaonal xhisms have ken identifieci by Porter and Porter and others, [women] have not confronted the amal structures of power, their pewasiveness and their enormous complexity in the feminist organizaüons that we set up. It is only by recognizing structures of power and authority wlthin women's organizations and within the movement itself, and addressing them as such that we are able to take and use what is good, and discaid what is bad, thus creating a more fluid and open space - generatlonally as well with regard to other 'differencd2

While countless differences among individual feminists and feminist groups within the women's movement have always existed, members of each wave have failed to

@ce such tensions direcély. As MS magazine edbr Mania Gillespie commented,

Bdef and HoMkr, Ibo. potter and ~oita,18-19. 'Z IW ., 23-24. "the way one woman expresses her feminism may cause other feminists to aapplaud, cringe, or rail against her." But, she added, that has been one of the many reasons why the movement has endured; "because of its ability to allow for difference, to encornpas the idiosyncratk and icon~clastk.*~

mers have come to similar conclusions about the state and future of the womenk movement." Lynn Crosbie defined the women8s movement simply as

"individwls wittiin a shifüng series of contextsd5 Her definition presenteâ feminisrn as a constantly shifting social movement that, in ment yean, has "had to expand to accommodate the difierence and divergence of its c~nstjtuents?~Young feminists in the 1990s have asserted that unresolved andior unsatisfactory conditions for women penist in today's society, and that historical re-evaluations, challenges, debates, and discussions must continue in a numôer of forums. As well, third wave feminists have demanded that a conxiow effort be made to include previously

marginalizeâ groups of women in the Mure. Uke their predecesson, third wave

feminists recognize that their pemnal experiences have legitimate political

significance and that the need for collective struggle against the systemic

discrimination of women has not diminished. However, they have also

acknowledged Mat "the myth of a uniteâ sistehooâ is just that, a myth.'d7

A number of texts have compared and contrastecl the differences and

Marcia Ann Gilktpic, "Equd lime," Ek. (Scptanber/ûctober 1998) 1. Mny plo9oiients d thcsc kîeobgks han rekrred to awmschns and th& contemporarics simpiy as "fbmkiists," Wkving that (ngadka d"wave") klng pewomnconrt&ter khg a fanlnkt. 'Suotb(c, S. " Ibid., 4. Mnhua MagYn and Oaina Pary, eds., w- GfilJGoad ((Nm Jersey: Rubgers? 19%) xiv. similarities between and among generatlons of women in an atternpt to bridge the gap ôetween hem and also to confront - and potentially alleviate - inter- generational hosülity. Meg Luxtonts More Than A Wur of Love: Three

Generations of Woments Work in the Home was one of the fint Canadian

publications to explore generational change from a feminist perspective. Based on three generations of working-class homemakers in Flin Hon, Manitoba, Luxton's

study analyzeâ women's unpaid work. Luxton outlined how domestic labour

changed through different periods of time, and isdated the various forces that have

shaped and changed women's work in the home." Although the text did not

specifically address the differences between generations of feminist perspectrves, it

effectively illustrateci the historical specificity of experience and provided a useful

framework for future demographic analyses fonised upon a single issue.

Heather Jon Maroney incorporated demography and feminist theory in an

article entitled "Canadian kminism and Demographic Politics: Some Lessons From

the South." Maroney was interested in detemining to what extent demographic politia - and population policy in parücular - muld be a worthwhile issue for feminist deûate.@ Primarily concemed wiü~feminM tacücs in the political arena,

Maroney sought to mate a new strategic framework that would negate the

divisiveness of Wentity pditics and further the goak of the womenS movement. "It

is important to pay attention to daims made in the name of population or

'" Meg Luxton, Than a mdsTkne mn's Woik in the Home. ororito: The Women's Press, 1980). Filsi* lai Mi-, * aniidian min- mâ -phic Mm: hmi South," in Mql Luton, cd, and Famllics, (HaIHax: Femwwâ Rakhing,- 1997) 43. 49 demography," she wrote, "and not just as a practke of solidarity with women in less developed countrie~.~Exarnining the potential for fruithil, gendered analyses of development, Maroney argued that "feminists ignore demographic politics at our peiil," and asserted that women should be aware of the incorporation of population data (as well as its manipulation) in decision-making p~ocesses?~Relationships between feminist generations were not discussed in detail, but Maroney's article illustrateci that demographics can indeed be worthwhile variables for future analyses.

nerations: A-mk kminists in Dlal~~~ean anthology of original essays contributed by feminist academla in different stages of their xholarly careers, was edited by ûevoney Looser and E. Ann Kaplan and published in 1997. Unlike the previously mentioned texts, Geneations directly addremed the ideological divisions that have emerged among feminisb in ment yeao. Based on their acknowledgment of generational xhisms within the women's movement in the

United States, the editon suspected that "important conversations on feminisms and generations have happened (and are happening) as innuendo, heanay and go~sip."~ Generatim was an attempt to reûieve such conversations, to explore aie terms "ferniniun" and "generation" in the context of current prevailing stereotypes, attitudes, feminist divides, and impassest and to foster increased dialogue within and awss the waves. Although American in xope, the editors

go Mammy, 28. 91 Mamny, 28. * Dcvany Looaa and E. Am Kaplan, Unhrarrty of Minmata Pnst, 1997), x. compiled interesthg and informative documents actively engaged with "how and why perceived feminist generational divisions circulate, what generational explanabions meal, acclude, or perpetuate, and what it might mean to sspeak to - if not "talk through" - our supposed differwes." Whik Genewons did not delve deeply into the perceptions of the third wave (as many have not achieved

professio~l staus in the academy), the collection provides the necessary

foundation upon which further discussions, explorations, and analyses of feminist

generational relationships can build.

In commemoration of the tuventleai anniversary of anadan Wmn3

Studies and in acknowledgment of the approaching millennium, the editon of the

journal select4 "Looking Bad<, Looking Forward: Mothers, Daughters, and

kminism" as the theme for thelr Spring/Fall 1998 issue. Emerging from the first

International conference on mothering and mothehood, held at York University in

aie hl1 of 1997, the anniversary edition sought to reopen the dialogue on mother

and daughter relationships in textual fom, and explore the connedion of such

relationships with feminism and aie womenOs movement Building on the wave

metaphor, the articles utiliwd the notion of a mother-daughter cycle to link

feminism8s past and present, and sought to "validate the interdependence between

feminism and mother-daughter empowerment" and mate a stmnger foundation for

Mure strategies for the movernent as a whole?

- - " Loorer and Kapbn, x. Y "ldcing 8#k, Looking Forvuarc!: MdhcrsI DaugM~,ad Fcminkm," ïûilwib/i Gt&&n Wmn SM& Vd. 18, No. 2 & 3, (SU~WTW/F~~1098) 5. Most of the contributors opted to submit personal accounts of their expeilences of feminist mothering or being a fernlnist daughter, but Andrea O'Reilly and Uisula Franklin extended that analysis. O'Reilly and Franklin both suggesteâ ways in which the ways in which "othennothering" can strengthen relationships among feminist women from different generations. O'Reilly suggesteâ that narrative

(the telling and retelling of stories between mothen and daughters) and knowledge of womenls hlstory are fundamental to the formation of empowering, reciprocal mother-daughter relationships. While recognizing that the sharing of life experience does not, and should not lead to the formation of stringent models for change, narratives have the potential to offer "strategies of resistance, and hence conçtnict an alternative script" for femini~m?~Unula Franklin concurred, stating that "the extension of the biological mother/daughter/sister relationship into a genuinely reciprocal solidarlty among women - transcending age, race, and class - is one of aie great gifts of feminism.lM Franklin stated fumer mat:

...it is important, particularly in the present political climate, to stress that feminism implies a reordning of hurnan relationships away from the patriaxhal rnodels; feminism also implies the acùnowledgment that the well-king of one group of women signiflcantly depends on the well-being of al1 other women. 1 think that feminism extends and deepens dl that is good and creative in rnother-daughter relationships by enlarging the cirde of rec$rocal inter-generational giving and receiving of care and knowledge.

Franklin admitted that signifkant changes have occurred in the lives of women, and

9~ Andrea OaeiIlyI "Mothers, DaughtefsI and Feminism Tom: Empowwnt, Agency, Namüve, and Mahaillne; Bnadgn Wmn Vd. 18, No. 2 8~3, (Summcr/Fall1998) 16-21. " Umb hankin, "WngBa&, WngFomniirdF Qdbn bWnan SWiiVol. le1 Na 2 & 3, Sum~,Fall1998)151-154. 6 hnùin, 15, asserted that women who now enjoy positions of power should recognize their prMlege and that their conduct should be constantly "guided and informed by the collective experience of women when aiey were powerles~.'~While not promoting rnother-daughter relationships as a fonn of mentoring in which an 'older,' more experienced feminist speaks to and infom a 'younger,' grener feminist, both

Franklin and OReilly emphasiwd the need for constant, mutually-respectful dialogue across the waves. OReilly, reflectiengon the stark conceptual difierences between herself and her daughter, conduded that "ails is ultimately the success of feminism; chameleon-like, it changes its hues as each generatlon recasts it in its own imageetm

Based on an interest in the past, present and future of women's social history, a recognition of the disparate conceptual approaches between women woiking in the Reld of histoiy within the last 45 years, as well as the approach of the year 2000, Leila 1. Rupp, editor of the Journal of Women's HiHvw sponsored an elecûonic e-mail conversation among the'generations' of historians: a "doctor- grandmother," "doctor-mother," and two "doctordaughters," a dialogue published as "Women's History in the New Millennium: A Conversation Across Three

Generations." Ranging from personal accounts of 'dismering' women's histoty to the ever-changing focus on certain events, to debates over the usefulness of paitkular methodologid and theoretical appmhes, the conversation maiked the

Ifone defines intellectual history as what people who like to think are tMnklng about and the questions they are asicing at any given moment, then it makes a huge difference when an individual tunes in, so b speak.Io0 The rnonitored e-mail dialogue revealed that ongohg discussions between "younger xholars" and "older xhobn" are not only possible, but are also fruitful - and necessary - endeavours, as "individuals find thelr inspiration in different aspects of their experienceadol

The most current work of mis soct is Anna Bondoc and Meg Daly's edited collection, mers of Intent: Women Cross the Generati~nsto Talk About fa mil^,

Work. Sex. Love and the Future of Feminism, published in 1999. Utilizing cross- generational dialogue as their primary objective, the editors compiled twenty-two epistolary exchanges between young feminists and their feminist predecesson in an attempt to hal the media's premature dedaration of feminism's death. Ranging in issue from the politics of inter-racial relationships to body image and self esteem to dealing with modem-day homophobia, the collection provides a diverse account of the strikingly different realities of women's experiences at the current time. Perhaps more significantly, the interchanges pmvided a forum for young feminists to articulate their frustration with how their own feminist identity plays itself out in their everyday Iives.

Bondoc and ûaly recognited the importance of contextualizing the "lettefs" in terms of tk wave metaphor: each of the "waves" were presented as distinct movements with characteristics unique to time and place, located within a

lmAnne Rior Sara Evans, Smn Gihn, adElizabeth Faue, Wwn's Hi- k the New Milhnium," ku/IfibldMmmf Hm,Vd. il, No. 1(wng 1999) 28. 'O1 Scot?, Evans, Cahn, and Rue, 18. continuous sbugg le for women's rigMs. W hile mognizing that intergenerational hodtility - or a "generation gap" within the women's movement exists, Daly stated that "if our sbvggles remain isolateci or if we refuse to Men to each othen' conflicting agendas, we have no movement - just a slew of individual therapy sessions." "Instead," she argueâ, "we might build a feminism whose rnembers accept that the movement is as cornplex, undecided, unclear, but as driven, impassioned and necessaiy as the indhriduals who make it upado2

An interesting, accessible, and Informative collection, Letters of Intent was not without limitations. As the editors admitteâ in their disclalmer, the decision to prompt the younger generation to write the initial letter to their pre-selected

"mentor" created an unnecessary "mother/daughteft power dynamic, one which left a number of the contributors (and readers) uncornfortable. Older women were designated aie 'last word' on all issues, which left readen wondering how a prolonged exchange might have concluded. Further, many of the opening letters appeared to be hesitant. Perhaps the younger feminists' desire to maintain respect and admiration for their predecesson prompted many to be les frank with their critiques or concerns.

As has been illusbated, a number of feminist writeo and scholars have acknowledged that generational difbrences have wedged a divide between the waves of the women's movement, and that the intemal mife must be addressed.

In some way, al1 of the authors were concemed with the often-precarious

Anna BQndDc and Mcg Rly, a., of Wm to Talk Aboa amof (New Y&: The het Press, 1999) 7. relationships between generations and were aware of the damage that intergenerational hosülity could potentially render to the wlidarity of the women's movement. Some attempted to bridge the gap between feminism's waves and sought out possible meaiods of easlng generational tension and moving beyond misunderstandings and feelings of resentment. While al1 of the texts attempted to pmide a more realisüc account of intergenerational tensions at the cunent tirne, few recognized the "youngef' generation as a new entity within the movement itself; as a Mnlwave.

Further examinatrons of intergenerational hostility (boai implicit and explicit) within the women's movement must be executed before the generation gap degenerates into petty spats over which groupS feminism is more righteous or more real. In-depth analyses of the historical underpinnings of feminism and the women's movement should be conducted during such inquiries, studies that consider the historical specificity of each wave. More research should examine the actual (and perceiveci) idedogical dlfferences bebveen the second and the third waves. Most significantly, much more talking - and listening - should take place. Not nearly enough work has been done In ails regard, and not nearly enough articles have been written and published. Not nearly enough experience swapping has occurreâ. Discussing and debating different perspectives and sharing disparate experiences will lead to greater understanding of the source of generaüonal divisions, and will eventwlly influence the Mure sbategies of the women's movement as a whole.

Reconcillng achial and conceptual diffWnces between the waves should be foremost on the women's movement's agenda at the present time. In light of the

increasing extemal opposition to feminism and feminist strategies in ment years, the women's movement has often been portrayecl as antiquated and ineffave, and maineam media have senred to perpetuate popular mixonceptions. While

intemal conflict among diverse groups of women has ken integral to the ever- evolving nature of the women's movement, the principal front of feminism - its mainsbeam "face" - must exhibit solidarit-and resilience. A united feminist front, comprised of boai seasoned veterans and Young, eager, and fresh feminists, would

signifkantly divert the attention of oppositional forces and permit the women's

movement to continue (with fewer distractions) on its ongoing quest for change.

Understanding that each ferninist generation has faced and will face

circumstances strikingly different fkom another is a necessaty move towards

improving cohesion behnreen the waves. Acknowledging those idiosyncrasies in respeetful - and candM - dialogue is the first step ln reconclling differences and moving foiward. Illustrated by the previously mentioned texts on generational divides, reciprocal dialogues between and among the membeo of ferninism's waves

are essential to fMure sûategies for change. However, they also brought to Iight the need for such discussions to take place within the context of gracious

relationships, free of ideologkal oneupmanship, fear, and ranking. Communication

must be viewed as a fundamental principle before ideological tensions within the

women's movement can be resdved.

While effi;ectivedialogue across the waves has yet to be perfomied on a signifiant sale, 3udy Rebkk and Kike Roach's 1996 collaboration politically waking has provided the best indication of what is required: mutually respectful dixourse among Canadlan women mnceming issues pertinent to the movement as a whole. lo3 politicall~Speaking provided readen with a series of dialogues between the authon - direct communication - on issues such as race, identity politics, the power of the media, violence against women and the future of the Canadian women's movement While not presenting any significanüy in-depth analyses of individual issues, the text illustratecl how individual opinion can be shaped by identifkation with a specific cohort or cohoits, and emphasized the necessity of feminists to share their experiences with othen Third wave feminist Lisa Bwn Rundle praised Politicallv makinq as "the kind of productive cross-generational feminist dialogue we should be aiming for," and commendeci the authors for their approach: ...this model - of sharing information about each other's experiences - fosten mutual understanding and information-sharing, ramer than hard feelings and îiustration. It allows dignity and keeps open the necessaiy passage for communication of knowledge and experience from those who have been in the women's movement for longer than many young feminists."

Rebkk and Roach proveâ not only that distinct demarcations separate the perspecüves of members of different generations, but also that intergenerational dialogue can indeed work. Misconceptions and assumptions about feminist generations can be alleviated through effecbive communication behtveen the waves,

"Judy Reb#< & Kih Roach, Vamwer/rorcmto: üwgbs & McIntyn, 1996. Lira Byn Rundk, Wak Room SLdri, the Next Nobüon is Hat," -, (Fall1998) 37. and framewoiks for new strategies for feminisrnts future could potentialw emerge as a rê~ult.

Many third wave texts to date have called for a more tolerant, flexible, compassionate, and rational form of feminism, and most view communication as the key to a shong women's movement in the future.105 However, most dialogues - whether direct, texhial, aieoretical, or anecdotal - have tended to lead to shrugged shoulders: more questions than viable options. In an attempt to foster honest, mutually respeetful cross-generational feminist dialogue, 1 organized a group discussion on femlnist heterosexwlity on January 23, 1999. The participants, selected through purposive sampling, had similar theoretical backgrounds and had established congenial relationships in a graduate woments studies seminar a year before.lo6 The women were aware of the nature of the study, and gave their fomal consent to participate before the actual dialogue took place. The discussion aimed to revive a traditional feminist practice, Mat of "consciousness-raising," in a moderated, relaxed, and modem context, and sought to draw out the similarities and ciifferences in perspecüves on wornen's sexuality across the waves. The intent was to provide a forum for 10 fernini~ts'~'to converse about aie contradictions of their desires, their experknces, and the negotiations that constantly mur within male/female sexual relationships. Although genealizations from the banscripts will

Third Wave pnspccthns on potential strategîes Iw change will k dkussed in Qiapter 2. '06 Margant Andmon, Mooier Was Nat a Parrui. (Montmal: BW Rose Books, 1972) 163, noteâ aiat "women in ainrdwsness-mWn) groups sometimcs need more oian two yean of regular meetings, More sexuality can kanie an opcnîy disaisseâ matter." 107 Lynn (49); JO (23); Sifvmte (24); Wi (29); bufa (26); Story (28); Susan (48); Teny (32); CoWtMy (25); rnd Paulethe (26). AH of the pit#pnts names have been changedm be made with caution, the responses revealed similar tensions, problems and concems expressed by memben of both the second and aiird waves.lW ûverall, the intergenerational gmup dialogue prowd to be significant to and valuable for future explorations on intergenerational feminist relationships.

The dixussion ranged from confessions of disappointment in bed to redefining the conditions of pleasure and desire, to the penistence of age-old dilemmas regarding women's reproductive rights and sexwlly-transmitted diseases.

ûverall, the discussion provided a diverse account of the varied sexual experiences of heterosexual women of different ages and backgrounds. Although peppered with laughter, the talk was overwhelmingly negative, and many of the participants arbkulated their dissatisfaction with how their feminist identity played itself out in intimate relationships. All of the women who participatecl have - or have had - problems dealing with their sexualky, and agreed that it was time to address how feminism can directly relate to their own personal livd experience~.'~~

The dialogue also revealed a general dixomfort about the issue of sexuality itself. Many of the participants felt at ease dixussing sexuality on a theoretical level, yet expressed discornfort talking about sex as a personal issue - particularly with women a generation above. Following the group dialogue, 1 conducted follow-

la All paitklpanb were whbt heteiwatual and unkrsity educated. Nicolas Baxter-Mooref Terranœ Cadi, and Rodcrldc Oiuck, Pal&&, (Toronto: Copp Cîark PibMn Ltû, 1994) 215 have stated that *dMciant acpats waild nrdy agnc on thc same '~tatiw'cases and such judgmt sampks may k su- to bbs. Nwaidess, when HEMWng with uey dlamples, a carefully sdcded purptwhre safnpk may mll be 'mute mpwentstive' than a simpk randan sampk d the same size." Memh of thc gmup were se)ecbedt in patt, because of thdr prieviously- estaôlrshed klnship, gmup ske, thcir shad lmowlcdgc of (eminism and kminist theary, and pwational dhnrrity. Sceond and thlrd wave parpcbiw on socuality will k examined in-dcpth in Chapter 3. up interviews with each of the participants in an attempt to retrieve their comments on the process of intergenerational feminist dialogue. They were asked abwt their level of comfort with the forum, the topic, and the discussion itself. As well, their thoughts on the effdveness of didogue as a potenüally useful methodological tool for the women's movement in the Mure were solkited. When asked whether they would be willing to participate in a similar intergenerational group discussion conceming a single women's issue in the future, al1 of the participants agreed.

Interestingly (but not surprisingly), al1 of the memben of the 'younger' feminist generation linked the exercise with an early second wave feminist practice: that of

JO: 1tbhk ne Bke the stufthat we do as kminists, or even people kvming @ministr - kause I wou/d say tndt I'm sû7/ In the pmes of bemming - I tWt when you resd the pape4 leam wWsgoing on, ü~fson@ ha/f of it nte oMer ba/f t getang in these discWons wiM peuple who you mpeCr and twuncing amund id& like the C-R grwps of the Secvnd Waw eminist movement I thIn& that w dont db enough of tht..lMin& ifs a good tao/ for us to /ammm.

The desire to revive a traditional modem feminist pracüce was consistent with al1 of the responses, and aspirations for parücipating in similar exercises in the future

(virtually regardles of subject matter) were ovenuhelmingly high. Consistent with many third wave dedarations on the exigency of melding feminist theory learned in the classoom and kminism practiceâ in eveiyday Me, al1 of the patticipants stressed the importance of direct dialogue for the women's movement's future.

Intergeneational relationships bebveen feminists have often been framed in terms of the mother/daughter dichotomy, one in which the 'older,' more experienced feminist assumes the role of mentor to the 'younger' feminist who watches, listens, and leams as her pupil. When asked whether she thought Hie group dialogue was an open one, JO, who dexribed herself as a "young, academic, feminist activist, but not entirely active in both," commented: I Min& Bat - age and consematm - 1 think Mat3 Me eason why meof us were Wng&ck; kause there wte three people in the mm wnO were - IW didnt want tO oitina dght? We dMnf want tv say thhgs llke "@ck;"youhow? Tlrlngs Me mat we just dWht want to ofind And I dMnl wnt tv, we couîdnt acknow/e&e thac becsuse &fite w ewn got the=, mere cornmenCs like, "oh, you Mink of me as your mothe~," Well, you know what? I realljt dont And those comnents do. And when you do buch my Ieg and go, "what do you Bink of Mat?* or 'Mejust thinks I'm cm"or "oh, die's gohg mi!!"welJ I'm wlk nec but when pu say Ubt of murse I'm gohg Co squ/nn and say, "oh, Mat's so sutpflsing to me!" 8Ut I tMnk rnayk Ws treicsuse tbere was a hi@ fevel of respert...ntey we0/&6 yet nad ae same i&lc@ii/ standpoint AMougb, Ifn thtnink/ng witt, Susan, f was tip toeing amund Bxiwse meof #kahgs mat she SdM wre very, I felt /Re I ~35Ming to my mom, and I dont have Mt3 wnyersation wil my mom and 1 dont realb want to. Sb y&, f tfrink lWYs am&r mson why we hem bd&, or why I heikl &ck..lt wu/d be InteWng to take out tnare thm '@enenHona/" people iiom ihe mmanùhaar Wat w'dtw/bsay.

Members of the 'younger' feminist generatkn, aware of the similar theoretical

backgrounds that aie group shaied, were acutely aware of power differences mat

existed among the participants. Many explainecl that the discussion was hindered,

in part, by the presence of 'oldef women in the gioup.

Participants of the 'otdef generation, the second wave, tended to view the group dialogue in a rnarkedly diRent manner. Susan, "a happy latecorner to

feminism," was not aware of any hlerarchies of power during the dialogue, but cornmented that her previously-held assumptions about the 'younger' generation of feminists were incorrect:

Susan: ït was really mat to H wlrat younger women wte Minking about theif sexuafi@, and it wasnt al/ h?e and eaqy /,keI ttrougiit it was, what w/& birtJl wnbvl and king educdted, ana yw MW.&/ng poltyiertul and al1 th& yw'd Mink you'd have a gmt o/d Ume. Sb 1 was supdsed mat it lm2 al/ wonderfi/l..Sb 1 ledrned a lut about younger wmen, and Mek sexuali@, and actualw 1 cal/& my daughtq jwt tv sehow she Mought about sM): kause wkml& never tdlked about $ and ükt was nice. Connecfed me wiCt, my daughkr at Mat level, it was a bonus.

Lynn, a self4exribed "long-time feminist activist," found that the younger members

of the group were more cornfortable with their sexwtity - and with discussing matten of pleasure and desire - than she was as a youth: Lynn: 1 Bink I leamed a lot more ahut nOW pung people have included seixua/ity and sw in theif liw, as a avpart of Heir /t'm. Wlren I was that ape gmup, we dt'dnt talk ahut ii nom talked ahut mat. lt fust wasnt discud! Piire W ...lt was gmû to te thete. One of the fiings Mat 1ho@ Mat 1couM Mng üie group was Mat wu cvuM be 48 yeias OM and have an acüve sex //fi. And it di//kek th? same as it d/d when you wete II, on& you're a //Mebetter at lt!

Although aie 'oldef participants noted distinct conceptual differences beONeen the

perspectives of the 'younger' rnembers of the group and their own, none stated that

age disparity caused tension or hindered the flow of discussion.

Courtney describecl herself as a "25 year old feminist, negoüating what

feminism means to me at this point in my life." She linked the discussion to the

feminist maxirn "the personal k political," and commentecl that the dialogue illustrated to her that her own personal frustrations, fears, and aggravation with language were common and shared arong other women in her cohort For her, feminism (in an amalgamation of theoiy and practice) should strive to reûefine tems and reshape language to advance new aieories of feminism (on sexuality and beyond) and to bcilitate greater personal - and interpersonal - understandings:

Couttney: I'm just CU- as to why Hevre a// so scdM to talk ahut $ ahut sw..And 1 M/nk paR of mat Ibr me war coming to &m/n&m. At ttte same Ume, coming b kminlun has a/= silenced brMt voke in the sense tbat you know it happes, iC"s great tttat mencan talk ahut it in @&ln am$ but Ifs sdr// /dcIWng in me amfor some teason. Or myk /t2s just the mht;ation Mat I'm not lYle on& one aMt It happens to, so I'm just amer stoty mat is THE story. men?are a /ut of cvntradiions /nwM, but if lt wasn f ibr &m/n/sm, I &ni tMnk 1 W4UM have ever admi'îhose Hings tv myse/i and ~arspa& of it

She, like other participants, stated that the lack of women's language to describe feelings and emotions impeded the depth of the discussion, and that "we got the words out, but we didn't get there. More talk is needed. 1 think we need to get to

the good stuff. We know the theories, we know them too well, sometimes, but we

need to get pstthat."

The follow-up intecviews were profoundly revealing in two ways. First, al1 of

the participants expressed ease with the other memben of the group and with the

subject matter during the dialogue. However, al1 of the women indicated in follow-

up intewiews Mat tensions existed which hindered and/or shaped the directi*on of

the conversation. While inter- and intragenerational conversations were deemed

valuable and necessaiy foi women, for feminists, and for tk women's movement as

a whole by al1 of the participants, it was dear that many limitations to 'pure' dialogue remin. Second, all of the participants agreed that much more discussion, honest, respectrul exchanges of ideas, thoughts, and experiences were desperately needed arnong women and within the kmlnist movement.

The personal is still political, and will remain so, in various manifestations, until women's stniggles have allbeen achieved. Until that tirne, R will be imperative for feminists - regardless of generational affiliation - to recognize and acknowledge the diverse examples, experiences and opinions of women with different penonal histories and theoretical positions in order to leam, change and grow. Disparate and oftensppositional feminist positions have co-existeâ throughout the histoiy of the women's movement, simultaneously informing and affedng awareness of women's conditions thmugh discussion, debate, and the distribution of knowledge. kminism has changed considerably as time has progressed, and it has expanded to indude a multiplicity of voices. Cenerational divisions have emerged within the women's movement in ment years, and - corresponding with the fluidity of the wave metaphor - it can be predicted with certainty that the current discord will alter the definition of what constitutes feminism further. The ideas and pracbices of feminism are not static, but have evolved and changed over tirne, so that even when people becorne comfortable with some feminist ideas, the ideas themselves seem to shift and once again something unfarniliar, difficult and disruptive is demanded. kminism has always pushed boundaries and changed what exists and is familbr. This is why it is constantly subject to criticism. '

Since its emergence at the turn of the centuiy, the dynamks of the Canadian women's movement have been difficult to encapsulate in a single, comprehensive definition. The problerns associated with defining feminism have been due, in part, to the ever-changing nature of the movernent itself. Each "wave" has borrowed mm, incorporated, and bullt upon the theoretical and popular perspectives that have corne before, and has adapted and changed to fit its own environment. The first wave of feminism emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries "when basic human rigMs for women - voting and property rights - were won."2 The second wave grew from the New Left and peace movements that actively opposed and sought to transfomi the social and political climate of the Western wodd during the decade of the sixties. That movement has been labeled the

"second wave" in recognition of the formidable achievements of the tum of the

' Mllfjork Gr#lh Cahcn, "The Cadian Wamn's M~vement,"in PnMn, Cohen, Boum & Masters, n HlQOlCn's Vol. 1: Sbong Vdccr, (TomntD: James Lorimer & Company, 1993) 1. 2~andRisto&, 2. century reformers, and ahto disbinguish the stniggles and triumphs of its memben from those of their predecessors.

The second wave idenWied itseIf as a unique movement, one that was separate and diffemt from hm-of-the-century feminism. Similarly, the newest generation of the women's movement, the third wave, has attempted to voice its concems and ideas about the current state of feminism, and has sought to dlsünguish itself as a new generation among the waves. That struggle - to be both recognkeâ and heard - has been a difficult one to date. The success of a number of mas-market anti-feminist books, many wrltten by young women, has led to the popular assumption that young feminisb simply do not exist3 As well, constant media prodamations of the 'death of feminism' have largely ovenhadowed the activities of progressive young people in recent yean. Instead, reports have indicateâ that the country's younger generation is politically apathetic; a disinterested group more concemed with themselves than with social activism of any kind. Nonetheles, a new generaüon of ferninists does exist, cornprised of young women striving to keep the womenrs movement vital and alive.

The following discussion identifies this new generation of young women as a legitimate wave in the ongoing history of the wornents movement. Building on the rnethodological application of "generations" establisheâ in the preceding chapter, 1 delineate the borden of each of feminism's waves, loosely defining the generations in ternis of their writing, research and acüvism. Just as the first and second waves

Xe in ptlnibc the ha of dte RIh, Oonna LaFramboise, as ml1 as nant texts by Danielk Criaendcn and Wendy Shalit. developed from and in response to the everdanging sodal, political and cultural environment of thelr acüvisrn, the ttiird wave marks the arriva1 of a new breed; one that boai reflects and addresses the intriacies of the current historical moment.

ûetetmining the boundaries of what constitutes the newest generation of the women's movement is a cornplkatecl task, paiacularly in light of the current bacîûash against feminism. 1 argue that younger feminists will becorne a more visible and invaluable component of the movement once women on both sides of the generation gap address the present tensions airough continued, mutually- respectful dialogue.

The first wave of feminism has been broadly defined as 'the woridwide campaign for womenS rights waged in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." Historical reevaluations have shown that the movement was mostly

Western in orig in and predominantly organized by white, relative1y well-educated, heterosexual, middle to uppertlass Christian wornen in the early twentieth century.

However, the early feminists' demands concerned a broad ange of issues, including: education refom, married women's legal rights (including, to a cemin degree, reproductive rights), improwd employment opportunities and standards, property rights, child custody, financial independence, access to the political realm, and s~ffrage.~

' Bohs and Hoavdcr, 134; Omir Krsmarae and Rub Trekhkr, fi knljriist Dm(London: Pandora Press, 1985) 164465 indieste that timing the Rrst wave in this manner "presuppases a patkubr paiibieal and caw#mk oontext... only nkwnt for thc hnistm~vements which devdoped Cn the umtm vuorid." Adamson, BrisMn, and McPhaiI, 35-36, ako credibed WWWngdass women, whosc prtkipation in bbour and union nlam pbyed a sîgnMant rok In the tkrt wave women's mowment Throughout their challenges to the status quo, early first wave feminists utîlized varying degrees of what has becorne known as "matemal feminism": the belief that men and women have fundamentally difkrent physiological and social des in society.6 Despite the domestic traits suggested by their epithet, materna1 feminists did not necessarily argue that woman's "natural" roles as mothen and caregiven shoutd retegate them solely to the piivate malm. In facto the dominant perspective among turn of the century feminists was that women were innately

"morally superior." In addition, many tum of the century feminists were convinced that "women's special mie as moaier gives her the duty and the right to participate in the public spheread

One of the most signifiant victories of feminism's first wave was the endowment of the franchise to large numben of women in the country.* Through the establishment of voting rights for women, the suffragists hoped to oobtain a measure of conbol over pditical policy-making to influence reforms in family, property, and labour laws that affected the lives of bah women and children.

Although municipal voting rights for women were won early (1872 in British

Columbia and 1883 in Ontario), the provincial franchise was not as easily attained.

Manitoba was the first to grant women the vote in 1916, and the remaining provinces (with the exception of Quebec, who aaeâed in 1940) complied in the

AcJam, Briskin, and McPhail, 31; Boks a HoaMkr, 267. 'Unda Keaîeyf cd., Intiodudion, &jy# Un- (Tmto: Rie Women's Pressf 1979) 7. ILGranaWn, et J &(Tmto: McGraw-tiOl Ryemn, 1990) 306; and Doiis Andcrsoir, Rn_Uatinkhcd (Tmnto: DauMeday, 1991) 201 have aqued thatthemRrironrCsnwdMobnlk,= mrieâthe(bmial nc~gn~noftheYegal perscmhoodM of ~iomcnin Cariada was a on par with the establishment of the vote for yean that followed? In 1917, the Dominion govemment passed the fint federal enfranchisernent Act. Select women, partkulaily women in the armed forces (most who seiwd as memben of the medical staff) and the irnmediate family memben of active, retired, or deceased Canadian soldhrs were permittecl to vote in national

elections. In 1918, a second Act granted the right to vote in federal elections to an increased nurnber of Canadian ~ornen.'~The underlying reasons for the reformers'

success continue to undergo debate. In retrospect, however, the triumph of the

suffrage movernent has been cited not only as the crowning achievement of the turn

of the century wornen's movement, but also as a symbol marking the end of the first wave?

The sodal, pditical, and economic environment at the turn of the century

provided the circumstances under which the first wave of the wornen's movement in Canada could emerge. Commercial prosperity and increased rnechanizaüon within

urban areas led to the production of more industries, and the rapidly expanding actories relied heavily upon a continual Influx of industrial labouren.12 Durlng the

mid-nineteenth centuiy, the developrnent of Canadian rnanufacturing necessibted

Kea& 10. 'O Keaky, 13; Andason, 200. The adowm«it d the franchise during this period was not universal, as First Natbns peopks, Japanctc Canadlans, and prisonas were denîed such rights. "Granabtein, et al, 202. Whik romc refonners believed that the mlsuperiority d wanen would produce a more p#itkt natbn, "aoim had no suth illuriw...and campaignd for the vote using the argument that govmments couid scaraly gmm in the inte& of mmm and their familkt If only men cast ballets." Keaky, 14, stated (kst chccrfully) that "dapltc thcir aippored matemal and p#IW quliües, wamn mwi thc fcderal franchise, in the short term, because pdiüdans knew they would assure the support ncedcd (bi mscriptkri.*; Baiky, 20; Adamson, Bi(skin and McPhaP, 30. l2 Gnnatstein, et al, 69-79. By the 182Os, elaborak bechmbgy had taken over the manufachiring industiy with the creatbn of im milk; a dcvebpnnt linked to the expansion of the railways thmghout the 1850s. By the miâ-1- primary lm, stee!î, and textiks mie the industrial foais. the employment of both women and children in factories as well as in the home, on a piecework basis.13 Employment opporhinities for women certainly expanded for women at that time, patacularly in urban areas. But most of that participation - ranging from factory work to clerical positions to more prestigious jobs like teaching and nursing - ôecame characterized as "women's work," and was consequently unvalued, arduous, and poorly paid.14

A number of historians have suggested that the women's movement in

Canada lapsed into a poliücally dormant period for a number of decades after women obtained the franchise. However, research has revealed (and continues to convey) that a solid and steady tradition of feminlst activity occurred throughout the

early-to-mid twentieth century:

This ea was not politically blank for women. Militant feminism was certainly silent; however, women's social and political involvement was changing wlth that of the rest of society. When feminism resurfaced after 1965, it certainly did not corne into king by spontaneous generati~n.'~

Following the First World War, poor wages, high unemployment, and vulneability to

post-war inflation led many women to active involvement in a number of labour

uprisings across the nation? Women's support for the union movement increased

wiai the rise in their overall participation in the labour force. Umiteâ employment

PnntiœI Rub Bourne, Gall MhkR Brandt, Beth Light, Wendy Mltchirrson, and Nwmi Bkk, WwA 2* Mith, flaronbo: Harcourt Braa & Company, 19%)130,132 mported that mwm and chDdren consütutd 42% of the industrial woildbra in Monbeal in 1871, and 34% in Toronto, and that by 1891 more than 7000 ywng womn worke!â br manibadunrs. Pmtke, et alr 133; Gnnatstein, et al, 85. DUM~, n. l6 Ptwitke' et al, 250-251. Wunen in the gamtand textile idustries wem paitkubtly vigilant in their struggks ovcr WWWric) conditions and adcquate wages in the 192b ad19305. opportunitles and resbicted access to "non-taditional" fields prompted women to protest in a number of urban areas. Access to higher educaüon and control over fimily planning became fundamental issues to many activists in aMt period, and challenges to the institutions of rnarriage and motherhood continued.

Alaiough the interlude between the first and second waves has often been considered a time of "relative feminist obxurity," women were actively participating in many realms to effect change. The inclusion of women in unemployment insurance policies, the vote for women in Quebec, and equal pay laws al1 indicated a persistence of feminist voices throughout the interim.17 Adamson, Briskin and

McPhail remind curent feminists that the rwts of contemporaiy feminism can be found in the feminist activism of the flrst wave. Liberal reform strategies, the radical creation of soda1 alternatives, and other approaches to structural change, they

argue, "have their origins in the political sbuggles of fint wave feminists, although

the names of those strategks have ~hanged."'~Their observations hold valuable

insight: references to the triumphs of first wave feminism reinforce the notion that

those women significantly influencecl and affecteci many of the issues that persistecl

in the lives of women in the 1960s and 1970s.

The second wave of aminism "revived" the women's movernent with ils

emergence in the early 1960s, paralleling (not coincidentally) the 'corning of age' of

the baby boom generation. In English Canada, the advent of the second wave was

manM in the establishment of branches of the Vdce of Women (VOW), a

l7 Cohen, 4-5. lu Adam#i, Brlskin, and McQhsil, 31. gassroots association vehemently opposed to the testing of nuclear arms and the proliferation of weapons, in 1960.'~ The publication of a number of groundbreaking texts at that time also influenced the development of feminism's second wave, and pmvided insight into the events that transpired during that period. Simone de

Beauvoir's Le 46,uxl&ne sexe caught the attention of many women, particularly in

Quebec. Some readers of de Beauvoir's text dedared mat they "felt part of history in the making, our history as women, which had its own univene, separate and apart from that of the sodety around The prdiferation of knowledge reflecteâ the shared nature of women's oppression at the time, and "the widespread political, econornic, and soclal changes that were occurting in those years provided the context in which the women's liberation movement would gr~w."~~

The development of new theories on women's oppression rapidly followeâ.

One ideology in particular was to have an extraordinary effect on the future of the women's movement as a whole. It has ken captured in Charlotte Bunch-Week's highly celebrated 1970 statement:

"There is no private domain of a pemn's life that is not litical and there is no political issue that is not ultimately pesonal." PO

Adoptd by proponents of women's liberation shortly thereafter, the maxim "the

W& in Englkh Canada," in Vcionica Strwig'Boag ad Mita ait Fdlmn, eds. ~e~hinkl~ 2* dition, voronto: Copp Uark Plbnan Ltd, 1991) 433. VOW ir ansidend one of the original tnhtng gloundr for lridependent women's organkatkns. Monique Win, 7hc Royal Comrnissh on the Status of Wmin Canada: Twenty Years Later," in (Montreal & Kîngsbrt: McGill-Queen's Un- Press, 1992) 2!i; Sec also Dumont, 83. Mam,Biiskin, and McPhail, 37. QiarWe BuKh-Weeûs (1970), quoW in Fmndne Desçanks-Wanget and Shiky Roy, 7he Warin's Movancnt and Br Qmnts dThoughk A TVpoksical EssayIn (Ottawa: CRlAW' 1991) 1. personal is political" captured women's imagination boai in Canada and abroad?

Instances of gender inequality were brought into public debates, transfonning them into what C. Wright Mills would have called "puMic issues of social structure."24 In many ways,

"The personal is politkal" summarized an important link between personal life and overall political structures, and making this connection had a major impact on aie way people understood the world ... If the lives of women were to be changed in any fundamental way, the soda1 structures that constrained women's choices would have to be changed first?

The realization that othen shared sirnilar experiences and that political solutions could be sought out to correct them eraâicated a slgnificant amount of the isolation felt by many women. As well, the elevation of personal experience to the level of political significance also led to the development of a new form of organizing: conxiousness-raising (CR) group.

CR groups were originally formed to provide an open forum for each woman

"to explore herself, her relationship to men, her relationships with other women and also to a sodety where she finds herself in an oppressed interest gr~up.''~~In many ways, CR groups epitomizeâ "the pemal is the political":

" Baks and Hocveler, 137; McüanM, 425. AkicromW, et al, 157; Joanne Naiman, Jîaw So&tk Worû: Po- and Chans in p (Cword: Imin Publkhing, 1997) 23. For Mi14 the awnpnhenskn of any event ushg a *sodobgkal imaginationu tnvdvcd "the aMlity tD tranrand a pmbîem's personal, individual qualibks, so tha it [could] k seen within the brger rodd and political milieu." When applieci to Mils' theow, WITWI'S -te pmbkmr, wch as biith contrd, vkknœ, or aging, cead to be viamd on a sokly pemwl kvd, but became polithl issues that imitably invdved insütuüonal CtmP* Adam, BrisMn and Whail, 201. Anuradha Bose, '--RaIslngIn In aWas Nat a Pesoa. aompikd by Margret ~ndasan(~ontres~: ~bck RWC BOOIG, ign)i7cin, 175. Conxiousness-ralsing deals with feelings, sentiments, emotions, gut reactions - the kw aaributes allowed us as women. IL uses, maybe ewn exploits, aiese through intimate talk-sessions fiee of the element of role-playing and without 'objecüve guidance' (usually of a man!) For consdousness-raising groups have no discussion leaders. It refUtes the traditional leader-led roles, the dominant- passive syndromes and the need for a hierarchy.*'

Given mat conxiousness-raising groups were fundamentally concemed with increasing women's awareness of the prevalence of their oppression, it was inevitable that they would "encourage women to think about acting politically" and becorne a tool for mobi~ization.~~mer Ume, the groups became larger and more politkized, and many fond formal organizations, lobby groups, and women's centres. CR groups focused primarily on women's experiences and provided "the basis for the second burst of actMty of the early women's liberaaon rn~vernent."~~

The &al and political atmosphere in the 1960s within Canada and, to a certain extent, the global environment, provided a model foundation for grassroots organizing and advism. Uke the "hippiedom" previously dexribed, a strong sense of social jusüce and a desire for sodetal change pervaded the en, as well as the convictions of young revolutionaries. The "new age of affluence, bigness, spedalization, professionalization, and bureaucncy" exhiMteâ a growth in national prospni~,but it rapidly became dear that the allocation of material resources was

17 FImP, 174. Bokr and Homkr, 94; Adamson, EkWn and Whail, 4445. " Nancy ad am soc^, wFeminirb, Ubkis, IrRks, and Radicalr: The Energence of the Women's Ubciaaon Movement," in Pan, of dm(1995) 253. Pan (1995) 6-7. Poverty was 'dixovered; as were 'regional disparities,' and the Welfare State expanded, prirnarily through health, education and social programs. In thls context of econornic, social, and genderl wtual &u/eversemenC a heaûy, intoxicaüng rush of political protest erupteâ acms Canada ...31 Gmups whose members had experienced marginalkation hom the centres of power began to surface at that the, demanding that their oppression be recognized and acknowledged in the political realm. More specifically, First Nations' fights for autonomy became publicly known, the struggles of the gay liberation movement became more visible, and Quebec's battles for self-detenination made headlines across the country. Sparked by the merger of a number of peace organizations into the Combined Universities Campaign for Nuclear Disamament, student-led protests opposing the war in Vietnam also increased dramaticaliy. By 1964, the student

"peacenik" had expanded their agenda b include challenges to both ideological and political institutions: the systems of Society they perceived as "fundamentally compt, unequal, and disernpo~eiing.~~The group emerged as an influential faction of aie New Left in Canada, the Student Union for Peace Action (SUPA).

Incorporating "disillusioned liberals," "cultural anarchists," individuals with

Communist or CCF-based ana-capitalst perspectives and many others, the eclectic

youth organizatlon was involvecl in a variety of controversial social issues of the

tirne? Despite conceptual difkrences, SUPA was remarbbly cohesive: ...k was ...the full-time dedication to a group, the engagement with ideas and prindples aiat changed yow Ilfe, detemining the household you liveâ in, the people you made love with, the ways in

" BcdPi L Roa RuHaaaLBullt (TmW, Univcisity of Toronto Press, 1995) 24. Rwr, 24; KMashI (1980) m. Kos&shI 6-7; Omam, 221. which you used your spare tirne, not to mention how you dressa, the books you read, the musk that moved you. What you believed and how you liveâ were Inseparable. Politics was not just a set of ideas and arguments; it was also a way of king, an instruction in how to live well, an invitation to determine values through action...34

"These were the principles,' Myma Kostash explained. "In practice, however, they were distortedmd5Mer factions of the New Left emerged, sometimes rivaling but often working in conjundion with SUPA. These included the NDP's Waffle, and

Maoi~t, Trotskyist, and Manist-Leninist groups such as Red Morning, the

International Socialists, and Rising Up ~ngry? The Company of Young Canadians, the first government-sponsored organization for youth of its kind, was also establisheâ at that tim~e.~~WRh the exception of VOW and the formation of the

Ontario Women's Bureau in 1963, vety litüe of the organized social activism brewing at that time addresseâ women's concems."

The inability of the largely male dominated New Left organizations to adequately recognize and represent women's concerns was a catalyst for rapidly growing feminist perspectives in Canada to proliferate. Wamen activists charged the

Left with perpetwting the very same inequality within their own group that they had rallied against in society at large. The articulation of "the gap beween the rhetoric of the maledominated soda1 movements and the way many women perceived their

Kosmh, 7. " IM, 8. 'Ross, 246-247n. " "IYs Your Tum ..." The Canada Cornmittee on Yaith (26 July 1971) 105-111. The fiederally funded msearch aDmmRtec concluded that the CIC was pbgucd wlth sbwtural, organliatknal, finandal, and (dcdogkal I- that made it and genefally imas a functioning eritity. Manhdthc CK:durlng th& pakd tale a mon opanktk view of ib aamnplishments. 'Pa (1995) 6-7. own treatment as acbhrists WtW' these movementt" was met with defensiveness, contempt, and accusations that they were 'splitting the m~vement.'~~Many leaders of the New Left argued that the emerging feminist perspectives were "not only outside, but hostile to, anti-capitalst, anti-imperlalist ~deology.'~

In the Fall of 1967, the burgeonhg dissatisfaction among rnovement women culminated in a manifesto entitled "Sisters, Brothers, Loven... Usten," presented by Judy Bernstein, Peggy Morton, Unda Seese and Myrna Wood at a SUPA conference in Goderich, Ontario. The paper raised themes that would becorne paramount to the estaôiishment of an autonomous woments movement, ideas that attacked the structure of the New Left and addressed the political significance of sexwl relations:

Perhaps the position of women in the sexual act, most often lying underneath the man, illustrates the social and economic position of women in society. Women feel they are süll on the bottom, in al1 respects. The notion of human liberation is in direct opposition to the notions of effidency, profit, accumulation of possessions. The separation of man from woman contributes to the maintenance of such a society?

The authors held male leaders and organizen of the New Left accountable for podponing, and in many cases, refusing outright to fight for the liberation of

SUPA had virhrally dislntegrated by Septernber 1967, but the growai of

--- )s Hamilton, (1996) 49. Rokrta HamiIbori, The Ubcrstlon W-: A SWof P&&rrhund CaPltallsm, Gmbvyw3hh -, Vol. 6 (London: Ccoiga Alkn b Unwln Ud, 1978) 77. Judy ûemskint Pcggy m,Unda Sa#, Myma Wood, "Sisberst Bmtherst Lovccs... Listen..." Pa- pmented at SUPA oonfirena, Fall 1%7, originally nprinW by the New England Free Press. In~~h#ntheKibhcn.phomthe~Bc60mi.UDWUndai:lJNITE!AnAnaidogvof~ m.(?oronto: Canidbn Woman's Educdtknal Press, 19n)33. '' Hamilton (1978) 77;Kortssh, 183,lIU. gassroots women's organizatkns across the natlon steadily increased?' Women's break from the Left initially led to a critique of the inherent sexism of aie capitalist system, but by 1972, the focus had shifted to the patrianhal opprestion that women experienced in their daily lives. Known as "wornen's-centred organizing," the new ferninist directive was women-focuseci, utilized conxiousness-raising groups, provided space - literally and figuraüvely - for women to voice concerns, and tried "to figure out how to organize a world that would reflect women's needs and experiencesatMThe newly formed, publicly advist feminist Left attempted to create a new understanding of "the political." In Ontario, the Toronto Women's überation

Movement WLM) was estaMished as "a multi-issue feminist organization with roots in the New Left of the 1960~~"and othen won followed suit.45

The activism of the Women's Liberation movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s was primarily performed at the local level, "where the day-to-day issues women faced could be addressed in pacbical ways.'* As Adamson, Briskin and

McPhail have noted, community-based, "grassmots feminisrn" emphasized collecüvity, consciousness-raising, meetlng the often-diverse needs of individuals, and "teaching out to women 'on the stmt."*' Also called "disengagecl feminist

" Kostssh, 25. * Adamsor,, 268,265. '' Ros, 24 ~~takdthat the TWLM was aaated and run by white!, kte~ciorawl,univeisitysducated ~~nnen.She staW that "with virtually no mention of Wnissues in the eady TWLM's recorôs and newsle#ers, the relatioriship of lesbianism to tkwomen's movement, and to a broad sociaiist vision, sprung to the fore in the UI of 1970." Adamson, 273-274, concumd, notrng that even aiough kbians, workingdass women, womeir of cdwr, First CYaüms wm,dimbled women, okr women, and athefs acüveiy parbidpated in the movement, "aie women's liberatkn mwement voiced white, hetemmal, miûâkdars, and akbodfcd arwmptions and aspirations." *cahcn, l3. "Aôamsont BilsWn and McPhaiI, 12. acthrism," the women's liberatjon movement (heavily influenced by the New Left) acthrely reviewed and commented on the established political system and resisted any connection to state influences? Due, in part, to their pditkal orientation and to their vehement desire "to mate alternative structures and ideologies," women's liberationists were often viewed as the "radicals" of the women's m~vernent~~:

"Women's Ubeation" is frequently used as a catch-al1 expression to describe the entire current women's movement. But more accurately ît is a branch of the movement th& had its origins in the student activism of the early 1960s. These women, mainly Radical kminists, have thus far been primarily concemd with analyzing the origins, nature and extent of women's subservient role in so~iety.~~

As the women's liberation movement was associated with an extrerne form of feminist activism and explkitly antkapltallst sentiment, several non-partisan community-based women's groups sought to disassociate themselves from "the radical overtones of 'Women's Lib. In ment yean, however, the terni "grassmts'' has ken used to differentiate bebveen the community-based, hands- on feminist activism and the more public, politicallysriented feminist approach cunently known as "institutionalized" or "mainstream" feminisrn.

Also known as "Women's füghts," institutionalized or mainstream feminism sought to change and improve the lhres of women by woricing wiaiin established, traditional institutions such as political parties, govemment ministries, the

* Wine and RisWc, InbapLlcdbn, 7. * Unda BWn, *Fcmlnist Plcibia: A New Appro#h to EvaluaUng Femlnîst StrategyI" in Jeii Dawn and hnbL. Rktadç eûs. womni in (Toronto: James Lorimer and Company, 1991) 30-31. " Norran Lavdc, Wwt's In a Name; Abftkm I0Inian Aum4 Vd. 2, No. 3, (Thunder Bay, July 1974), Repinted h Oocumrnts: Qiapkr 1, Pkison, et al, wianWm's ISSl)nr Vd. 1: Shng Vdas ~mb:lames Mmer & Company, 1993) 59. CQhen. 13. workplace, and the educational mm? The insütutlonalized or mainsbeam face of feminism has been characteiized, in part, by their persistent lobbying for change in the legislature and the judicial system. As well, mainstream feminist activists have labored to eliminate discrimination based on sex by attempting to moûify the exisüng institutional arrangements of the Canadian stateOs3 As Linda Briskin explained:

Mainstreaming operates from a desire to reach out to the majority of the population with popular and pracücal feminist solutions to partkular issues... implicit in mainstreaming is the ferninist commit- ment to transforming the everyday lives of women. This challenges the public/private split, and conventional notions of agents of change, and draws on the ideology of the personal is politicaLH

The emergence of the "Womenrs Rights" branch of the women's movement was marked by the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Status of ~ornen.'~

Under the aegis of the Canadian Meration of University Women and led by Laura

Sabla, thirty-two women's organizations collaboratecl and itemized what they felt were women's "common concern~".~~Called the Committee for Equity for Women in

Canada, the coalition pushed for an official appointment in Oaawa to report on the

Status of Women in Canada. Eventually, the alliance led to the establishment of a

Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1967.~In its 1970 report, the

Commission "examinecl the &tus of women and made recommendations in the

* Adam, Mskin and McPhaiI, 12; Bi(sWn, 30-31. siWh and Risoock* InMi,7. Msicin, M-31. * lavoie, 58-59. Renooe, et al, 415; Andemn, 202. Kostah, 168; bkvûin (1991) 434, Prenüœ, et al, 416; Mamoai, 252-253. belief that thete shuld & qwlity of oppbrtulcty to s&e the reispons/b//Ctiks to siety as we//as 16prlvi/eges and p~mgaiYws!~

The pubfished repoe on the Status of Women became a national bestseller, and sparked a nurnber of othn pditkd initiatives. In 1971, a cabinet rninister was allocated (albeit in a junior post and combined with another position) and given responsibility for women's issues. By 1972, an umbrella organization representing more than 500 wornen's groups across the counby was established to lobby the federal government for implementation of the 167 recommendations made by the

Commission in its report." Constnicted of group mernberships and regional branches, the National Action Cornmittee on the Stakis of Wornen (NAC) stands today as the only national wornen's group devoted to confronting the Canadian govemment on policy-making and procedures.

Proponents of institutionalized feminism had objectives similar to grassroots organite=, but each Strategy used strikingly different methods to reach their goals.

According to BBskin, the wide variance between the two approaches has been a vital part of the movernent's success. She stated that a lone dedication to one strategy or the other could potentidly limit the accomplishments of the movement as a whole, and asserted that:

The goal for feminist practice is the maintenance of an effective tension between the two; the dilemma k the tendency for feminist practice to be pulled toward one or other pole... disengagement can

'fbyd Cammist(on on the SWur of Wann k Canada (Ottawa: Minirty of Supply & knikes Cam, Scptemkr 28,1970) dl. Andersan, 202,212-213. easily lead to marginalization and invisibility; mainstreaming to co- optation and instituti~nalization.~

In Canada, the ternis "mainstreaming" and "disengagement" have often represented

"emphases rather than separate poles," and the approaches adopteci by feminist activists have occasionally ken the rewlt of a "sometimes unwieldy and unsatisfactory synthesis of the tw0.6~ Adamson has noted that stark distinctions separated women who calleci themselves "libben" and those who considered themselves "feminists" (al= known as equity feminists or women's rights feminists) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Nonetheless, the media tendecl to lump al1 versions of ferninism togethei, and "to the public... women's liberationists were al1 the sameed2 ûespite the conceptual and strategic differences between the two branches, the "Women's Movement" has corne to describe "the entire spectrum of women's groups and acti~ities.~

One of the ways in which the women's movement initiated change in the political realrn was through the analyring, redaiming and changing of language.

The acknowledgment mat language was sexist was fundamental to social change.

As well, the recognition that the common use of the generic "hemwas inappropriate to describe al1 human beings and "confusing, insufficiently accurate and not appropriate for SCh0latl)f discourse," was a signifiant part of Mat pi oc es^.^^ The

- a MsMn, 3-31. Wine and Ris&k, InWmr7. Adamson, 256,268. Lavoie, 58-59. " Ma- Ekhkr, In: Cwline Andrew, ed. EgtiDo the Word Q& -mu-kt Resead't (ûüawa: UnhnrJty of Ottawa Press, lm) S. wornents movement, fdlowing its reemergence in the 1960s and eariy 1970s, continued to thrive. As Glenda Simms noted: Within the overall general framewotk of social movements, Canadian women can look at such positive changes and rejoice with their feminist leaders, thinkers, and activists, confident In the know-ledge that even though there are still formidable barriers to their search for an equitable society, they have made signifiant gains during the pmntdecade (1977 to 1987)."

Members of the first wave of feminism continuecl their struggles for women's emancipation after the establishment of the franchise and the success of the Person's Case. Similarly, feminismts second wave - at both the grassroots and mainstream levels - has continued to scrutinire, rethink, and change perceived injusttces within Canadian Society. As well, the shoitcomings of the women's movement, including the acknowledgment of class and radal bias within the movernent itself, have been invesügateâ at length.66

The women's movement of the late 1960s and eady 1970s has been touted as the initiator of a widespread "feminist conxiousness." For Michele Landsberg, that conxiousness has been the supreme success of the second wave, as "a whole generation began to challenge, question and reject stemtypes that were so unifonnly enforced, tky were invisible and kept us in gender-role prison." On an individual level, many women recognized and addressed aieir membership in and cornmonalties with a group called "women." For society, the overall awareness of

- a Glcnda Sknms, In: Cardine kidnw, cd. Word O& C&nmu-ist Rmrh pttawa: Unkrsity of ôttawa 1989) 89. Simmst 89; sa dso U#rnc IWacû, in the BBee b Cukw in ~mto:Unhnrslty of Tmto Rcss, 1998). " As quatEd in Judy RcW<, 'Feminkm aid the nhire,' ikmams- (Moy 1998) 66. the unequal stahrs of women increased dramatically. As well, and perhaps most significantly, brge nurnben of women aclmowledged that structural change could only occur through their own knowledge of and active paiacipation in woments causes.

In the last thirty-five yean, feminism has achieved substantial structural changes in Canadian institutions, and the woments movement secured considerable advancements for women in their personal lives. Those successes have incited a backlash in recent yean, as a number of concerted attempts by anti-ferninkt, right- wing forces have been made to undermine and/or reverse the progress of the women's movement. Susan Faludi addresseâ the phenornenon In her 1991 bestseller, &d&i:The Undeclared War Aaainst Amerkan Women, arguing that

"reactionary thinkers" have spread the notion that women, and feminists in particular, are to blarne for Americats economic and social ills:

The backlash is at once saphisticated and banal, deceptively 'progressivet and prwdly bacbard. It deploys both the new findings of 'xientlfic research' and the sentrmental moralizing of yesteryear; it tums into media soundbites both the glib pionouncements of pop-psych trend-watchers and the frenzied rhetoric of New Rlght preachem... Just as Reaganisrn and Thatcherism shifted political dixourse far to the right and demonizeâ libealisrn, so the baddash convinced the public that woments 'liberation' was the twe contemporary scourge - the source of an endless laundw Iist of personal, social, and economic prob~erns.~

In Canada, the mts of the current conservathre backlash against feminism have been linked to the elecüon of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1984. Bomwing

Smn FaMi, m:The Uq&&mî War An\edCPP W- (New York: DouMedayt 1991) 12. ideas originally implemented by the Reagan and Thatcher administrations and customizing them for the Canadian context, Mulroney's government employed a hands-off bureaucratie style, focused on expanded bade, and promoted a decentralized govemment. For nine years, the Conservative platforni "clashed with women's movement views, paacularly in English Canada, where Mulroney's policies on free trade and the constitution were bitterly conte~ted.'~~Women's organizations were forceâ to reassess, reevaluate and attempt to confront the politics of the backlash as a result.

Anti-feminists have targeted other advancements made by the wornen's movement in Canada as well. Consütutionally protected rights, entrenched in

Sections 15 and 28 of the new Canadian Charter of Rlghts and Freedoms in April of

1985, were specifkally attacked by anti-feminist supporters of the tirnem7O In the mid-1980s, Canadian women enjoyed forrnal legal rights not held by women anywhere else in the world, and it was felt - by some - that further demands by women's rights groups In the country were both unwarranted and unjustified:

Canadian feminists have ultimately been successful in convindng men and women alike of the immeasurable evils of patriarchy in the past - the domination, the oppression, and the injustices. Indifferent to female oppression, men are dodlely retiring hm

" Syivia BarMn, on the msîve: Mna Th* Cqseivatïve Ti- (Toronto: Unhmsity of Tmto Pm, 1998) 34. Ian Greene, The of (Toronto: James Lorimer Ik Company, Publishws, 1989) 49,51, 60; BasMn (lm)81. Section 1x1) states that "every indMdwl is eqwl before and under the law and has the right to the eqwl pmtecth and eqwl bertefit d tk iaw without discrimination." Section lS(2) spedfks that lS(1) does not corrstrain any law or program that was estaMished for the sde purpose of allevbtinq disaiminatory oonditkns that "disadvantaged indiviûuals or groups" have expiemû. Section 28 was the direct mit of lieminkt orqanizing Cor sexual equality. It states that "mtWhsbnding anything in this Charter, the rightr and fhedms mhed to in it are gwranteed equalîy to male and Rmale persoris." every area of sodety, ghring way to al1 feminist demands, in compulsive efforts to atone for the past?

"Canadian feministt," anti-feminist Beay Steefe argued in 1987, "hav[e] successfully transformed ow society into a matria~hy," thereby verbally dixounting any and al1 efforts made by women and women's organizations to create the conditions necessaly for improvement in the country.72

The backlash against feminism remains a force today. The most vivid example can be found in Washington-based Canadian journalist Danielle Crittenden's debut book: What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us: Whv H~DO~SSEludes the Modern

Woman. Crittenden posited that:

[flor nearîy thirty yean, the public policies and individual ways of life that feminists have encoouraged, and aie laws they have pushed through, have been based on Meir adamant belief that women want more than equality with men or options outside their families; they want full independence from husbands and family. This is why the "solutions" we hear proposed by these feminists so dramatically fiil to appeal b the majority of women?

6ased on selective reseanh and her own educated, wealthy, heterosexual "common sense," Crittenden's premise stemmed fiom hei vision of the realities of the 'modern woman'. She believed that, because the women's movement told them to, a generation of "manles", "unhappy" women now delay marriage (and subsequently lose their "sexwl powef") in bvour of careers, and postpone motherhood until they

StEek, The knljIljStJ#gguw: Pm0 in Two (Toronto: Simon & m,1987) 9. * stede, 12. " hniâk QRDcndcn, mur 0idnZ Tdl Us: Whv ypppblm FWThe Madmi Woman (NmYork: Simorr & Schr#&r, 1999) 24. can no longer c~nceive.'~Crittenden concluded that it was "at this intimate level that feminism has failed w~rnen."~~

Recent media headlines have termed feminism "The Great Experiment That

~ailed."'~Others, promoting outright anti-feminist sentiment, have simply dismissed the women's movement as a relic. One submission to the "Letters to the Editof section of the ûttawa Cibiin articulateci concern over the prevalence of "male-

bashing and Mas against malestt by Canadian feminists. The headline for the letter

read: "1s Male Bashing What Women Have Fought For?" and the article &self was displayed on the top, occupying a quarter of the page's copy." Another headline,

fiom the same paper, read: "Why Women Arent 'Hot' Anymore." What followed

was a lengthy description of why funding programs for youth, the elderly, and the

disabled are valuable in today's sodety. "Women" were mentioned in hivo short

sentences, buried deep within the text of the article: "but (the myth is) women have

arrived. No one wants to fund something mat's not new." Similar sentiment

materialiwd in April 1998, when the Liberal federal govemment removed core funding hwn woments organizations in Canada. Withdrawing the ongoing financial

support under the pretense of "fiscal constraint," the National Action Committee on

the Stahis of Women, representing almost sewn hundred wornen's organizations

" Juliet Waterst Wh«c Mom Went Wmng," EfiantriasI G2mtk (8 kbrwry 1999); NmiKlein, "Let's Mar it (br the Uttk Lady in thc KIWenl" Tlk Ti&Sar(19 Febniaiy 1999). Ciimaidcn, 24. " Nancy Gibbs, "The War Against #miniSm," ïZm, Canadian ediüon (9 March 1992) 38,40. Unda Tum, "1s MakHing What Womn HmFought Mr7" Tlrc OYtsw ahïrn (24 March 1998) A12. a kaan Riky, Why Women ArcnZ'W ky More," Tne OYtsw Ut&n (23 Mardi 1998). across the country, was a casualty?

A new 'fiction' has ernerged out of the backlash against feminism, one whose opinions and literature have held the attention of the mainstream media in ment yean. "Postfeminism" has ken loosely deflned as a term utilized in the United

States to describe the supposed dislntegration of the womenS movement and the death of feminism following the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the

1980s.~ Postfeminists assert that gender equality has been achieved, and that

"femlnism has become an anachronlsm, irrelevant to and even reviled by women,

especially within the younger generation."' A nurnber of writings have been

published, in scholarîy style and form, in an effort to intellectualize postfeminist

theory and legitimate it within the a~ademy.8~Other postfeminists have ernerged

as clever, sarcastic, and irreverent writers of fiction?3 Cris Mana, editor of two

contentious anthologies of postferninist fiction, provided a definition of such works:

it's writing that says women are independent & confident, but not lacking in their share of human weakness & not necessarily self- empowered; that they are dealing with who they've made themselves into rather than blaming the rest of the world; that women can use and abuse another human king as well as anyone; that women can be conflicted about what they want and therefore

------A MWLandsbevgl mUbahQUM~ Feeâlng NAC to the ûamcudas," Tlk SUdySbr(November 22,1998) A2; Judy Rebkk, calumn, Tlk Flsr (November 26,1998). Acmrding to Susan Borda, WcigM: -. WgDem m. and the BoQ, (Mceky: University of Cdifomla Rcss, 1993) 241, 'ptf&mlnist" was origlnal)y used in 1919 by a Greenwich Village hielitemry gmp to dcsalbe the gîamrous, "mw miman" of oie 1920s. Boks and Homkr, 235. a Xe Patrick Mann, Mkm-Pd(oeP: in a -kt EQ, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994) and Ann Brookr, m.C&nl Theocv a Cultural (New Y& Routledge, 1997). Sec pmtfcubdy Uîy James, tta(Pcodcml: BW Ice Book, 1997) and Qk Mima, kmy Ddhdl, and Elkabeth ShalRdd, eds. Ch*k-Ut (Nomal: Fa, 1996) fw examples d amnt *postkminkt fiction." get nothing... Postkminist writing says we dont have to be superhuman anymore. kst human? Popular post-feminist texts have presenteâ the second wave women's movement as antiquated, feminist sentiment, bogged down with the niles of 'political correctness. '

Feminists have been portrayed anti-men, anti-sex, ugly, and obsessed with notions of women as hapless v~irns.8~

The popular press has announced the arriva1 a "postfeminist" climate in North

America, one in which young, predominantly white, ablebodied, heterosexual women are exhlblted as "successful and independent, and less llkely to espouse

'dangerous8 feminist idea~s.'~Dawn Currie, in her examination of young women's magazines, deconstnicted a single adverüsement to illustrate how the illusion of post-feminism has been pre-packaged and sold by the media. The ad, for anti- perspirant, featured a woman sitüng between two men in business sults at a shoeshine stand, gang a polish. The slogan reads: "She's nobody's baby. She's nobody's fool. She knows what she wants. She just stays cd. ~oft&Dri.''~ Currie noted that the xene, albeit contrived, was intended to depict reality:

The product is hard-working and w is the woman. She is successful. The pduct is soft, and so is the woman - that is, feminine, as indiatecl by the pink jacket. The woman is disünctively modem; she has successftllly gained enby to a traditlonally mak domain. She uses the product, so it is distincüy m~dern.~

" Cris Mazza, "Wha is Postkminkt Fletkn?" in Cris Mazza and Jeffrey Ddhdl, eâs, r- pasttanwdt (Nomial: K2,1995) 9. " See paitlcubdy Kak Rolphc, The (Bosbon: Uttk Bnmn & Co, 1993); ChriSam HM kmmccs, Who&!(Nt Simon b Sdiuster, 1994); Rem Denfékî, The New vrtoiians (Nt Wamer Boole, 1995); and Meridith Mwcn, FmAn 1- RevPLyDIPP (NY: ûantam Boda, 1997). Laframband Mion are dientexampies d postfminism in Qnsda. InWb Whekhan, plexkm (Nt Ncw Y& UnivenRy Press, 1995) 240. " H. CUM, ~ir~TaIk (~orollto: Unlvaslty af~r~nbpress, 1999) 137. * Cünk, 138. The Xlwkment exemplifiecl the myth of postfeminism and how it has been

~erpehatedin p0pular culture. It implied that the Young, female audience of the magazine could have and enjoy what feminists want and, in some cases, hmmade possible, "w ithout the feminist rejection of patriarchal heterowc~ality.'~~

htfminism has emerged ln the 1990s as a simple discourse of women- centred individualism, power, and control, and provides limited analyses of feminism's past shortcomings and Mure directions. Based on the presumption that equal opportunities for al1 women are a reality, they have celebrated the successes

of individual women in previously maledominateci realms. In doing so,

postfeminists render the oppression of marginalized women even more invisible, and

undermine the solidarity of feminism as it has existed in the women's movement as

a whole. The current decade has witndthe creation of many new postfeminist icons - highly visible, media-sawy women largely selected by the popular press. However, as Nan muer Maglin and Donna Perry, the editors of Bad GirlslGood Girls

have noted, "while their individual messages va W...the overall effect of their work

[has been] to suggest that because some women have prospered, the systematic

inequallties facing all women have vanished into hist~ry.'~

By way of partkularly (and, often, personally) nasty criücisms of feminism

'R Currk, 138; Ehine Batiher, *Building thc Ebnlcrs: Adolesant Girls Delimk oie Fuhve," in Greta Hofinanri Nemiroff, cd. and Mtn: 1-mm (Richmond Hill: Fitz- henry anci WhiWde, 1090) 150-164 came (D the same cwluskn as Cu* by decoding the mcrsgar of Virginb Slims cigarette advwüsements ('Yeu* came a long way, Bby3 and stated that such images giw us the "ûuth' üut *bEeMgc giih living in a post-feminlst era have the wodd of porsibilit&s before than and are no longer IimibEd by the nsb#lonr pbced on prevhus =:nd' =:nd' m,In--, xiv. and its proponents, and clever manipulation of cekbrity, power, and the authority to speak publicly provided by the media, postfeminism has chic, inoffensive, commercial qualitles. It has become an easily absorbed, painless product for the public to buy?' As bel1 book has commenteâ, "like any other 'hot' marketable topic, feminism has become an issue that can be opportunistically pimped by feminists and non-feminists al~ke.'~*hmks also expressed concem over the lack of knowleâge of feminist praxis and the dearth of in-depth analyses in the work of

It is tempting for these young women to produce feminist writing that k self-indulgent, opportunistic, that sometimes shows no concern for promoting and advancing the feminist movement... readlng work by new ferninist wiiters, 1 am most often sbuck by how this writing completely ignores issues of race and class, how it cleveriy makes it seems as though these discussions never twk place wiaiin ferninist movementg3 hooks point4 out fundamental flaws in virtually al1 post-feminist assumptions: a focus on individual - usually white, able-bodied, heterosexual - women who have "made it" in the public sphere, and a failure to incorporate the realities of women whose lives are sbikingly different then their own into their arguments. Postfeminist ideology has ken, to date, analytically weak but - surprisingly - rhetorically persuasive. In a sense, postferninisrn embodies what Katha Pollitt has called "the New Backlash": "in the Old Baddwh, ferninism was bad; now feminism is good -

''Alex Kuczynski, "Emqh About kminism, Shoulâ 1 Wear Updhkk?" llkw York 77mer (28 March, 1999) 4. Using mdnstream fathion magazines as evidenceI Ku~ynsûistates that magazines like Gdmwr, Clmnq, and mn#JbleI %y vime of the artkks aiy Ehoore to publirh...seem to argw that their reader doesnt want or neeâ hinism." a kY hadrP, uDWdent Heat," h Nan huer MagIin and Donna Perry, eds., CitlsfGcnd Girls: in the NO- (New BRintwrck: Rutgers University Press, 1996) 58- Ws just the women's movement Mat's bad... Call it the New Distraction - and wake me when Ws overem

Highly conseivative, media-fliendly, and showereâ with the public's attention, the pubIlshed works of postfeminists have received consiâerably more attention

(resulting in widespread mainstream visibility) than the diverse struggles and accornplishments of third wave feminists?' To feminists of all ages and from a variety of ideological backgrounds, aie production - and consumption - of such texts and promotion of a more subtle version of anti-feminism has corne as a shock:

'Post-feminism' happened without waming. It seemed to arrive from nowhere... Now, it was argued, al1 had been achieved, in fact over-achieved, to the point that many men were left confused, their Identities shattered, and many women struggled wiai over- expeetancy. The imny is, however, mat.. .despite its wide-rang ing currency on dust jackets, on late-night talk shows and in 'serious' features articles, 'post-feminism' has rarely been defined. It remains the production of a~surnption.~

Although the existence of postfeminist discourse can be conStrcIed as indicative of

the remarkable victories of the women's movement, postfeminist literature to date

has consistenüy ailed to acknowledge that only privileged women have achieved

success. As Porter and Poeer have noted, "the privileged always tend to be blind to

* Wths Ml& "What Dld You Do In The Gender WaW in Maglin and Peny, eds, GirlsiGood (New BniWRubgers Unhmity Pm, 1996) 8. * Se, f01 instance, the 29 June 1998 issue d 7?ii€mgazine, Canadian edrtlon, Vol. 151, No. 25. % V#cl Coppo&, OCCM Haydon, and Ingrid Richter, d'Po!&-Hmi- (London: Taylor th Francis, 1995) 34. kc ako Tanya BWekki, Womcn. (London: Routledge, 1991). ModdsW juxtaposes thcontical and popubr discourscc of fcminism and condudes that inism" k littk more ttran a media mstmck ;=ad, 21. The widespread promulgation of postfeminist Ilterature and anti-feminlst sentiment throughout much of the mainsûeam media has perpetuated a stereotype of what constitutes a "feminist": "humorles, too angry, unconcemed about their appearance, and fanatically investeci In 'political ~orrectness'.'~Reporting on the intemal challenges of the womenrs movement in tems of "cat fights" or predicting feminism's inevitable demise has appeared to make better copy than accurate representations of third wave feminism:

Given the usual pruiience of our popular culture, it's hard not to see in this lacuna a form of political censonhip. kminism, it seems, can be tolerateâ if it's angiy but not lusthil, or personal but not political. A feminism that mixes "man hatingw with desire, that speaks of pleasure andoppression - a feminism, in short, that's rooted in the mucky, my-enemy-my-love contradictions of real life - is a far more disquieting stoiy?

A glimpse at the ûctober 1996 issue of Homernakefs magazine would support such a claim. The headline, for the month's cover story, read: The New Face of kminism." Below it, in capital letters, the subtitîe stated: "Paula Todd - joumalist, lawyer, TV host - doesnt need a tough, angiy edge to be heard.dOO Given the banage of conflicting images of 1990s feminism perpetuated by the

popular press, third wave feminism has been difficult ln pinpdnt and even harder to define. What, and who, conSatutes the 'Yhird wavet' of feminism? That question

has repeatedly prown to be easier to ask kan answer. Alaiough it has ken

ternpting to describe the third wave of feminism in terms of what the generation is

9m Bilcy, 22. " Willis, "ViYdns and Vktims: 'kxud Com&te& and the Repressbn of F=eniinkm," in Maglin adPaiy, cds, 53. 'OD Judy Sbtcd, 7hc New Face d Fcminism," t&mm&?#(OcbPkr 1996) 13-20. net, part of "the problem with categoiizing [them] 1s the fundamental tenet of the third wave: navigating kminism's contradictions.d01

Any exploration attempting to chart the movements of the next generation of feminism must understand that the third wave, like the waves that have corne before, does not exist in a solid, ideologically unified form. Devoney Looser has identified several difficulties that the third wave has presented to scholarly investigations. She acknowledged mat "some second-wave feminist angst has nxed itself on what "younger feminists" are doing (or not doing) to and with the feminist achievements of the 1970s and 1980s." In response, Looser suggesteâ that the problematic nature of the "third wavet8 lies in the perception that they, as a group, lack cohesion. 'O2

Although there have been few thorough investigations conducted with specific reference to feminlsm's third wave, #ree specifics about the generation have been noted. First, due in part to the difficulty in locatlng generations in terms of a spedfic historical tirne and place, the existence of the "third wave" itself has been dlfficult to prove, and therefore problematic for in-depth explorations of any kind.lo3 Third wave feminists have been largely self-defined and difficult to label

phiîosophically, and, consequentiy, "the meaning of the term has ken hard to pin

down."lW Second, third wave discourses have a strong tendency to be critical of the

%athalne OR, "Charting the Cumnts of the Third Wave," HLpatib Vol. 12 No. 3 (Sutnmer 1997) 35. '02 LooKi, 31-32. lmnywood and Drak, 4, state that the genemth msütuüng the 'third wwe' was bom between 1963 ad 1974. Homver, prith" is not narsary for identinca(i#i with the third wave. Mherenœ bo simibr values and mores dso amthtes alYiliath -aitentimes more w, than demaqraphks. On, 29. mtegies employed by mainsûeam feminism, and have been inclined to emphasize the existence of ambiguities and conûadlctions in the lives of a// wornen. Third wave feminists have acknowledged that multitudes of negative conditions penist in today's sodety; disempowering situations that remain to ôe named, discussed, challenged, and e~iminated.'~~Members of the third wave believe that they exist as

"an important part of the feminist future that stresses difference over consensus and where al1 kinds of women shape the definition of [their] own movement. rr~

Finally, and perhaps most signifkantly, third wave feminism is not postfeminism. Some authors have posited that postfeminism exists as the next stage In the evolution of the women's movement and that postfeminist theory and ideology "signifies a shift in feminist theory."lo7 However, none have - as of yet - written convincing, conceptually =und arguments, or presented persuasive evidence

to suggest that postfeminists are indeed the feminists of the millennium. Third wave feminist idedogy should be identimed as existing outside of - indeed, as a rival to - postfeminism and the backlash against feminism, two powerful counterassaults on

women's rights that have atteempted to Enounce the hard-won victories of second wave feminism.lo8 Third wave feminism has been defined, veiy generally, as a

murgent interest and involvement of young women in feminist activism during the

postsonsenmtrve government en. Its proponents consckusly seek to include the

" P (Pris), message podtd 1 -ber 1997 at Rawn dw ûwq? "Qost-Fcminism versus Third Wave: Fun w/ labels," pww. r,hW lai Jan Wilkotz and Miranda a T-Maglh and krryl eds, 20. Io' Sophia Phoca and Arbcaea Wright, fntmduc[na (London: Icon Bodo, 1999) 3. See also Mann (1994) and Broda (1997). lm Helen Shortal, "Haw What Ivrt b Ba#nr Common knse," In î%se ïïii(Novembet 6-12, 1931) 19. diversity of al1 women into aieir analyses, and attempt to use ddect action in order to spread femini~rn.'~~Leslie Heywood and Jennifer Drake, the editoors of It-é

.Mayk&dia and self-defined third wave feminists, would agree and add that third wave ideology "contains elements of second wave critique[s] of beauty culture, sexual abuse, and power structures while it also acknowledges and makes use of the pleasure, danger, and defining power of those structures. frll~

While a number of edited texts concemed with aie proliferation and potential effects of postfeminist literature have been published, veiy few have featured, much less targeted, "thi rd wave" publications or perspectives specifically .l l1 Third wave feminists have not been more silent than postfeminists on issues concerning women

in the 1990s. Quite the contraiy. Third wave feminists have voiced their comments, critidsms, and concems through a wide range of media. In terms of mainstream,

easily-accessible, printed works, however, their voices have been marginal. In the

United States, two "third wave" anthologies have been noted: Barbara Fîndlen's

n UD: Voices from the Next kminist Generation, and Rebecca Walker's To Be

Real: Tellina the Twth and mathe Face of kminism. Contemporaries of

Findlen and Walker have criticized both te* for presenting "a version of aiird wave

feminism that relies, for the most part, on personal anecdote for their definitional

'O9 BolCs and Hoeveler, 279. 'Io Lerlk Hywood and JennKer Oraice, Drd Waw Aacndaz: WnglmhB Ww Fdnism, Minneapolis: Unhnrsity d Minnesota Press, 1997) 3. lu Se Maglin and P#y; hnûam and Julat MWl, eds. msAfrafgI of (NY: The Nm Press, 1997); CoppodG ct J The PllgiDm Modtkki, kminCsm Without and abGcnnaine Gnds (Wanin.: Biwitsm-ûdC-Doubleday, 1999)' in wMdishealtlquesthestatedthewaen8smovamntinthal99û5in hentirety. and argumentative stategie~.~~~

Leslie Heywood and knnifer Drake's anthology, Third Wave Aaenda: Beinq

minist. Doina kminism, published in 1997, stands as one of the only texts mat explicitly announces a "third wave" position in its contents. One other edited work,

M. Jacqui Alexander, Lisa Albrecht, Sharon Day, Mab Segrest, Noma Alarcon, and

Barbara Smith's JMrd Wave: kminist Pemves on Racism, was published in

1997 by a small, independent publisher, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, following gnieling funding and xheduling prob~erns.~~~The work has been difficult to attain in the United States and is unavailable in Canada. As well, the feminist journal Hppa& releaseâ a special issue that focwed entirely on the perspectives of third wave feminists in the summer of 1997. Canadian equivalents have yet to be pr~duced."~

Interestingly, one of the only formal North American organizaüons (and the only American activist group) created by and for young wornen is called the Third

Wave. Founded by Rebecca Walker, the Third Wave operates from within New York

City, but financially sponsors young ferninist acüvities airoughout the United States. The organization's objectives are focuseâ, and its mandate is clear:

The goal of Third Wave is to hamess the energy of young women and men... by sharing information and resouices between young

'" nywaod and Drake, 2. Heywood and Drake, 1, 18n suggesaed tht the diffkuk road to pubtketkn was the result of aie WScontent (the book "chdkngas easily assirnihted fcmnist sterratypes") and oie marginal status of KlWcn Taôk Women af Cdar Press, faundcd by Aude Lordet in the mainStream publishing induafy* Il4 M. Ann WI, at the Un(nislty cf Albefta, k awa#ng publication of "Born and Bodymalters: lhird Wave Failnia and the Remaking d Wamai's Spak" Cumüy only an abstiact 15 avalbbk. As wdl, Lan braian, Allyson Mitchell and üsa Biyn Rude are WOIWng on an anthokgl d third wave feminlw beritabivdy titkd -w A pupublication ckta is parding. women, bogether creating a community in which memben can coalesce, network, sûategize, and ultimately take action around issues mat affect us all. As a gantnaking organlzation, we sûive to be the thread that connecCs young women to the resources necessaiy to counter attacks on their perwnal freedorn~."~

Embracing the diversity of al1 peoples and emphasizing the importance of higher learning, the Third Wave conûibutes to education and research xholanhips, assists in the organization and establishment of advocacy groups, and provides leadership training. The Third Wave, lecl by a committee of young women and men, is a national organization that facilitates the increased visibility of young women in the

United States. As well, it provides a support network (comprised of both feminists and funds) to strengthen young women's vokes women in the public sphere. The

Third Wave has recognized that "an entire generation of women is coming of age to find a future less optirnistic than our mothers' vision," a future where "women are

NOT equal and their lives are increasingly Rlled with obstacles and restrictions," and has sougM to overtum trends of inequality, poverty, discrimination and vio~ence."~

The third wave of the women's movement has not been simple to locate in

Canada either, as third wave writings have been available xilely through non- mainstream publications. However, in the Fall of 1998, Lisa Bryn Rundle, a young acbhrist, writer, and avoweâ third waver, announced aie arriva1 of feminism's newest wave on the Canadian sœne in a cover story for Hedzons magazine. Rundle acûnowledged that very fw readily attainable texts have been made available, partkulady those reflecüve of the ideas of third wave feminists. She artkulated her disappointment in the media's perpetuation of stemtypes about young women, particularly "the oftguoted belief that young wornen have rejected feminism," which

"Is insuking to those of us who have committed to, felt pmud of, struggled for and suffered because of oui fernini~rn."~~Part of the problem, according to Rundle, stems from a tendency to miçtake postferninisrn and anti-femlnist sentiment as the universal sentiment among young people, a misrepresentaüon perpetuated by the popular press that inevitaMy undemiines the credibility of all young feminists.

Third wave voices have been slowly emerging in Canada's print media. For the Fall/Winter edition of Rreweied, a quarterly publication for feminist compositions on pditics, art and culture, the editorial staff granted Zoë Newman and Kelly O'Brien permission to use Meir journal as an outlet for their collection of third wave feminist voices. üke Findlen and Walkefs texts, "Revolution Girl Style" provided valuable insight on the experiences of young Canadian women, yet it al- materialitecl as an assembly of personal reflections, opinions and stories. Another third wave text, produced in conjunction with The Student's Commission and funded in part by

Status of Women Canada, was Challenge the Assurn~tions.a young woman's guide to explorations of Canadian and intemaaonal issues thmugh gender, race, and dass analyses. Launched nationally on 29 May 1998, the book stands as one part of a multjmedia educatknal package designed for use in a clas#aom environment. While thoroughly blending both thearetical and experiential frameworks into a pactical and intemüng pedagogic bol, it has been unamilable to the mainsbeam consumer and has not received public pmminenœ in any way. Canadlan poet and writer Lynn ClosMe has proâuced two unique collections, both containing the voices of cuirent ferninists not offen represented in the mainstream. The first was entitled The Girl Wants To: Womenfs Re~resentabionsof -andtheThe text contained the worû of alternative contemporary female illustraton, authors, artists, poets, muskians, and stream-of-conxiousness thinken who have been "engaged in an effort to delineate the multiple facets of female sexuality and s~bjectivity."~~Click: Becornina Ferninia was Crosbie's second collection, published In 1997. Based on her impression that the current women's movement needed to becorne more accommodating of difference and diversity, the editor actively sought out contributors who had successfully melded feminist theory and practice into their arts and their Iives. Cnwbie admitted that she knew that

"their spins on the subject would Vary wildly, and was not disappdnted when all of them responded as individuals within a shifting series of contexts. tf119

One third wave feminist has dexribed her cohort as the fint generation to corne of age at a time when "women's rights" was a well-known tenn, one not only discussed in public and leamed in the classroom, but ekpatw! The realization that their convkaons were not easily achiaPzed at work, at home, and in interpersonal relatiomhips did not feed a distaste of the women's movement, but a renewed interest in feminist sbuggles:

We are the women coming of age now. We are putting a new face on feminism, taking it beyond the wornen's movement that our mothers patticipated in, biinging it back to the lives of real women who juggle jobs, kids, money, and personal freedorn in a ffenzied

'le Lynn QosMc, The Uri TQ, (?&anto: Madadane, WaW b Rost, 1993) xi. Lynn Cmsbk, cldt:uc#nlno: Madàrbne, WaW 8 Ross, 1997) 5. world. Women may have been granted grudging access to the job market, but we Ml1 bear much more of the burden than men ...and al1 the old stemtypes that keep us from king respectecl unless we ablike men remain flmly in place. Welre had en~ugh!'~O Tackling the issues that pecvade the tives of al1 women in the 1990s while simulbneously conducting continual negotiations behnreen contradiction, diversity, and diFerence has becorne the goal of third wave feminisrn. Not surprisingly, that aim has necessitated "rethinking what movements might look like, what activism might lad< like, [and] what "identity" and "community" might mean.""'

Third wave feminists have incorporateci approaches borrowed from a variety of forms of social activism, historkal debates over sexual politics, global perspecüves, and indiviâual experiences. In doing so, they have attempted to create and apply practical, but highly cornplex, analyses to the broad range of issues adng women toâay. One of the fundamental goals of aiird wave femlnism has been to develop critiques that can adapt to and work with the "the multiple, constantly shifting bases of oppression in relation to the multiple, interpenetrating axes of identity, and the creation of a coalition politics based on ai[o]se understandings - understandings that acknowledge the existence of oppression, even though it is not fashionable to say A wide variety of issues have been viewed as crucial to third wave analyses, induding: dealing wi# homophobia and radsm, classism, prhrilege, body polltks (body image, health, sermal pleasure, exploitation, and surviving sexual harassment and abuse), ableism, and Western

--- Kim Alkn, Webome to the 3* WWWave!" ~m~e knninr 0m~e.7~râ ~ave kminisms," mwd.23, M. 1(Sping 1997), 99. "nywoodand 0rdg3. superiority. Members of the third wave have also ken actiw in addressing and di~usingbath the power and the discornfort they find in feminism.lu One of the suaesses of the second wave was the development and establishment of women's Sudies programs throughout Norai Amerkan post- secondary educational instituüons, an achievement that has had a significant effect on third wave perspectives. An inteidixiplinary field of research and instruction, women's studles has traditionally included not only the study of women, but also the incorporation of feminist theory, queer aieory, and theories of race, ethnicity, and class in its curricula. The legitimacy of womenP studies as a program of study has influenced other fields of research as well, and many acadernlc departments have incorporateci feminist methodologies within their own aleories of anal ysis. '" W hile not al! members of the third wave are or have Mnstudents of women's studies departments across the countryI many of the publisheâ third wave writings to date have been praduced by graduates of women's studies programs in Canada.

Faculty and students in women's studies have felt aie effects of the current baddash against ferniniun, as individual courses and entire programs have ken subjectd to attacks by critics who charge Mat they promote biased and

ln Denke Campbell and Bindu Dhallwd, Qiallenae TG Magazinel The Studenb Commission (lm)2-5; Rachel Giese, "kminism as Rekvant Now as €Mx," 7& Tm& Star, (7 aeCemk 1998); Rundie, 25; Drake, 101. "Wie the ;rrrulrmk recognition of feminist perspedives in othcr fldds (sudi as Sddddgy' poktics, and anthrapdogy) has Incnstcd, lcminist thcay t8as not been aioroughiy ie~3wpoldtedwithin such SMM. In mort cases, gmdci mlns isdated as a single, separabc issue in mort dkdplines. As mll, and as contiiknDls to Jqudine Stiilker and koan Prentiœ's dited text mIkf Indurkn. (Halifax: kmwood, 1998) mak dear, qcnder ineqwlîües persist within univeidty envimments. Much more work remains tn k done in this regard. excluslonary pedagogy.ls Samantha Sacks, in an article entitled "Why are you a kminist?" described her own experience of the sbigma. When asked by one of her peers what her major was, she replied,

Women's Shidies. And of course, a glassy-eyed sure settles over my partnefs face. Çometîmes it conveys condescending humour, sometimes hate, sometimes astonishment, sometimes indifference spliced with ignoranœ. The combinations are endless. If I were to mix the ingredients of aiese myriad gawks and gapes and leers, 1 could make a vicious cocktail, as the one thin these ogles have in common is their absence of genuine interest.128 mer third wave ferninists have admittecl to having experiences sirnilar to Sacks.

Commenting on the pejorative tags cornmonly attached to identification with women-centred avenues of study, one writer stated that "the consensus among some young women seems to be that if you are going to stick your neck out and tell people you are a feminist, know what you're talking about, be prepared to be teased, and dont corne on too strong.w127 For some, the response to such negative reactions has ken to arduously seek out and find existing feminist literature that both reflected and informed their modes of thinking. bel1 hooks, Audre Lorde, Dionne Brand, Maiilyn Fve, Lee

Maracle, Hazel Carby, Ntozake Shange, Susan Bordo, Nicole Brossard, and Carol Vance have al1 been dted as "honouied" representatives of contemporaiy feminist thought, as thelr work present "langwges and images that account for multipllcity and difkrence... negotiate contradiction in affirmative ways ... challenge cultural and

"BdCrandHomkr, 304. 9rnantha hdo, 'Why are yau a Feminkt?" Ca/Ilbd&n IMimanlrWrlerVd.17, No.2 (1995) 143. carnichad' FI. political purity, and ...g ive voie to a politics of hybridity and coalition.d28 Although they may not explidély - or conxiously - adhere to any or al1 of the labels, "the form and the content of ailrd wave expressions of the personal" have been shaped by a unique Mend of postmodem, poststru~ral,and multicultural ided~gies.~~~

The aiird wave has recognized that conservative, poweminist attacks on the women's movement in recent yean have ken supported by little more than a cumry knowledge of feminist theory and women's soda1 history. In response, members have begun to iaunch a counter-attack: a challenge to reestablish the term

"feminism" as a viable and necesaiy force for improving the conditions of women in current Urnes. That has promptecl many aiird wave feminists to repeatedly demonstrate, to their second wave predecessors in particular, that they db know their feminist hlstory, that their perspectives are legitimate, and that they are not

"reinventing the wheel." Third wave feminists have aclively included a broad range of feminist perspectives in their analysesl those which locate power - who has it, who doesnt why, and how do we change it - as essential to substantive and

ID Shana CdWe, "Who's Afiaid of the F Word?" AGENDER (Ottawa: Carleton Univers& Womyn's Centre Newieüer, Apdl1999) 1; Hywood and Drake, 9; Drake, 104. la Susan Sanford, Kim BewBcwkk, and MMkLobkowkz, "Feminism Our Styk." Anne, tml (Edmonton: August 1998) have spedRcaliy called tkrnsehres pwbrodcm fcmhlds (the ezine is cumntly on hbsas its ditocs search for a new domain); Seigal, 46. Defined as an intelknwl movement modM by feminist aieory, pashnadernism rejet% baditbnal asumptkns abwt buth and mlRy and emphaskes thc plurality, dive~ity,and multiplklty of womn. Duggan and Hunter, 4-5, stated that thdr uwsion d postmodemisrn was based on "the neccssrty of in&nrening fmm whin tht uneuen developments and contradictions of a capitaiist cukre, g1aSQ/nq at miy oppaainity for progressive change, without generating unrealistic (and ohen tyi#n(cd) fantades of mdutbn, or kkig willlng b set&! for minor tinkering wioi the status quoi Parr, (199û) 8, dcRnd "pm&twWmlat femind eriüdsm" as the deconsbyction of binary opporltia\r in sodcty, 0 Whlnk the catqprbIkm that canonizes gmder, da%, race, ethnidty and M-IW, âô ûS bD #C part thc 0011CCpklaI slgiwigc whkh bsN~mkiakd thc PfWb~r)yiWiSibk." enduring change?' The Rrst and second waves of feminism "were political but they were also, intrinsically, theoretlcal challenges to the relations of domination and subordination between men and w~rnen."l~~Sirnilarly, third wave feminists have sought to utllize the conditions of women's everyday lives as a conceptual tool, one that can adequately deal wlth the contradictions of applying femlnist theory to practice. To the third wave, the feminist sbuggle has not ended. However, the arena for the batüe has changed, and new sûategies must be developed accordingly. Multitudes of social and political events have shapeâ the ideologies of the third wave of feminists, circumstances that distinguish the generation frorn the

second wave. The contemporaiy women's movement had been firmly established

as a significant social mechanism for change by the tirne most aiird waven reached

adulaioad. One young feminist stated that "even those of us not lucky enough to

be raised by feminists have found other avenues to discover and integrate feminism

into our Iives: women's studies, a huge body of feminist fiction and non-fiction, cornmunity and school-baseci activist groups, [and] the occasional sitcom . Susan Cole has abacknowledged the differenœ Weenthe feminist generations:

Women in their Menties are emerging into a world quite difFerent hmthe woM we encountered when kminism grew up in the late sixties. To many young women, the word Yeminism' k not charged with a sense of newness and excitement the way it was twenty-five yeao aga They dont experience feminist ideas as a fresh body of brealdhrough cosmk concepts that reverberate wildly thmugh their

UO Coppock, Haydon and Rkhter, 42. U' Rokita Hamiltan, "Hmkist Thdes," LatHWmyt Vd. 1, No. 1(Spring 1993) 29. Barbara Rndkn, w:Vdgs Fmn (Washington: Seal Press, 1995) xiii. conxiousness. They dont relate to feminist aiought as something they need in the way we needed it twenty-five yean ag~?~

Three and a half decades have passed since the emergence of the second wave, and aiird wave ideology stands as one of the strongest indicaton of their forerunnefs successes.

Third wave ferninlsts have also witnessed a nurnber of signifiant political changes that directly affected the status of women in Canada. The announcement of Canada's first female Prime Minister in 1993 was initially "greeted as a sign of progress for women," but Kim Campbell's rapld demise diminished the victory in just four monthseu4 Globalkation has also becorne a reality for members of the third wave, and aie increased awareness of international political, environmental, and social issues as well as domestic economic affairs has influenced their mindset.

Judy Rebick commented that while 1980s feminisrn focused on "single issues," the women's groups of Waywould not be able to follow suit. Globalization, the rise of neo-conseivatism, and the overwhelming preoccupation of al1 levels of government with fiscal constraint and "the bottom line," has meant that women parücipating in the women's movement of the 1990s and beyond will be forced to take the "overall picture" into acco~nt.l~~ûevoney Looser agrees, suggesting that the emergence of third wave feminism at the tum of the millennium has not been coincidental. She stated that "we are living airwgh a moment of looking back and taking stock, and it is not surprising that such reflection has found its way into our xholanhip."

Members of her generation, the aiird wave, "start from different places from where our second-wave counterparts startecl, and as a result we rnay end up in locations that are now unrecognizable - even unaiinkab~e.~~~ The Intemet and other communication technologies that have emerged since the 1960s and 1970s provide another example of the hi~ton~alspecificity of the third wave.13' Electronic media - particularly the Intemet - have the potential to reduce the significance of geographic separation ainong activists, and provide an instrument through which "innovative group ôoundaries" may form through the anonymity of social ~ategories.~~~Many members of the third wave have begun this process. As Rundle has stated, "'zines, the Internet, riot grrrls (punk rock power ferninism), girl bands and cartoons are all part of the space young women have caived for themselves to speak, shout and scream their feminist views. w139

For those who seek to use electronic media for the creation of grassroots action, the potential for a new mode of activist organization appean positive:

The new media bridge space, class, culture, and appearance constraints. They al% let organizers "broadcast" or "nam~ast"to sympathetic others - if media acces is provided to target audiences. FuRher, just as these electronk media obscure stigmatîzing difkrences among participants that might othe~lise limit persuasion, they highlight verbal and technical competencies that may sewe to enhanœ credibility.'*

"Looscr, 4s. * UnlbRunaWy, the infiuwc d cornputer techndogks on emerging methads and new modes of ricbhrlrmandorqanianghafnctkcnatniinedbagmt~ntb&te. nu Mlchck Andrlrin Wittig adJoseph Schmiû, 'Ekdmnie Gmsmots Organizing," hum/ ufStxW Vd. 52, No. 1 (Spdng 1996) 58. lm Rudk, 26. la IM, 58. Rita Alfonso and JO Trigilio, and E. Ann Kaplan and Devoney Looser, writing on aie emergence of the third wave, utllized the medium of electronic email messaging to fornulate their ideas and compose their works. 00th artkles (printed in their original electronic correspondence fom) began with a note acknowledging the

'newness' of the fom of their dialogue. All of the authors agreed that computer technologies have the potential to improve direct communication between and among femlnists throughout the world, and posited that the Internet could become a signifiant tool for feminist discourse in the future.'41

Due, in part, to the unorthodox modes of activism adopted by the younger generation and of the lack of positive support fiom the popular press, much of the third wave's work has been deemed 'not activist enough' to some second wave feminists. However, others have noted that the participation of young wornen - particularly students - has been increasing steadily, despite the lack of media coverage. 3uôy Rebick, commenting on the APEC lnquiry protests that occurred in

1998 across Canada, stated that "today's young people are beginning to hit the streets to pmtest an unjust economic system that is even more deva~tatlng."'~~The

National Action Cornmittee on the Status of Women has also addressed the activism of the third waw, and has made moves to increase the visibility of young feminists in the organization. Re, aiey established a Young Women's Caucus. The creation

"' Rita Alfonso and k Trigilb, "Suiflng tk Thini Wave: A Wogue Betmen Two Third Wave Femin(sbtn -&,, Vd. 12, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 12; Kapbn and Loosr, 1-2. Interestingly. none d the authors examined the Itmitaüons d ekcbonk lkninist wganiztng. kocss to cornputen and the Inbwnet minsIimited to sdcd kw, and not al1 mwncn share the amputer skiYs nquired to usettleb#hndoqy* "l~RCb#Gdm, ÏIkLcnkn mm(9Déoember 1998). of a new Executive position soon followed: a Vice Preddent for ou th.'^^ StM in the eaw stages of Its development, the Young Women's Caucus' mandate has been clear: "to provide representation for young women withln NAC; to empower young women; and to initiate projects that address the rights and best interests of young women in ana da."'^ Prelirninary meetings led to a desire by members of the caucus to organize a second Young Wumen Unite! Conference, to support the No

Medns No Campaign and Student Strike 2000 (projects initiated by the Canadian

Federation of Students), and to participate in Women's World March 2000.

Increasing funds allocated to the caucus, impmving their outreach through expanded recruitrnent campaigns, and improving the accesibility (for young wornen with disabilities and women living in poverty) of NAC's annual meetings, are also on the agenda.

Memben of the third wave have utilized various media and new technologies - particularly the Intemet - for their own political intewentions, a rapidly expanding bend which illustrates the extent to which advism has taken on different forms in the last decade. Web sites and personal web pages devoted to the empowerment

of young women have infiltrated cyberspace, and the participation of women in such

"gmups" has steadily Increased. TMwave activist "organizations" such as The

Third WWWave, (e)merging, maxi, geekgirl, VqICE, and Room of Our Own (as well

as online versions of print magazines) have provided alternative spaces for younger

feminkts to leam kminist history, to dixus personal and community issues and

" ûenise Campbel hddr the fia VP Yauth poslblon. It rhould k robEd that the VP Youth is consWed a 'men~ng"goJtion, and the deîegak doa mt hdd Excaithn Wng prhrikges.

Ill

feminists north of the border.

Demonsbative of third wave contradiction and complexity, riot grrrls were

0fkn highly cMW of the second wave, rejecüng what they often perceived as

fminist prescriptions on how to dress, behave, fight, and think. Perforrners frequently used their own bodies as the medium for their message. Essentialiy, dot

grrrls attempted to inhise feminist politics and popular culture with unique, sometimes brash fons of "confrontational cultural activism which rely less on exposing gender differences than on deconstructing them. " 14* The women became

popularly recognized for their aggreshreness (hence the grrrowl in their name), aie

personal tone of their messages, and an abhorrence for the rnisogyny, ageism,

racism, homophobia, rampant commercialisrn and hierarchy they experienced in

aieir daily liws. Riot gmls attempted to provide an alternative coalition of feminists

to which women in the 1990s could relate. Alaiough the riot grrrl movement has

not developed into anything more than a marginal counterculture to the norm, its

tenets have had a profound effect on mem bers of the third wave, and have filtered into many of the generation's writings.

Many of those writlngs have taken the form of 'zines: small, independently published and distributecl magazines based on a specific theme or topic. Operating

on a low budget (or none at all), and ofkn consisting of little more than stapled

- La Mary CekStc Keamey, "me Misshg Unk: RIa gml - fminim - iesbian culture," h Sheib Whiteîyt ed., the Cm:Pqpybr Music and Ger&~ (Ladon: Routkdge, 1997). 225; Alfam and Trigilb, 13; Boks and HoMkr, 251. Rkt gmk dkpbyed thek bodies as pditical mssq~in an attempt to debunk rbacaZypr af mman. Wearing combat boob and baby byll dressest SXIW rbt 9- were k#wn Ibr "wriüng 'dut' on their skh to preempt sodety's judgment on them," photocopies of columns, edltorials, commentaries, and illustrations, zines have been one of the more accessible print venues for third wave feminist penpecbi~es.'~~In

1993, BU- magazine made its debut in the American zine scene. Originally developed as an alternative to mainsûeam beauty and hshion magazines tike lane and Cbsrnopolitan, the small publication grew rapidly in both size and popularity, providing a unique commentary on the lives and experiences of young women in contemporary North America. In 1998, the zine became a full-fledgeâ magazine, with a wider distribution area (and broader readenhip), more pages, and a glossy cover. In the summer of 1999, the editoon of BUSTreleased The BUSGuide to the

New Girl Order, a mammoth collection of the most notable writings of the magazine.lM 6UST has spedfically targeted an audience aged twenty to thirty- someaiing years of age since its inception, and its essays tout the views of a feminist generation decideâly different Rom the second wave.15'

Another glossy publication emerged in the 1990s citing objectives similar to

BU- but wiai an expressecl focus on the barrage of negative female images depicted in fàshion magazines, television shows, Hollywood film productions, and in the advertising campaigns of large corporations. To the editors of BITCH: BmiMst

Respanse ta Pop Cultum, life for women at the millennium has been analogous to a

"sick good news/bad news joke":

For a sulwy Q/ Zh# in North Am&a direcüy related b gM culture, see Tristan Tmino and Ibren Cm,cds., Jhe Giilr to Ta- wg!:Wm from the Girl Rmlution, (New Yak: St Wrtins kca, 1997) and Trina Roboins and Ca& Sinclair, eds., Fmm Wrk b Giilz: A Teem 0 (San Fnndseo.. Chronkle bok, 1999). ip, üüs- 0- (Pefquin USA, 1999). manabo be found mline at yww.bust,~. The good news: kminismOsgains in the last 30 years have meant vast changes in wornen's Iives, and the last five have wmught even more. Sexual harassrnent is now actionable. Date rape is no longer met with an automatrc assumpbion that its victim was a cocûtease who desenred whatever she got... The wage gap between the genders is namwing, and wornen have more econornic power than ever before. The bad news: kminism is mutinely ridiculed in the news and entertainment media, its tenets distorted by the willful ignorance of writers and commentaton who insist that feminists have gotten ewrything we ever wanted and we should stop whining already ...Semial harament is now a punch line or a sound bite, while abuses of al1 klnds of power are stlll rampant in the workplace. Date rape is seen as a problem already solved, while activists and those &Ill providing much-neeâed services are dubbed whlners and accused of resbicting natural male sexual behavior. It's only certain women who are benefiting hmthe namwed wage gap: the income gap between the rich and poor is wider than ever, with women suffering the brunt of increasing po~erty.'~'

The magazine sdicits material Rom individuals who offer arguments that ackmmledge \'the conûadictov and sometimes uncornfortable details that constitute the realities of woments livesDdS3 BRH challenges popular assumptions about femininity and provides space for direct replies to everyday sexism, and contributors adamantiy reject the popular assumption that we have entered a postferninist age.

In 1998, a group of young lemale high xhad students fomed the "Grrrls mlilhn," a group lmly ôased on the penonal politics of the riot gmls. Emphasizing the importance of aitkulating and communkating personal concerns, fears, and ideas, the group attempted to provide a pressure-free abnosphere for young women. The coalition's mandate was to provide a non-judgmental forum for dialogue, to offer suppoR and encouragement, and to create an environment in which women's issues, rights, and history could be dixusseci. "Gender bias in education, homophobia, date ape, AIDS, rackrn, breast cancer, abortion, women in the workplace - nothing is out of boundsdw Grounded in the notion that the most signifiant concems of young women have always lncluded self-image, sexuality, relationships, and personal safety, the Gnrls Coalition has attempted to define young women's "personal," permit it to be shared, and to provide the encouragement to make it political.

Many thirâ wave discussions of the women's movement have concerned the practice of "identity politks" by some members of the second wave. According to some, the belief that cettain dimensions of a person's biologkal makeup (such as wc, colour, ethnicity, dis/ability, sexwl orientation, or age) constitute a basis to form a "community" has created unnecessary borders between groups of women.

Identity politics have perpetuated the notion that we, as individuals, can only fully comprehend (and therefore write about) conditions that we have experienced or people like ourse~ves.~~~mer writers have attacked second waven for the

promotion of "victim" status arnong specific groups of women marginalized both

inside the women's movement and in sodety as a who~e.~~~Jodi Dean has argued that : ...femlnists Way have nin up against the limits of the particular: experience cannot ground the category "woman" because someone

LY JankeTurner, "GdTalk," GmwAbn Wmn2SrudrçeCr; Vd. 17, No. 4 (winter, 1998) 119. ~5 Manji (1997) 35. 'I" For a canpelllng argument against the use d iâentRy pdias, see Jean Bearke Elshtain's --fiid. --fiid. EBC Massey lpdures m,House of Anansi Press, 1995. Elshtaki argued that ddini~gmupsdpaoplcin~dthdr~ndappmsloni~aa~YReaeWlead~to resenthilncss on tha part of those partldpaüng, incnarcs state oontrd, k&ds indhridualh, and oontribubes~aiekss~cMI~. will always be excluded. hphases on partkularlty blind us to the multiplicity of our interannections... But we have to be willing to claim, and justify our claim, that many of the ways in which we have been connectecl and partkularizeâ are wrong because they are coerdve and exdusionary. The bue is which conception of universalism best accords with feminist calls for inclusion and accounta bility. ln

Heywood and Drake concur, stating that "cornmunitles today have to be irnagined on different bases than that of the separatkm of identity po~itics.~~~A third wave solution has been to debunk the notion that only one manifestation of female empowerrnent exists, and instead "offer an array of non-dichotomous

The previously-described postfeminist position can be traced diredly to a small group of privileged, "upscale" women who have utiliwd the "crass- comme~ialism"of popular culture and advertising to channel aieir individualistic (and often rnisogynist) perspective^.'^ The attributes of pastfeminism - homogeneous, indolent, and and-feminist - do not apply to feminism's third wave. The newest generaüon of the women's movement has, to date, represented a valiety of phIlosophies and pracüces, stretching across the entire ideological specbum. The third wave has asserted its devotion to the perpetuation of feminism with vigor. Nonetheles, Baby-Boom-versus-Generaaon-X style debates concerning the thiid wave's lack of cohesion, mm,and overall aversion to acüvism (and the second wave's inability to listen or to change) have persistecl. Cornplaints by senior feminists that "young feminists are not political enough," that third wavers "are into theory rather than practice, into showing rather than doing," continue in woments organizaüons, publications, and at less-formal gathering~.'~~Unfortunately, very littie Intergenerational dialogue has occurred.

Not alt second wave feminists have mistaken postfeminists as feminism's third wave. Susan Cole, writer and long-Ume ferninist, recognized the negativity directeci towards the younger generation of feminists by her contemporaries, and stated that

"they worry that decades of thought and activisrn are king lost on an X-centric generation of desensitized cyber-freaks. 1 am not so ~orried."'~~Cole argued that young women's critiques of the movement and paiticipation in untraditional forms of activism can be viewed as a major success of the second wave movement:

Let's be glad of that. We helped create an environment in which women coming into their Wenties already have some confidence in their own empowerment and in their ability to make an imprint on the workP6)

Barbara Rndlen also viewed feminism's current generation gap as evidence of the perpetual resilience of the women's movement She stated that the ernergence of the mird wave, and the criticisms that have resulteâ, can be viewed as a barorneter of the movemenVs overaîl impact, since "feminism is a movement for social change - not an organization doing a membership

16' Looser, 39; Rhoncla Lenton, "Academic Feminists and the Wm's Movanent in Canada: bnblnuRy a DiscDntinuity," At&n&, Vol. 16, No. 1 (FaY 1990) 57. lakrsn G. bk, ~81~~0ronbo:kcond ~toyPress, 1995) 9. la Coic, 9. lm Wdkcr, xk. Notwithstandlng reports of a resurgence in gassmts student acbivism and despite the often desperate attempts of third wave voices to be heard, young feminisls continue to feel the need to prow their presence, defend aieir legitimacy and verify both thei r political and "practical" feminist credentials. 16' Rundle asserted that "one of the commonaltks among the diverse group known as young women is the feeling that the women's rnovement doesnt really believe they Emmy Pantin aiticulateâ her vision of contemporav feminism and feminist advism much more frankly:

Ill be the first to admit that 1 dont have any inane notions about making the world a better place for my grsndchildren, never seeing the fniits of my labour. mat's just an old ledi mind ûick to get you to accept sweat and toi1 for nothing in exdiange. Fuck that shit. 1 want to make the world a more comfortable place for myself. If you aiink this is seifish, think of il this way: the more selves we give room for, the more voices are heard in the end. My interest is in having my voke heard. If that means 1 have to listen to youn first, well, wetve struck a bargain. In order to make the world more comfortable for me and for you, we have to agree to listen to each other and mesh ourselves into an us. Now that's what 1 cal1 art.lQ

Much of the writing, poetF/, art, and activism of the third wave has been inspired by a desire to diffuse over-arching definitions of what constitutes both feminism at the millennlum. As well, there has been an eagemess to disassodate their generation hmsimple, pejorative tags, to gain increaçed public vislbility, and to be heard as a legitimate voice in the women's movement.

Alaiough highly critical of second wave feminism at times, third wave

"4epd, 47. Rundk, 26. " Emmy Pantin, "Reœntly, Somcbody Askd Me Why 1 am an AâMst," RiMt"Revolutkri Cid style," 59/60 (FaI/Wrinter 1997) 10. feminism should not be understood as merely a form of dissidence wwithin the women's movement. Memben of both the second and thid generations of contemporaty feminisrn have disagreed with and been angered by each othen peiteptlons, but continueâ disaisdon between the waves could potentially bridge the genemtlon gap. Kike Roach indicateâ that there has ken "a mutual mistrust and lack of respect" between the older and younger participants of the women's movement that has created a banier to effective, respectfut dialogue and progress.

She added that mainsûeam popular culture has ken guilty of perpetuating a homogeneous stemtype of what aie sentiments of young women actually are.

Roach stated that "young feminkts who diss our elden are promoted and touted as cutting edge, even though their critiques do not advance feminist tt~ought."'~~In looking to the Mure, Roach prexribed the continueci adherence of young feminists to organizeâ women's gmps and increased miprocal dialogue among feminists of alages and backgrounds. The experiences of allfeminists - regardless of generational affiliation - must be shared, but mat has not been the tendency to date. Lynette Bondarchuk, editor of the feminist jwrnal Enata, commented that "a lot of the older women do not understand young women, which is part of the problem. A lot of the issues women were fîghting br/agaimt when the women's mowment began are not really comparable to the issues that Young wornen deal with t~day."~~~The following

lmReb#r and Ro#h, 94. As .Ir n. quain Amy Qmlch#l, the Faninid Rght ûver? 77~!Tito w(3 March 1998) FI, chapter examines one such issue in-depth: female sexuality. Sexuality has been a highly contentbus Issue for feminists since the 1960s, one that the third wave has embraced as one of its prime conœms. It Is argued, as it has been throughout, that continuecl diabgue between and among the waves - honest, mutwlly respectful discussionst as opposed to mentor relationshlps - about the legacies, experiences, and problems of feminism must act as the primary guideline for Mure change. Chaptsr 3 "Bridglng Genentkns: Putüng Sex on the TableR

"Tm long has the whole pmess of love-rnaking and marriage ken wrapped up in mystery." ru Nellk Mdung, 1916.'

"We are crippled by our ignorance about our bodies. Not knowing how oui bodies are put bgether and how they worû means we have no control over ourselves... We must begin to understand and love what we are and what we can become. We must look at our bodies and understand their complexity, diversity and uniqueness. We must find out what we feel like, look like, taste like, smell like. We have to redefine Our womanhood and sexuality in our own terms." Tk OYnCY Wmn, 1972.~

"Thanks to feminism, the "free love" of the 60s, Hollywood, therapy, self-help and how-to books, radical primitivisrn, and a renewed conservatism, we are now blesseci wiai sex in the 90s: a nice mix of opennes, repression, confusion, pierced bo6/ parts, and Guess jean ads. These days, we have feminists pmducing porn alongside born- again virglns. Wetre experiencing the dawn of vittual sac, attending S&M trade shows, and shopping at sex supermarkets ...Sex gets us excited about a lot of things. For women, sex is about power and leaming how to enjoy ourselves while holding in our stomachs ..." ru 3aey Vogak, MY mBediaan. 1995.'

Since the "revival" of the woments movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the stniggle of feminists to assert and regain contml over their reproductive rights, choie, and semiallty has ken of fundamental import. In boai the public realm and

in the home, second wave kminists chdlenged the sodally enfoned domesticity

As qWed in Margaret Andcrrcn, cd., WaA OP, (Mûeal: Bbd< Rose Books, 1972), 163. "Geüing Into Our Bodies," 77k îMmn, Vd. 1, No. 1(May/Jum 1972) 15. hsey Vogck, pîy adSrx in a(Montreal: Véhkuk Pm, 1995) 11-12. that beleaguered their forernothers. Women sought to daimtheir bodies' use and function, 'Io wrest control away fnnn the state, the medical establishment, instituüonalized religion, pharmaceutkal companies, advertisers, pomographers, institutionalized censorship, [and] the vlolence of men.'* While the women's movement achieved relaUve agreement and remarkable success over issues such as availability and access to conûaception and abortion, the debates on sexuality have not been as unifying or as victorious. Mariana Valverde, in her 1985 text Sex, Power and Pleasur~commented that "the mere mention of the word "sex" is more likely to cause anxiety and create suspicion than to generate solidarity and hope for the hrture." Valverde's observation is just as fitüng today.

The third wave has criticized a number of second wave perspectives, arguing that Bey are either incompatible with or inapplicable to the growing concems of many women at the millennium. However, the debates surounding women's sexuality have wedged an obvious divide between the waves. The sharing, naming, and politicizing of the oppression experienced by individual women in the course of thek everyday lives was foremost on the feminist agenda when the second wave women's movement began. Epitomized in the slogan "the personal is political," women's sexwl emancipation and the transformation of women's erotlc experiences were believed to be the first of many steps towards the goal of sexwl equality. By the late 1970~~however, the focus on disrupting existing definitions of women's

- ' Ruth Roach Pierson, TbPdRier dthe Body; In Ruth Ro#h Pierson, Matjorie GlMln Cohen, Pauia Boumet and Philinda Mastem, -n Wm's b:fweq&-Rve Y- a4 Wamen's Activism in Canada. (?olonto: James Mmer 8 Company, PuMishers, 1993)' 98. =na Valvede' Sg Powgfmd Pbm,(Tpmnm: The Wnm3Press, 1985) 14. sexuality had changed. Mainstream feminists turned their concentration to women's muai victimization: sexual danger, repression, and violence against women by rape, harasment, incest and physical abuse. As Valverde has noted, "some leading feminist theorists [chose] to concenûate on male sexual violence as a single-issue campaign wiaiout connecting it to sbuggles for women's sexual rights."

Sexuality has become a hot topk in the 1990s, one that has pervaded virtually al1 facets of popular culture, the media, and mass-market advertising.

Postfeminism, as it has been describecl, utilizes the public fixation with and consumption of sexwlity to the advantage of its proponents, raising postfeminist tex& to the top of bestseller lists, increasing the vlsibility of postfeminist authors in the public eye. By touting the image of fresh, "progressive," independent, sexually free and aggressive women, postfemlnism has been successful in reinforcing negative stereotypes of fernin ists, effectvely feeding the ongoing baddash ag ainst feminism. Notwithstanding negative reviews of postfeminist literature on women's sexuality, members of the second wave have not responded to the resurgence of general interest in sexuality, particularly in sexual relations between women and men.

The third wave has reacted to the perceived mainstream feminist preoccupation with male danger and female vktirnization, and has illustratecl a visible interest in feminist analyses on women's sexuality and sexual pleasure. Women who idenWy as (or with) the third wave have attempted to revive the early second wave feminist debates on women's malautonomy in a uniquely modem manner: one that incorporates theories of the past while relating to aie diverse

personal experiences of women May. Surprisingly, the idedogical generation gap mat has emergd regarding women's sexuality has received liWe attention from

feminisb and academics to date.

This discussion follows the second and third wave debates on women's

sexuality through twentieth-centuiy Canadian history. Locating feminist perspectives

on wtualiv in their historical contexts not only clarifies the complexity of

generational arguments, but also malsdistinct demarcations between the second

and aiird waves. Strikingly different generational perspectives emerge through the

investigation of various feminist aieorles on sexwlity and strategies for women's

sexual empowerment. 1 illustrate that each wave has conceptualizeâ women's

wtuality and fonulated strategies for change according to their environment; that

aieories of analysis have developed in reaction to (and as a reflection of) existing

societal conditions. 1 argue that the existence of generational division emphasizes

fumer the need for increased dialogue bebveen and among the waves of the

women's movement.

The Canadian postwar period has been characterized by damatic economic

shifts, incmses in the general standard of living, and overall population growth. As

well, tk Cold War years witnessed a revival in the perceived signifiante of

women's domesticity coupled with an overarching protectîonist stance towards the

nudear family, one that was self-sustaining, and, as Mary Louise Adams has pointed

out, "mal": As repiesented by rnarkd, middle-class, heterosexual couples and theIr Iegitimate offspring, the ideal famlly was at once seen as a source of affecaonal rdationships, the basis of a consumer economy, a defençe against Communism, and a sdient metaphor for various fonns of social organization, from the nation to the high xhwl classm7

Postwar sentiment was disthguished by a "cult of orthodoxy": the family was supreme, marriage was honoured, and childbearing was exalted, leaving "little room for alternative approachesA Divorce was frowned upon, working women were criticized, childless couples were chastised, spinsters were pitkd, and "expeK advice on the "boundaries between nomality and deviance" flourished through the media, educational institutions, and mental health professons?

The bIrth and development of healthy, sodally "well-adjustedmchildren within a narrowly defined (monogamous and heterosexual) family unit were considered paramount to the maintenance of a sound postwar nation. "Proper" gender roles were sbidly upheld, and children born and raised within that framework were manifestations of upstanding citkens, "good" parents, of "normalt', married sexuality and, in aieoqt at le&, of marital hann~ny.'~The gendered construction of sexual mores also magnified during the postwar era, and the sexual 'double standard' was

Girls were told that, if they lost their virginity, they also lost their value to boys ...Boy s were convinced that it was somehow a loss of

Adams, 20. Doug Owam, Born at the MhtTim A Hmaf the Gmeram (Toronto: University of Tomnto Press, 1996) 253. Ownm, 253; Adamst 31. %ary Klnrman, Rie Rmd pedire: H#n,Mid (Montreal: Bbd< Rase eooirs, 19%) 192; Adams, 32. honour (and propriety rights?) to many a girl who had 'given herseIf' to someone else."

The glorification of the "modern" marriage perpetwted and maintained stiingent sex des, and children bom within conjugal unions were the public dlsplay of "normal" sexuality.12 It followed, then, that pre-marital sex, promixuity, masturbation, and homosexuality were abhorred, and "sexual danger came to be idenafiecl with the

"public realrns of social ~ife."'~Marriage was considered the only legitirnate site for healthy relationships between men and women, and heterowtual "sex was the glue that would hold aiem t~gether."'~

Despite, or perhaps because of, the preoccupation with the continuation of the nuclear family and "sexually chargecl" martiages, information on and guides concerning sexuality flourished in the postwar years.15 The publication of the Kinsey reports, wual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948, and aual Behavior in the

Human Fernale in 1953, marked the first of many challenges to mainstream assumptions about human wtuality. Kinsey's work revived the study of sexology in

North America, and brought sexuallty into public dixu~sion.'~Based on "xientific," empirical studies of the sexual behavioun of a sample of the white American population, the reports al% questioned the standard of heterosexuality, bringing a

l1 Owram, 257. 12 Mams, 35,24. " Kinsman, 192. " Adams, 33. Adams, 37 mted that ma- manwk and sex guides pubIIshed in the postwar years focuseci on Mrth mtroi, divorce, xxwl crimes, and sexwlly-bansmitkd diseases. fi Erwin J. H#kik, cd., The BiM d (Washington: 19û3) Inûv, 4-12. Ivan Bîock coined the km a the tum ofthe=ry in Barlin to dexribe the! sdentifk aduholarly eClWt devo&d to the understanding d sex. Kinsey's rcxarch reuived intefest In the fiekl. range of sexual acts to the debate: homosexuality, premarital sex, oral sex, anal sex, and rnashirbati~n.'~ As Adams has noted, "in his description of sexual behavlour, heterosexual intercourse was just one of many possible activities in which North Amerkans engaged to saas@ what Kinsey understood to be a natural need for orga~rn."'~

Kinsey concluded that his research failed to find any signlficant anatomic or physiological evidence to support the assumed sexual difference between men and women, arguing that both experienced similar orgasms during the sexual act.lg As

Lynne Segal has noted, however, Kinsey's results were predicated on the prevailing attitudes of the postwar en:

Kinsey thought that it was not moral or religious denumiation of 'irnmorality' but scientific enlightenment whkh would teach men and women to be 'more effective marital partners.' He believed... that a liberal rather than a repressive attitude to sexual expression was best suited to a more prosperous wodd in which men and women were ...encouraged to believe that aiey had become 'equal partnen' - equal consumen - in the intellectual and social life of Western cultures. 20 Publk reaction to the volume on femak sexuality was ovetwhelmingly negative: critics questioned the potential moral implkations of the project's findings and doubted the ethical foundation of the research. "Cleariy," as Adams has noted, "it was one thing to talk about men's semial advity and quh another to talk of

" Sec Allnd C Kinsey, Pomaoy, W.B., Marth, C.E., -1 Behavbr in the Hurnan Mab (Phibdelphb: W.B. Saunders, 1948); and Alfred C. Kinsey, Pomeroy, W.&, Martin, C.E., and GeMiard, P.H.f intheHu n (PMbdelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1953). * mm, 37, ~mti*nrlra=~ Iiüie d üe tM ümt iüwsmateriai was Amerkari." Kinsey, &a( (1953) 641. LymSegal, wt Srw: d #qpgUL (8ciluky: University of California Ptess, 1994) 89-90. women'sedl In les aian one year, the clamor over the femate volume led to a public denounœment of Kinsey by the Amerkan Medical Association for creating a

"wave of sex hy~teria."~The Rockefeller Foundation withdrew its funding for the

Insütute of Sex Research shortly thereafter.

Despite the controwrsy, the Kinsey reports seW as the primaiy reference guides for policy-making throughout the later postwar years, and helpecl to legitimize the discussion of sex in mainstream media. Radio, television, and the print media al1 provided outiets for a variety of commentaries on sexua~ity.~Attitudes towards sexuality were changing, but "otd taboos lingered, and contradictions abounded between marriage expectations, pemnal fean, and social re~trictions."~~

As Owram noted: 'the 1950s was, sexually, at war with itse~f."~~Despite the strong push for the maintenance of sex roles and women's domesticity, a counter-position was emerging; one whkh would attempt to change traditional notions about B. The late 1950s also gave way to a new medium of expression (and

consumption) for many of the generation's youth, one that would also play a significant role in the transformation of ideas on sexuality: rock'n'mll:

'*Adams, 36. Sega1,m. Kinsman, 159. Omam, 259; Ross, 13, 14; ~VWVV.D~.1953 alro maiked the release of the premiem issue of a gkay publication katuring images of "photographk fantasy" lor the "modem mana. Seventy-thousand coplet of the fint bue (katuring Marilyn Monroe on tk amr and in cente!rfold) hit NaRh Amerlcan newsstands in Deœtnôer, and 54,175 issues of the +page rmigadne were prmptly soicl. Ross has notEd tha the produ& of the gwing commrçial sex indudy a the time (partMarly (Pms, magazines, and pulp fiction nonk) kaured "gay baie charaeters [and] dl-femak settings," and that thcmcr d v#ona, Wange sedudkns," aûohdism and heberosexual oonwrskns were commocipiaœ. Such texts were brgcly written by men for mie oonsumptkir. Omarn, m. Ibki., 259. Arst there was the music. The great waves and mlling of it, smash- ing to srnithereens the decorous cadences of the life of a middle class teen-aged girl, her dnidgery over texümoks, the constant supervision of her life, calf-length sûirts and blouses buttoned up to her neckt no jeans allowed! Sît straight, knees togethet, mile, use deodorant, shave your legs, wakh your language young lady! The benumbing fear of bad boys, blood, and going too far, nothing else was ever going to happen: being a nice girl, a good girl, doing her duty, forever and ever plain, shy and afraid just like this; and then came the music, cira 1958F6 Rock and roll was the product of a unique amalgamation of diverse musical forms - blues, jazz, country, and pop. It was "music produced by heretofore marginalizeâ individuals in the music business," and the new genre changed the music industry's target market, and the perspectives of consumers thernse~ves.~~The modem hybrid of music and the unusual breed of entertainers who performed it simultaneously reflected and fed the society that consumed it:

Lynn : me dancing, 1mean the dancing was part of brre semai& ..l just loved to dance, because you cuuld just do whatever you wdnted. You didnt have to have the guy /ead!'ng you in al/ the dance steps. It ws paR of me Revvlution, pu know7 To have hxobrn wknpu movedand to be sexy wknyw moved. Popular music culture, mirroring the changlng ideological dlmate of the en, was laden with sexual overtones from its onset. Young people utilized the "ovewrought rhythms and hysterical vocals of the performersn on the radio, television and in dance halls in defiance of the rigid structures of sexual expression, revealing yet another counter-discourse b mainStream thought? The stage for the "sexual revoluüon" was slowly king set, a revolution that promised to burst apart traditional postwar ideas on sex and ~exwlity.~~

By 1961, the society's steadily-increasing open-rnindedness appeared to be affectrng the political realm as well. The Planned Parenthood Association of Canada was established that year, and the Health Protection Branch of Health and Welfare

Canada authorized the sale of the bicth-control pill?O Technically the Pill was illegal, as access to, information on, and prescriptions for the newly approved contraceptive contlnueâ to be reStt'l*cted by the Criminal code." Following pressure from many newly fomed women's groups and Planned Parenthood, the Trudeau government revised the Code and legalized the advertising, public distribution of information, and the sale of contracepüves in 1969.~~However, the legalization of the Pill was not the sole cause of what would become known as the "sexual revolution":

Such an erosion of otd moralküc statutes was spontaneously taking place acmss the Western world in the 1960s. The liberalism, pemissiwness, or flexibility of the age was attributed by some to the practical ethos of a prosperous consumer Society that chafed at any restraint, by othen to a humanitarian if not libertarian desire to separate at last law and rnora~ity.~~

Omiim, 261. By 1960, "mod CaMaans mnild agree that se% was natural; [and Mat] sexual desire and its accommodation were essential ftw the well-adjusted human belng." He alsa argued that sodetal viem on censonhip mm lmcpning, that long-km seailrirization nddfears of sin, the rapidly e!xpanding anmercial (hetero)sex industiy alccted pcrspedlveJ on sex, and that the baby boom generaaOn brneadults in a more sexually "openu as than in any tirne in Candian history. Nwmi Bkk, The tiinadbn Wornen's Movement: The Second Wan," in Bue Code and Domey, eds., Shg&,attierns. (Tmbo'. McCielland b Stewart Inc, 1993), 171; Mdaren anâ Mdam, 132, ncbEd htthe Pbnnad Parrnoiood Assabth was estaMished abbibara and George Cadbury brdtfmt a pharma& in TomntD had been imprisand fisdling condoms In 1960. 'l Mdam and Mdam, 132; mm,267 k wteâ tht the Piil was odginally intmduced sokly for mrrie!d womn, and thst it uias partkubrty diffkult (Or uimanieâ wumen to find physkians to be the PiIl. Y-, 98* McLaren and McLaren, 135. Legal contraception was a major - and very visible - brealdhrough for heterowtual women in the 1960~~as access to the PiIl eliminated both the fear of pregnancy and aie potential sügma attached to single motherhood. However, prevailing notions of the dangers of premarital sex and prornixuity had to be rejected by the Boomers before the "sexual revolution" could take place.

The adoption of the Pill by Canadian women was sporadic, and generally concentrated in urban areas. As well, the response to oral contraceptives varied from woman to woman, as the use of the Pill was dependent upon her doctor, her religious andior moral beliefs, and her financial position." Nonetheless, the availability of the Pill made il possible for some women to enjoy a degree of sexual emandpation:

Lynn: ... as &r as a 'suar ma/utfon, I'd say Ieaving home, and movhg into a city ww a b& *p. And I dont know if any of tlre pople in my ck/e of tWends w#nZ seixua/& actfYe - we al1 wem Paulette: &cause ofthe pi//?

Lynn: Becbuse of the plll. And because m one was gohg to Ce/ Our mothe~!

For others, particularly women actively paltidpating in New Left organizations (and enduring the rampant sexism wiaiin such groups), the "freedom" gained via reliable contraception was received with both personal and political optimism. As the authors of a 1972 fminist manifesto predicted: "once childbearing becornes one

option among many, and women have some power to control their desünies, they

may well be les ready to accept subsenrienœ as an inevitable part of their c~ndition."~ However, many ferninist activists were aware of the limitations of sexual autonomy in a soclety where women's subordination continued, and sought to politicize sexual relations:

The submissive role of women in the sexual act is inseparable from the values taught to people about how to treat one another and about the possibility or impossibility of a human relationship between men and women. Woman is the object; man is the subject. Women are xrewed; men do the xrewing. Men see sex as conquest; women see it as ~urrender.~~

Mers have recalled feeling as though the 'satual revolution' was something that occurred outside of their own experience. Although bom into membenhip with the baby boom generation, they did not feel kinship with the "free love" mythology that pervaded the tirne:

Susan: I gues it a// &rW witl, bim control in the 6Os, &afs what realiy brought about Me Wom. It was a// of a sudden someone sayfng, "OOK, ifs a// n'ght now," mat was ttre key #at open& the daw so Mat wmen kit Mat Mey muid fwe sex Wlthout pegnancy ... Ws who/e mgahut bila, conbol tm, yw au/dhaw sex just //ke the puys, you cihe as I%? as tlte guys. 1 never k/tthe same. In retrospect, the u~alled"semial revolution" failed to liberate most women from

exploitation or from finnly established gender mles. Instead, the fluid perceptions

of sexuality in the 1960s "on1 y partially modified behavioual prescriptions for women in a sexual relationship and ...aie use of contraceptives [fell] in line with conventional gender-role demands, leaving women vulnerable to both old and new

Judy kmstdn, Pcggy Morton, Un& Seese, Myma Wood, "Skters, Biahers, Lowrs... Usten..!' in Updrt WôMEN UNmAn Anthobgy of tk Canadbn Women's IWement, (Tmto: Canadian Wm%MuQtlocuil Press, 1972) 34. 'Bamstai, et al, 35. kinds of exploitation.tt37 While the revision of the Criminal Code removd formal restrictions placed upon contraceptive use in Canada, woments struggle for control over their bodies had just begun?

The technological and political advances leadhg to the "modemization of sex" in the 1960s had contadictory effecCs on women's self-image, sexuality, reiationships, and politics." Mastes and Johnson's Human bual Reswnse, published in 1966, again brought sexuality into public dixourse, but with a twist.

Uke Kinsey, the team found that women and men experienced oigasm in similar ways, but added that "her physiological capacity for sexual response inflnjtdy surpasses that of man.'M Stressing that sexwl encounten should focus primarily on women's sexual gratification via stimulation of the clitoris, the findings seemed promising for the wtual liberation of women In both heterowtual and lesbian relationships. However, the social and historical dimensions of woments sexuality were not invesügated to any great extent. Instead, w< therapy was prescribed for marital difficulties: sex researchers concentrateci predominantly on treating the peneived sexual dysfUnction of the individual -or couple? Valverde has commented

Esther R. Gnniqîass, A Roies in Pem(Toronto: John Wiley & Sons, 1982) 120. Mcîaren anci McLaren, 136, 142; Pkison, 99. ARer the nlom\s of 1%9, the deaiminalizatbn of abortkn and thc debates over fiee mess bo aborbisn services bocame a stidng kusof the wornen's movement. The 1970 AbaRian Camvan - which traveled from Vancouver to Ottawa to publicly demanci aaass O saf'e and kga abartkris - hsr been citecl as on d aic first bguaie national campaigris the Second Wave wa~n'smavemeirt; Hamilbon, (1996) 64, cidded that ciboition "was only the mod dramtk aspect of a thamugh-gdrrg assessrnent of reproductive rights and maîe sexuality" oaurring during that en. Vahrerde, 36. Q~qwtadkikgd,%. '' Segal, 97-99; H#beik. Discussions of indhridual's perso~lsexual hisbries between couples was discouraga! in hwr of finding fast mcthods of inQBds/ng the sexuaî rrsponse patterns of the mat, while the twentleth centuiy "dixovered" women's semial pleasure, wornen were then "expected to be beual athletes, to "work at" sex, and to live up to unreallstlc expectations of multiple ~rgwms.~~

The "sexual revolution" has been characterized by a growing acceptance of premarital sex, an increased focw upon the successful puouit of sexual acthrity and performance, and also by a surge in public interest and the publication of texts concemed with the maximization of pleasure." Undoubteâly, the growing body of knowledge and increase in the availability of infomatjon about the human body contributed to the perceiveci aietal openness about sexuality. Myrna Kostash summarized the "ideology to this 'revolution":

If personal freedoms and selfdetermination of the pemnality are good things, then, inasmuch as sexuality is inextricable from the pemnality, a pemn has the halienable right to sexual self- expression and selfaeation. Futthemore, a peson's sexuality belongs not to society and its marriage-broken, but to that person?"

Proclamations of the existence of semial liberabion followed the increase in public discussions of sexuality. The perceiveâ acceptance of alternative foms of sexual expression, the annihilation of taboos against premarital sex, the subversion of the institutions of monogamy and marriage, and the encouragement of sexual self- expression also led to announcements of a "Sexual ~evolution"."~

Popular and academic dixourses agree that the decade of the 1960s was distinguished by a liberalkation of attitudes towards sexuality. Authors also concur that the generarion that came of age in haera effectively threatened traditional notions of sex, manjage, and the structure of the familys% To those who were actively partïcipating in radical movements adwKating soda1 transformation, including members of anti-capltalist and anti-authority student movernents and the

New Left, the eradication of sexual inhibitions was pertinent to their cause. In many cases, the liberation of sexuality was "an essential part of the New Left Mea of

'living your politicst: the sexual revolution... was a democratic utopia to be realized in the present - something one dM, here and now." However, the open-minded ideologies of some failed to construct the utopia that it promised for all: ...the women's liberation movement of some yean later... expose[d] the operations of much of the sexual revolution for what they were: fraudulent. Double standards prevailed in the vocabulary of sexual put-down, responsibility was evaded in the rhetoric of non- possessiveness, and the insistence on the personal construction of sexuality foreshadowed the propaganda that would take the legitimate demands of people for selfdetermination and hand them back as pomography.*

Despite the seemingly egalitarian overtones of the en, the dixourse of the time "seemed to be serving a vecy old conservathe agenda: women seivicing their men - Meir actMty sbipped out of any deeper personal, social or political context whkh might highlight conflict, confusion or any number of other trouMing incongruities of

Adam, BrisMn and McPhaO, 58; Greengbss, 118. " kW. ConneIl, "SexuaI Revolution," in Lynnc SegaI, ed., ml (New Yoik: NY University Press, 1997) 60-61. K~sWI, 113. * SegaI,99; sa also Kortash, 185. Although the years hm1968 to 1972 have ken depicteci, in remspect, as the "permissive moment" in North America, mernbers of the new feminism and gay politia at that tirne began ta ask "permissive for wh0m7*~ Becki Ross noted that:

Pockets of outspoken, white, middle-class women seized the moment to recast publicly the terms of female (hetero)sexual subjectiviv, ôoth practically and discursively: the eliminaüon of the madonna/whore dichotomy, the liberation of masturbation, the reclamatlon of clitora! orgasm, and, for sume, the œlebration of celibacy. They were cynical about a 'wtual revolution' mat seemed to ensure more expkitaüve males acces to female bodiesmS1

Women mobilized in conxiousness-raising groups, forrned women-centred collecüves and political organizations, and utilized public spaces to aggressively express their anger over the pervasive nature of women's oppres~ion.~~Those groups provided forums for women to openly display their resolve to challenge sexual discrimination against women at any costS3 One of the initial objectives was to denounce and dispel the inaccurate premises underlying "those hetemual

pracüces predicated on oie assumption of the priority of a male sexual urge and a male right to sexual pleasure?" Feminist activists sought to expose the sexual double standard that celebrated men for "sowing their wild oats" and divided

CW(l, 61; Joy Parr, (1995) 7# ROQ, 112-113, The contcmporciiy gay Ilberatkir m~vementemerged hom the Ncw M as a unifiecl force duiing thlr ger(od. Klnstnan, 288, 290-291, has noted aiat the dstance of banrvest[tes, gay men and îesbhns to a "routine police raidwat thc Stmewall Tawm In New Ywk in June, 1%9 marked the emergem d the modem gay mvemnt, as the event spawned a muiütude of new gay liberaüon qmups #ioss mAmcrica. Aâamson, 263, noted tha beauty pageants were among the rnany targets of protesters. The fhst chalknqc occumd in 1968 whm Tomto Women's Ukiation pmteskd agalnst a wlnW bklnl conkit, holding up rneat-cuüer's charts to lllusbate tha the mtestants were invdwd in marûeüng their flesh. Others smn folbwed. The probests mattmtedrnedb attent&n to the women's liberation mowmemt and pmviâed an apportunity to aâdmss the audience who atbended such events direcüy." HdmOn(1996), 65. women between "whore" and "virgin". Sexuality, it seemed, was becoming politicized.

Due, in part, to the possibilities accorded to some by the Pill as well as the influence of the ideology of "free love," many women began to redefine aieir sexuality for themselves. For some, the focus was on women's active punuit of sexual pieasure located outside the confines of manlage, free from the economic and sexual dependency assaciated with the institution Kate MilleWs SexuaI

Polit& and Anne Koedt's "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm," both published in 1970 and widely distributed, pnwided the initial foundation for such aims. Rejecting notions of female sexwl dependency and availability, Millett and Koedt asserted that widespread patriarchy, in its various fom, deliberately acted to deny women access to pleasure from their own bodies.56 60th texts argued that al1 sex behveen men and women was political, because gendered relationships were based on power and control. Furthemore, "aie clitoris provided the due to, and the means to undo, the suppression of female sexuality for reproductive ends?

kminist publications across Canada qukkly followed suit. The premiere issue of a grassroots feminist publication, me mer Wom(1972), featured full-page articles with labeled diagrams encouraging women to take control of their bodies, to examine themselves carefully with mimo and to understand and be cornfortable

IW, 65. " SeeKate~Mett,-1 p~lipipl(iUew~adc:~von~oak, 1970) andAnneKœdt,The Mythofthe Vaginal Orgasm," ln L Tanner, cd., YQlg5 hom Wm's (New York Mentor Publishing, 1970). se!gal,35-36. with their own anatorny. "We must Ieam that we do not merely inhabit oui bodies - we are Our bodies; it is important to understand thernltm Subsequent issues continued the trend, promoting self-knowleûge as key to mual emancipaaon and arguing that "the more you know about your body, the easier it is to show someone else what gives you p~easure."~Masturbation was presented as fundamental for women to take control of their sexwlity, and varying techniques were provided as guides. As well, the journal provided a nurnber of references and extensive bodc reviews of other sources of Information on womenfs sexua~ity.~~Unlike the texts provideâ by sexologists, the new feminist writings looked outside of the sexual relationships of married, heterosexual couples. Instead, they attempted to increase the knowledge, and in effect, the confidence of women to define and control their sexualky for themselves.

As Ruth Roach Pierson has noted, "it was a short step from such revelations to the proposition that men were not needed for women's bodily p~easure.'~'The shift of focus hmthe vagina to the clbris as the site of female pleasure linked directly to critiques of the institution of heterosexuality. New terms, like

*homophobian and "woman-Mentified," were introduced, and the "political lesbian" emerged in the early 1970s. Ross argued that the feminist maxim "the personal is politkaln was epitomlzed not only by the "angv nile-breaklng" of political activism,

%etiting Into Our Bodies," 7& Wmn, Vol. 1, No. 2, (Segtemkr 1972) 15. gg 'Vcy #tesurable Poîitic~,~llrc Wm,(ApriIIMay 1973) 15. aKis FOX, 'Revim: Haw to Handk a Wa~n,"Tlk Ollkr W;kmanl Vol, 4, No.2, (Matçh/April1975) 21. Foi< nviwdl'he Namadk WLpvim W#nanand Dadson's~Wm. ', " ', 106. but also thmugh the creaüon of positive lesbian identities. She asserted that "lesbians argued that loving women, not fucklng aiem, was a logical extension of

their cornmitment to aie endication of women's ûespite the insights

of lesbian actMsts at the tirne, the eady writings of the Canadlan women's

movement were suspkiously devoid of lesbian volces: "wlai the exception of one short piece in Women Unitel... the pervasive non-coverage of lesbianism [wals only

sporadically intemipted by brief, sensationalized accounts in the custom of Time

magazine's smear of Kate MilletYs bisexwlrty in 1970."

As Valverde has noted, lesbian "invisibility [wals not really a ble~ing.'~

Other historians have concurred, remarking that the relatlonship between straight

feminists and Iesbians was fraught with tension, suspicion, and confusion, and that

"too much fear and not enough honesty" plagued the communication behnreen the

~0.6~The women's movement was not immune to homophobia. Some

heterosexual feminists expressecl concem that an overt articulation of lesbian

demands and the designation of "out" lesôians as spokespersons for aie movement

would weaken the credibilky of fernini~m.~~One woman recounted her experience

of marginalizaüon within a women's liberation grwp based in Toronto, and

suggested that women attempt to bridge the gap between heterowtuality and

lesbianism: 1 resent king put in the position of belng a token lesbian, a strange species who must always be defining to other women why 1 am gay, while no hetemsexual women are put in aie position of having to define why they are sbaight...if we want to see a strong wornen's movement, one that we can really say is about ouf lives, we had better start to rid ourselves of the power trips that we inherited from maledominated society. If we let our felings corne out wiai women, on every level, sistehood will start to feel a lot realerF7

The "lesbian problem" was highly controversial in the eyes of the public and within the movement itself. In retrospect, the emergence of the gay liberation movement

had an exceptional impact on feminism by "forcing the discussion of issues of

sexuality and insisting that feminists grapple with heterosexism."

By the middle of the 1970s, the issue of lesbian existence expanded feminist

critiques of the institutions of mariage, aie family, and what Adrienne Rich named

in her article, "Corn pulsocy Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence. " Rich identified

the marginalkation of lesbians in the womenfs movement, and stated that it was not

suffkient for feminist analyses to simply acknowledge that lesbian texts exist. Using

'ferninia texts of the era to illustrate the heterocentric presumptions of straight women in the movement, Rich concluded:

Heterosexuality is presumed as a "sexual preference" of "most wornen," either irnplicltly or explici@ , In none of these books, which conœm themselves with mothering, sex roles, relationships, and wdetal prescriptions for women, is compulsory heterosexuality ever examineci as an institution powerfully affang al1 these; or the idea of 'preferencef or 'innate orientation' even indirectly q~estioned.~~

67"~m'sLibefahkn AND Lesbiam," Tlie OYlm Wmnl Vd. 1, No. 1, (MayIJune 1972) 16-17. Ma-, Briskin and kWail, 58-59. Mi(mne Rkh, *Compukoiy Hetemawlity and Lesbian Wtaiae," Wns; Vol. 5, No. 4 (1980), 64. Rkh argued that men secured and maintained power over women through the socially sanctioned rite of marriage, and that heterosexual relations were not necessarily "natural" but created through socioîultural reinforcements As well, she urged heterosexual women to "reflect on the privilege of the anangement they had

'ch~sen'."~~As a consequence of Richfs (and others') critiques, some heterosexual second wave feminists felt the need to reconcile wiai themselves (and othen) that they were "sleeping with the enemy":

Anger Is a constant cornpanion in my feminist bed ...1 often wonder why 1 continue to sleep with men. Why, after all, wkn al1 of my friends are women, when 1 do my politia with women and my soçlallzing with women, do 1 keep Ming for men? Part of it is training, part of it is Oedipal, part of it is habit, and part of it is that 1 love their trim, hard bodies... 71 Wh's "compulsory heterosexualityMprovided feminists with a conceptual framework through which a number of theorles on sexuallty could intersect*

By the late 1970s, however, mainstream feminism became "strategically more concemed wlth violence against women and economic issues than with sex and wcual pleas~te."~* A survey of the articles publlshed in the feminist paper

Brasdsiii from 1979 to 1985 reveals that the womenfs movement had indeed altemi Meir approach to aie issue of women's wtuality at that time. The institution of marriage continueci to be a site for analyses, but the new strategy focused primarily upon women8scontinued economic and legal reliance on men and

Pm,107. Joann Kates, Dnce Morr WWi Ming: MtmsmmIrty and Faninkt Consdo~sness~"in Ahgcnld, Gubeman, and Wdle, eds., SI1 Aint (Toronto: The Women's Rtso, 1982), 79. * Loma Weir and Eve Zanmba, "8oyr and Girk Togcoicr: Faninkm and Gay Uberaüon," -, Vd. 4, NO. 1(Oet 1982) 6-7. the legalities of the Divorce AC^? Men's sexual violence against women had also becorne a serious point of concern, and the political and legal battles regarding rape and semial assault were thoroughly doairnented." The "problern" of pomographic materials ako captured the editorial and feature space of many pages of Bmdside during that peri~d.'~ The sexuality debates had indeed begun to change, and analyses of sexual danger rapidly superseded discussions of women's pemnal empowennent, pleasure and desire."

ûther, smaller items in BroadsMe dealt with aspects of sexuality reminixent of the debates on sexuality conducted earlier in the movement's history. Some were concemed wiai the minimal representation of lesbian existence w ithin women's organizations and the continued marginalization of lesbian identities and voices within the women's movement as a whole. Othen were direct appeals by lesbian feminists for inclusion and space within the more mainstream women's movement?

Interestingly, BWMde printed only three arücles during that period direct1y pinpolnting the need to more thomughly analyze compulsory heterosexuality and

See Cynthia Hastings Zincâ, *Ma- Contra&: Make Them And Break Thm," Vol. 1, No. 10 $Sept 19W) 5; and Lin&, "Dlvwre Canadian Style," Vol. 2, No. 3, (Dec 1980/Jan 1981) 6. ' Sec mA Rape is a Rapt?," Vol. 1 No. 9, (JulyIAug 1980) 9; MnZoak, "Insütutbndized Rape," Vol. 2, No. 1&2 (Od/Nov 1980) 27; kni Mllkr, "Rapt!: Vidaüon by thc Oiminal Code," Vol. 2 No. 3, (ûec 198û/Jan 1981) 5; and Glllhn Qilirc, "8111 C-127: 1s Rape Ob~olete?~Vol. 4 No. 6 (Apr 1983) 3. " Sec Susan Cok,"Corihnting Pomagtaphy," Vd. 3, No. 2 (Nov 1981) 10; Mamb Pap, "Pom-Again Male," Vd. 4, No. 3 {Dcc 1982) 19; Ann Carnon, "Hami CmHom,' Vol. 4, No. 4 (kb 1983) 5; "Snipping Up Snuff,,' Vol. 4, No. 4 (Feô 1983) 7; Cyndra Macûowell, w€xtra-Cen~Perception," Vol. 4, No. 6 (Apr 1983) 4; Lisa Freedman and Susan Ursd, "Ohnlty DeMeci," Vd. 4, No. 6 (Apr 1983) 5. and Susan C. bk, "Combatting thc Pladkc of PomgraphytWVol. 5, No. 10 (Aug/Sept 1984) 6-7. '~h#dkcurtiw conWIued at thc grassrods W. Mainsûearn f#nhists, the more visible, publk *f#lieudthewamai's movament swkMaickfoair to more political, poiicv-based kswr. Eue Pemba, 7hc Inv&ibk Cammunity,* -, Vol. 1, NO. 10 (Sept 1980) 4; Zarefnba, mVoidngthe U-kabk," Vd. 2, No. 9 (July 1081) 19; L#M Wdr and Bmb Sbciga, "Coming Tmin a Hot Oym: Vd. 2, No. 10 (Augl~ept1981) 7; Judy ~twi#gh,What is TNr mhg Qlkd Love?" Vol. 3, No. 6 (Apr 1982) 7. heterosexual relationships, and lesbians wrote them all." It was not until 1984 that two short pieces on heterosexuality and heterosexual semial pleasure made

B&si&'s pages."

Semial equality and women's semial freedorn were two of the fundamental feminist goals of the late 1960s and eady 1970s, and women's right to sexual pleasure and to control their own bodies symbolized their right to social equality.

The stniggle for reproductive rights, the revelatory discovery of the clitoris as the central site of female sexual response, the publication of feminist journals, and the establishment of women-centred groups created "a thrilling sense of new possibilities" for women and the women's rn0vement.8~ However, sema l emancipation proved more complicated than was originally aiought. As Valverde noteâ, "endles doubts and heartbreaks about non-monogamy, about faked orgasms, about the political correctness of heterosexuality more or less stifled that first wave of sexual liberation."' By the mM-1970s, rnainstream feminist praxes had turned its attention away from the personal aspects of sexuality and focused predominantly on legal, political, and sial policy-making and change. Issues such as violence against women and pomography moved to the forefront of the feminist agenda, and "in a climate of rage it was virkially impossible for lesbian, blsexual, or

Weit and Zamba, "Boys and Girls T-: Minhand Gay Uôeraüon," 6-7; "Aimeznius les hommvd. 4' NO. 2 (bV 1982) 14; ulith Rnkkr, "kbbn~Wh0 Sm b,"vol. 5, NO. 2 Nov 1983) 4. 'Manne ,, '5050 Sex,' W. 5. No. 6 (Apr 1984) 9; Mariani Valverde, "If Freud Were A Woman ..." Vd. 5, No. 6 (Apr 1989) 9. Lconorr k Mt a NamlM Othcr (8ou#er: Westview PressI 1995) 115. Valverde (1984) 9. hetemsexual feminists to clairn the right to semial pleasure."*

The decade from 1980 b 1990 witnessed a numôer of direct responses to the perceived feminist fixation on the potential "dangers" of sexuality, reactions manifistecl in the gmwth of diverse writings and theories on women's sexuality.

Withln the movement and on the public stage, the pornography debates intensified in a series of political and cultural battles. Neo-conseivative right-wing thinken and organizaüons grew in =ope and size, xrutinizing sex education curricula and contesting the the xope of legal rights for lesbians and gay men. As well, anti- feminist groups captured the popular media's attenüon and stole numerous head~ines!~ ûespite (or perhaps because of) increased attacks by reactionaiy traditionalists and the feminist backlash, the emergence of a new vision of an older strand of feminist thought began to emerge. In 1985, the Women's Çexuality Conference was held in Toronto, announcing the resurgence of "feminists who wanted to get beyond the lesbian versus heterosexual dMde and to welcome women of al1 sexual preferences, celibate and bisexual women included, to the pursuit of an enhanced understanding of women's sexwlity through CO-operative discussion and study." Their primary objective was to "eroticke equality": ...perhaps it's time to seriously rethink Freud's old question: what do women want? We know what we dont want, and we are beginning to understand how we got into this mess. So the question about our eiotk needs keeps coming back to us - the a Ross, 113. * 0-n and Hunter, 1; üaskWnl f1998) 190, nated that REAL Wamcn (RcaIisticl Etpl, Acüve for Ufe), an anti-lieminkt kbby gmup against pdkks such as equal pay for work of eqwl value, sex educabkn Ibr yaRh, aborth, dhioia nlbmi, emDkymcnt equity and pibk child are pcov(sion, emeiged as a signifkant aireat to the ~~nneri'smowmcnt in 1984. " P(nson, 108. retum of the repressed - and we ask the old question with a new emphasis: What do w women want?... Eroticism is about the wha4 aie bras tacks of sex?' The pervasiw violence against women (reinforced by the continuation of articles in

feminist journals on the prevalence of sexual assaults, the rights of sex workers, and

the cornplex pornography debates) contributed to a climate of anger and fear.B6

"Pro-sex" feminists attempted to revive dialogue on women's wtual pleasure and

desire and reassect the need for sexwl expression and exploration as a necessaiy

step towards women's liberation."

Rie publication of Carole Vance's edited text Pleasure and Danaer: Ex~loring ale .Sexuali& marked the flrst tangible evidence of what would become - in the eyes of the media as well as many younger feminists - a significant split in the perspectives of feminists in the women's movement. Vance argued that while

second wave feminists increased women's sexwl autonomy and broken down old

assumptions of women's asexwlity and male sexual dominance, they failed to

alleviate the sense of vulnerability, guilt, fear, and shame that many women experienced in their own sexual encounten. Vance calleâ for a reconnection of the

complexities of women's personal sexual experiences with aieoretical critiques of

male violence and the patriarchy:

8~ Vaivede (1984) 9. a See Usa Freedman, "Sac, Trade and Commerce," &aMM$ Vol. 6, No. 8 (June 1985) 8-9; ûebi BrodG "5ex adthe Shgk Cmmitta," Vd. 7, No. 3 (Dcc 1985) 8,9; De# Bmck, "Beyond Images: tlwkem and Hmhists," Vd.7, Na6 (April 1986) 8-9; Megan Ellis, "PlodlMkn: Cause and ER@," Vd. 8, No. 3 (Dcc 1986/Jan 1987) 4; Mahna Valwrde, 'Bill C-Y): Moralism over kminism," Vd. 8, No. 8 (June 1987) 6, 14; Lisa Hagen-knrai, "mraphy Update," Mnhaq Vol. 2, No. 1(April 19û4) 16-17, to cite jW a kwexamples. " Bladc, 155; sa ako Susan C Cdc, ("ïimto: Semd Sbty Pnst, 1995) 37, ofîginally puMished as "SatualKy and Rs Disoonbents", in Vd6, No. 6 (Am 1985) 8-9. ...we admit that It is not safe to be a wornan, and it never has ken. kmale atternpts to daim pleasure are especially dangerous, attacked not only by men, but by women as well. But to wait until a zone of safety is estabIlshed to begin to explore and organize for pleasure is to cede it as an arena, to give it up, and to admit that we are weaker and more Mghtened than our enemies ever irnag~ned.~

Although the text was criticized for typecasting second wave feminists as perpetuators of stringent moral standards and anti-sex, the works of pro-sex feminists helped return the issues of desire and pleasure to the wcwlity debates?'

In 1996, Judy Rebick recalled the sexuality debates of the past and stated that while it had become important for feminists to recognize and affirm lesbian sexuality for a time, there was an over-comcüon of heterocentrism, as the issues of pomogaphy and wtual violence overtmk #ose of heterosexual pleasure. Rebick said that "it becarne impossible to talk positively about it in pditical circles. Then came the issw of sexual violence in general and the dixourse of consensual sex di~appeared.'~mer feminists have concurted, stating that even a decade after the emeqence of women-identifled approaches heterosexwl women continued to grapple with their sexwl orientation and their feminist politia?l "Even celibacy," as

Ross has noted, "canled a male referent. Uke bisexuality, it signaled fence-sitting."'

-- a~Csrok S. Vana, and Dam(8oîton: Rouadge & Kegan Paul, 1984) 24. bk (1995) 39. O0 Judy Rebick, as quoted In Kosfash (1996) 16. 91 Dinah FOrbés, *DlfREUR Loves," YVho's On Tan? Thc Pdb d H- (Toronto: Garamond Press, 1987) 48. Forbes, 49-50 ~rovidedfour Rarons why the anaîyses of mak power in the tate 197h and eaily 1980s Ykd to disentangle the compkritks of hetelosexuality and feminism: an averrknpliRcath d thc issue of pomr; the application d a fbad standard of male dominabion; an ina#lity ta i-te thc wrying Iik exprkms d mwnen; and the adhemto an irnplkit asaimptlon that womcn are "wcak, pomiks, and &pendent on men as long as we maintain mlrtbüonships wiai then." "RSS, 117. There has ken a surge of public discussions of women's sexuality in recent years, and mainstream second wave feminists have been the predomlnant targets for criacism. As illustrated in Chapter 2, poeeminists posit that the feminist stniggle for sexual liberation was a noble one, but that it was conducted through the perpetuation of dangerous dichotomies: object/subject, passive/aggressive, and female/male. Kate Fillion dexribed this phenornenon as the preseivation of an age- old sexual script. She argued that, as a direct rewlt, "the common language used to discuss sexuality in the public arena ...[has ben] predicated on women's passivity and oppre~sion."~ Postfeminists assert the erroneous assumption that the women's

movement advanced a single, antiquated vision of what constiMes "goad"

feminism, and "good" ferninist sex through the prorotion of womenfs victimization

and men's inherent lechery. Their arguments have perpetuated the stereotype that

allfeminists hate men, believe in the essential "goodnessnof women, jack a sense of humour, are preoccupied with sexual danger, and are anti-sex.

The popular press has latched on to (and, in many ways, helped create) the

new, aggresshre female sexual archetype in *recentyears. Heterowtual, white, able-

bodied, well-educated, financially successful, aggressive, and overtly sexual women

have received an enonnous amount of print space and air time for their assertions

that women in the 1990s have "made it." While postleminists generally do not pay

homage to the second wave, images of their success and the popular acceptance of

their work perpehiates the notlon that the fwninism of the 1970s achieveâ empowemnt and sexual agency fw al1 women. Ernerging in mamarket books, works of fiction, in glossy magazines, and on television, such women (even the

fMitious ones) have been touteâ as the heirs of the sexual revolution and, often,

the new faces of femini~m.~Donna laFramboise has declareâ that "only someone

blissfully ignorant of histoiy could believe that the wtual revolution has done the

average woman more han than go~d.'~~"At the beginning of the sexual

revolution," she argued, a truce was declareâ in the gender wan for a few brief yean - at least among some segments of the population. Rather than king used as Ieverage, sex was freely enjoyed. Men and women reveleâ in each other's beauty, sharlng their bodies comfortably and lavish[y.%

The point of the semial revolution, LaFramboise asserted, was freedom: "freedom

from appalling ignorance, senseless guilt, and needless fearnfA7Postfeminists like

LaFramboise, neglect to acknowledge the negative muai experiences of women

during the so-called sexual "tiuce." As well, postfeminists paint an inaccurate image

not only of the women's movement's recent history, but also of the contradictory

sexual experiences of many women today. Nonetheless, the image of the "modern

woman" of the 1990s has been the %ad girl," one who has rejected the perceived

'Yyanny of conternporary sexual politks" brought about by feminism and who has

" Stephank Nokn, 'Giils 1st Wanna Han hn,' Tne GWe and&i/I (13 febniaiy 1999); Renzetti, Cl, C4; Kate Allbn, "Bitch: Who Daccw thc Fhger," Tlk Gl& aWIck,/J(25 Apin 1998), 011; Ian Naaiansan, 5peaking of Wm," Tlk Ortane SunI (2 Mard 1999); Vakrie Gibson, "Wmn's Swaa Scar off Men," nW Tmlpm, (2 Ma& 1999). Se Dami Walton, "Hminist Rdc Moôel or Dm BroadT nic CMaw GBkn, (29 Jure lm);and Kingmll, 77-78. Amerkan prime time tekviskri diamcter "Ally McûeaI" has been buted as femlnim's new ide mode1 in ~MEmagarine. * Dorina LaFramboise, 'heedom, 6aby," 7k ~~/~ 18 March 1999, A18. % IW., A18. " IW, A18. kenaggressively taking mattes into her own hands."

The representaüon of women in the 1990s as brash, fiercely independent, successful, and sexwlly aggressive predaton has not been entlrely unwarmnted.

As British writer Helen Fielding, author of one of the kt-selling "bad girl" novels of the 1990s, has claimed, "in real life, women do llke to have a good tirne, go out to bars, get pissed and have a cigarette, and It doesn't mean they're pr~stitutes.'~

Many women have reaped the benefits of aie gains made by their predecessors, and have enjoyed their independence - sexual and otherwise - in a variety of ways. The postfeminist image (which has also become known as babe-feminism, dogme feminism, and capitalist feminism) has ken a sexy, alluring one. Postfeminists appear glamourous, confident, strong, stylish, more than slightly narcissist, and completely in control - a representation that stands as the antithesis of the stereotype of victim feminism. Despite the media-friendly appeal of the independent, post-feminist seductress, the depiction has not been representative of the lives of most women.

nie image of the %ad girl" presented by both the media and postfeminists such as Amy Friedman, Kate Fillion and Donna LaFrambaise has been backed by inaccurate knowledge of the history of the women's movement itself. As well, the visible succes of few prhrilegeâ women in Canada has ken presented as evidence of postferninism's arrivai. Representations of "enlightened" women have

* Wedy Demis, and Sa pDQLgye in the Ni- (Toronto: Ric Penguin Gmup, 1992) 3. * As qWtEd in RaueSbi, C4. See Fielding's msD&y, (London/Toronb: McCIeibnd and mtt, 1997). consistently referred to a verskn of 1970s-style feminism which they believe embraced womenS sexual pleasure as an unproblematic venture: one that provided the rneans for women to punw sexual self-empowerment in vittually any social sphere. But, they argue, the women's movement changed its ideological stance to one that preventeâ women hwn expressing their sexual "power," and focused solely on the experiences of rnarglnallzed wornen:

My sisters in sbuggle and 1 were ûying to shake off the shackles of a consumer-mad, sexist, racist society. Those ads featuring glamourous, honey-skinned blondes with legs that went on forever made us all nervous, anxious, tense...T here was jus- one problem. Those women 1 knew who were, by North Amerlcan standards, classkally attractive, felt ashamed. 1 know 1 was embarrasseci to be white, handsome, fine-cornplexioned, attractive to men. 1 hoped no one would notice that 1 was.laO

Postfeminists, eager to illusbate that wornen in the 1990s have indeed "made it," have done so at the expense of non-white, disabled, lesbian, bisemial, and trans- gendered people. Their accounts of "liberated" lifestyles and their conceptions of semral Momfail acknowledge the range and diversity of earîy feminist writings, and have ignored the reality of semial danger in many wornen's experiences. As well, postfeminists have displayed no recognition of their power and privilege as white, educatecl, ablebodied, heterosexual women. 'O1

Eariy feminist writings that emphasized the significance of women's sexual fieedom did not ignore the existence of sexual danger in many women's lives.

Instead, they argued that women's sexual emancipation could not accur wiaiout a

- - 'Oo Friedman, 32-33. 'O1 Jane Ccmard, "nw PMoMl Ir Sa# PditkaI: Thc Legacy of 1970s kminlm," in Maglin and kny, 41. more thorough sense of women's realities as well as a realization of the need for sodal, economk and political rights.lo2 Critics of postkminism have concurred:

The enactrnent of sexual subjectivity where there is none 1s as unimaginable as the enadment of power as a subjectively generated force when it has no objective existence. It should not have to be further bebbored that there Is no power feminism where there is no power and that its absence there calls into question its oprations heie.104

Although writings by postfeminists succeed in rendering the women's rnovement a relic, they have done so by pmmoting an eaios of individuality, one that rejects the value of comrnonality between and amorig women and renounces organized women's movements. Postfeminists discount and ignore the experiences of marginalized women in Canada, and hinder the ptential for increased knowledge of the diverse nature of women's sexual experiences. If,as Valverde has suggested, sexuality should be examined as a soda1 and collective process, then "individual freedom to imagine and to act is not enough... if we staR criticking traditional morality only to fall back into an ernpty notion of the inviolability of individual deslre, we will have no tools for analyzing why a white man might want to turn a black woman into his sexual slave, or why a black woman rnight 'consent' to aiismdM

In direct contrast to the seemingly 'liberated' sexuality of the postfeminist woman and alw, contributing to ththe increased discussion of sex in mainstream

lm It should k mted that Vahnide (1995) 19; Klnsman, 227, 3û6-307; and Ross, 219, have al1 illustrated that pcolex femlnism, gay/iesbian ahrd fionnatkns and the pursuit of sexwl pkasure through 'albemstive' means (SbM, pom and emtkaI varbus bars and bathr and establishments for peopk with dhnix aotlc prrlcmwcs") have always existed In Canada, and they diâ not dissipate whcnthcmri(nstreammwmn'smovcment~~~~vbknaandpdkylstwsm~adive(yin the mid-1970s. Ullbn S. Robinsonr n~biect/~,"in Maglin and Perryt 186. lm Vaiveder 202. media, anü-ferninid submissions to the current debates have also pottrayed the women8srnovement as outmoded, although in a vew different manner: Carelessly, thoughtlessly, casually, sex - in the short space of a single generation - went from king the culminating act of a committed love to king a precondition, a tryout, for future emotional involvement. If any .. Sexual rules create sexual solidarity arnong women. If men feel that they can flit hmwoman to wornan, they will. They will enjoy our ready availability and exploit it to their advantage. But if women as a gmup cease to be readily available - if they ôegin to demand comrnitment (and real cornmitment, as in marriage) in exchange for sex - market conditions will shift in favour of w~rnen.'~~ mers have claimed that feminisrn's past sûuggles for ernancipation have resulted in

"virginity king xorned as a sign of subsewience, semial relations king reduced to a banal fonn of social interaction... and a denial of specific rotes wiaiin the farni~y."'~

Arguing that a "return to modestytW(virginity, chastity, and w

be more advantageous for women to reclairn power and control in their relationships

with men, ana-feminist conjectures have ken voiced by heterosexual women who

have benefited directly from the batües waged by the previous generation of

feminist5.1°7 Despite their narmwly-âefined, traditionalist vision of the family and

relatlonships, lack of thorough histoiical analyses, and often blatant misuse of

statisücs, such women have secured considerable popular attention by mocking the

perceived fanatkal character of ferninism, and presenting themselves as rational "moderates."

los DanicWe aiaendwi, Our -t dl & whv €1- the Modun woman, New Yark: Simcm & Sehus&r, 1999) Ml35. Ip"Dinide Stsm~, Tm (Richmond, Uîverton i+wsePuMkatbns, 1996) 32. Sa abWady Shalit, ?&&: the &t Vittue, (Toronto: HapwCollins Cam&, 1999). There are numerous similaMies between postfeminist and anti-feminist attitudes on 4exualihl. &th pmntthe women's movement as a monolithic entity, focused sdely on the experiences of a small sample of white, financially-stable, heterosexual women. Both assert the primacy of the individual, and encourage women to fulfill their "duties" rather than affirm their rights. To many, "aie vety notion of the victim has becorne synonymous with self-indulgent miseiy now that individuals are considered to be primarily responsible for their fate."lM Located predominantly within the mainstream popular press and mass market books, pst- ferninist and antifeminist arguments on sexuality depict the women's movement as obsolete, and contribute to the ever-increasing pdarization of progressive liberal sentiment and ever-growing traditional and reactionary thought.'* They present the women's movement as the mastermind behind stringent sexwl and moral codes and as the promoters of a villain-versus-victim mythology. In effect, "feminism loses

both ways: while womenS rebellion against sexism is diverted to the war against sex,

feminists get blamed for the big semial chill. dl0

The anti-feminist cal1 for more restrictive sex roles and a return to an era of

scxlally sandoned normative heterosexual relationships and marnage has been

generally dismissed as a benign (but persistent) threat by the women's movement.

Howewr, as exclusionary, homophobk, and counter-productive to feminism's goals

'* Lise W, A -1 Tradateâ by kndd Bennett, (Montml & Kingston: McGilI-Queen's UniverJty Press, 1994,238. 'Og NOM, 204. ''%h Willk, "Vilbins and Vicüms: 'Srnid cwecûmsband the Represskn of Feminlsm," in Maglin and Pcny, 51. as posüeminism has ben, the sexy allure of its tenets has been more difficult to

ignore. Postfeminism is the antithesis of defensive. Thmugh their seemingly open acknowledgment of the erotk, their sexually-aggressive demeanors, and their open promotion of beauty culture indulgences (again, completely devoid of analysis), postfeminism has emerged as a mindset that could be constnied as significantly more hin than vidm feminism. Third wave feminists have recognized that self-

indulgent postfeminist perspectives have not acknowledged power imbalances that continue to exist between men and women (and also among women) and offer little - if any - admittance of their privileged positions in society. While third wave perspectives regarding sexuality have just begun to emerge,

much of the writing to date begins from a location simllar to that of the pro-sex feminists of the 1980s: where the early second wave feminists left off. The desiie

to conduct analyses of body image, self-esteem, desirability, sexuality and sexual pleasure - fEe from the perceived negative repenussions from other feminists - has been sbong in third wave writings. To rnany memben of the third wave, those

pursuits have revolveâ around continual self-analysis and personal negotiation, an

attempt to moncile a desire to create their own version of "femininity" and their

fear of betraying their altegiance to feminism and the stniggle for female empowement:

1 know 1 shave my annpits, and Sm not a lesbian, nor do 1 hate men. So 1 guess aarding to sodety's stereotypical boundaries sumunding the terni "féminist," 1 am not a feminist. .. "Am I a feminist?" my response is simply mis: Yes! Yes 1 am a feminist because 1 believe aiat women should be given eqwl rigMs to men, equal opportunities, equal choies and an equal voice. 1 live my life on a daily basis being proud of the fact that 1 am a woman ...Il1

For some, mat has ûanslated into a strong defiance of precomtnicteâ notions of what constiMes a "beautiful" female body. For othen, it has meant indulging in beauty culture: fashion magazines, make-up, hair productr, and slinky fashions previously viewed as fodder for the male gaze:

For me, being a femme means that 1 take pride in wearing just the right shade of lipstick, drawing the perfect black line above my eye- lashes, keeping my legs smooai, and smelling good. Being a femmenist means knowing 1 am just as attractive when I dont Wear makeup, shave, or put on perf~rne.~~~

In contrast to antl-feminist sentiment, third wave feminists have rejected daims for retuming to the (mythologlcal) past as a solution to contemporary woments issues, and believe that taking that direction would inevitably lead to both repressive and regressive policies and politia. Returning sexuallty to the postwar ideal, "in a reconstructed conventional heterosexual family would entail forcing women back into male-dominated homes, and gays into closets. As well, the third wave consumption of the pmductr of beauty culture, unlike the whims of postfeminists, has not been without analysis. Instead, third wave feminists' emphasis has been focused on redrawing the boundaries of what constitutes beauty, femininity, and sexuality, and the roles that they play in every individualk que& for self-

"' RlWW Parbsh-Puni, mA!wmptiOn: FetninWS are m-hating ksMans who think mwnen are better than men," in Campbell and Mialiwal, 58-59, Il2 ddombid, jeannine, *femrnenim," in Rebecca Walker, cd., 29-30. lu LnLumsden, "Smidity and the Statc The Paiîtûs ufmlUomaî"kaidity," in NemiMt 197-198. %me third wavers have critiqued the mythologies sunounding the decade of the 1960s, arguing that, whik the sexual revolution "was largely about women saying yes (to really prove themselves liberated) a new movernent is empowering them to a/= say no, ahmg with when, whem and ho^ As a result, wornen are more dosely examining what turns them off - and also what hims them on.""5 Jennifer Drake concurred, and expbined:

Third Wave women talk a lot about pleasure. This could be because we're young or because we're such well-trained consumes or because we're into some kind of playful postmodern aesthetic or because we watched too much TV growing up, but 1 cant dismiss mis, for It's such a hunger and a joy in Third Wave texts... dearly, the pleasure-seeking impulse makes its unruly way through the personal and political play with Wuality, but it also consistently infoms Third Wave daims to feminism itself. ..Il6

Shirking the potentially social repercussions (or basking in the rebellion of them), many third waveo have exerted their entitiement to engage in any and all sexual activitks they deem pleasurable. Such women have assumed agency and control conceming what they "want" sexually. Crosbie commented (with more than a hint of sarcasrn), that "we're seeing the slow, la* windings of feminism's greatest claim,

Il4 The awnpkrloa d the body have ken addresseâ through the a~îysisof 'the politks of hair.' Noliwe Rooûsf "Wr-Raising: Ahkan American Women, üeauty Cutture and Madame C. 3. Walker," University of Iowa, (August 1994), crWpued the e(lccts d hair-stnighberiing on bbdt womm in the USf and Chdsüia Galapher, "Hait Politicsn 2J-#, Vd. 6, (NY, 1998) disaisseâ the poiitkal implications d Qmnsdnadkddng their hair. Both prov#c insight into whcthcr the adoption of certain Mirstyles by paRkular gmups aWtuks nilbiral/i#bl aPPropriaaOn or an aüempt to transand Rdd lines. Wcndy Tm, "Spiitting Hdrs: Ueative Exprcsskri vs. Sdf-Narmalization in Womcn's Halr Cam," %#k Univers@, (Agiil 1999) apbdthe compkx nbtionship ktween hair and womcn's identities by mbining theorks of dFtransformatkri, seîfmointenance, and the culhwd pmducüon of self with in- personal interviews. Pauia Kamen, "Aa\uahtanœ Rap: Revdutkn and Reactbn," in Maglin and Pary, 140. '16 Drake, 106. that girls can do anything ...We can xrew, we can swear, we can do dnigs. What that leaws us is the option of moral degeneracy, which is what men have been accused of al1 along. That's the para do^.^'^

The remarkable achievements of the diverse feminist and gay struggles of the past that challenged traditional assumptions about the "naturalness" of sexuality and helped transfonn discourses on sexuality and sexual pleasure into a legitimate topic for publk discussion have influenced third wave perspectives and analyses. Third wave feminists begin with the premise that sexual attitudes are socially con~tructed."~In aiird wave writing to date, sexuality has been viewed as 'normal" only within the context of dominant normative values that have been ~cially, culturally, and politically created and enforced. Concerning body politics and

wtuallty, the initial objectives have been to challenge and dispel myths and expose the conflicts among different perceptions of sexual desire. From that point, theories

can be created to bridge the gap between the 'liveâ messines0of womenOssexual experiences - both positive and negatiw - and a strong feminist position. As Mariana Valverde hw noted, the acknowledgment of different desires among

women and increased dialogue on desire and eaiics "cm be creative ones that lead

us a llttle closer to a caring community which can both guide us and provide a

contact fw our desire.

The growth and intellechial dewloprnent of younger memben of the third wave has been marked by a greater overall conxiousness of sex, sex identities, and sexualities, and a resurgent interest in the role that sexual identity plays in their everyday Iives. The establishment of women's studies in xhools, the inclusion of feminist theory in other fields of study, and ever-growing strong and vocal lesbian and gay pride movernents have al1 contributed to their heightened awareness. Third waven have also been privy to an expansion of cultural influences including everything from the emergence of continuous music video channels (much musi' and much mmmusic in Canada, and MN in the United States), cable television, impmed satellite communications, aie Internet (broadcasts, newsgroups, and millions of web sites and pages), and a broad range of specialty magazines, al! of which have undoubtedly affecteci and shaped their outlw Advertising specifically and pop culture generally have become increasingly sexualized, and the members of the third wave have acknowledged that "as women become more powerful in real life, their clothes got tighter and shorter in the make-believe-it's-real world of te~evision."'~~

Third wave feminists have been conxious of the use of sexuality and, in particular, sexualiwd images of women in the media that have consistently

* Kuczynski, A14, noted that spedalty magazines, even those formerty b&ed as "kminist" have changeâ aieir focus in reœnt years. For instance, Ghmurwiaidrew its dumn on women's political acavities and replaced it with astrology in Janwry, 1990. Ewn aiades on sexual advke, once a sbpk of mwn's ~~, hwc shifted hom provMiiig insbucoon on maximizing female or mutual pieasure, to guidance on pkaslng men. The editor-in-chkf of the magazine staW that the lessorrs of feminism have been so densely wawn inb the cultural fabric that readers dont need to revisit (han, and that "mthly monltorlnq on the state of w#nenrs righb" is no longer needed or ~anfeda " Judith nmson, Virnbo-Watch: Resisbnt to minhn, Se 3ust Wont Go Amy," (27 Nowmber 1995) S2. supporteci "and continue the prevailing sexual division of labour and orthodox conceptions of masculinity and femininity," and have actiwly sought to make sense of manipulative media techniques in their ~orks.'~~An ever-increasing nurnber of third wave femlnist scholan, writers, aiasts, activists, and critics of the mass media have attempted to link their connechion (and attraction) to the hyper-sexualized culture of consumerism and consumption with their identities as women, sexual beings and feminists. As the editors of BrCH: kminist Response to Pop Culture

We are supposedly living in a new age - one that some have dubbed posffeminist. Feminism is over, they say. Just get over it. But television demonstrates that most people still think what a woman is wearing is more important mat what she's thinking. Magazines that tell us, bath implicitly and explkitly, that female sexual urges are deviant - while reminding us that maintaining our sex appeal is the only way to wring cornmitment out of a man, without whkh our llves wlll be sad and incompkte in spite of dazzling careers and intense Mendships. Billboards urge us to fork over our hard-earned cash for the glittery, overprked wares of companies that depend on Our unhappiness and dissatisfaction for their profits. Hollywood continues to churn out movies where women's only lines are "Help me," "C'mere, big guy," and "Oh, honey, I missed you so much while you were off saving humanity by tracking down that vicious serial killer/diverting that asteroid/killing those scary space aliens."lZ3

The ttiird wave objective, in many respects, has been to acknowledge the mixed messages pervading popular culture and account for the 'problem desires' that often resuk. A penrasive and persuasive force, aie sex-positive imagery (often couched

'" ûomink StriMti, An IntrodWon ta Thwks of mr (London: Rouüeâge, 1995) 181; rec ako Sarah Denhan, "Assumpbkn: WbImages, moddr admagazines dont afkct a gir(L seif- estam," in Campôell and Dhaliwal, 8-9. 1u /mission. html. as kminism) presented by the media has been appealing. However, as Susan Cole has wamed, "to embrace it [would bel to underestimate the extent to which sexwlity is a soda1 construct not so easily undone by female orgasms, per semdz4

Many have criticized the mainstream media's manipulation of sexuality.

Alaiough "it is easy and fashionable to blame the media," a more realistic assessrnent of the cunent cimmstances would also recognize that pop culture acts as a minor of the cultural, social and political environment in which it exish, and that such images must be thoroughly examined for both symptoms and causes.1z

Members of the thi rd wave have conceded that, although representations of sexually confident, seemingly empowered women hold considerable allure, "a wtualized sodety does not guarantee sexual pleasure for individwls. The realities of women's lived experiences must be acknowledged:

Consumption does not simply represent 'the power of hegemonic forces in the definition of women's role as consumer,' but rather '1s a site of negotiated meanings, of resistance and of appropriation as well as of subjection and exploitation.' To analyze gender in the context of other dimensions of power such as class and race, thereby building upon the foundations laid by socialist fernini~m.'~~

That negotiation process, between the alluring, pre-packaged, advertised, and

purchased version of female sexuality and the difficulties of tanslating it into a lived

reality, has been paramount to third wave analyses to date. Cole recognized the

contradictions as well, and stated that, "feminism is as much about empowerment

as it is about ficing up to women's victimization," and suggested that women "imagine king sexual as part of cultural life" as a preliminary step."

That has been a difficuk challenge for memben of the third wave, as questions sumunding women's sexuality have always been at the core of feminiçt analyses. Not surprisingly, the craving for sexual empowerment has paralleled a questionhg of reality, of the sexual revolution, and - necessarily - of feminism. As illustrated, postfeminist commentators amck the perceivecl sexual pessirnism of the second wave and attempt to destroy the presumed feminist fixation on women's moral superiority. Similar daims have been supported by explorations into women's

"darker" sMe in wtual relationships. Such research often concludes that "the ferninists" have overemphasized the strength of masculine power and denied the fact that women have the capacity to be violent, aggressive and manipulative as we11.l~~Valverde identifieci such attitudes as "semal libertarianism" or "libertarian individualism" and suggested that similar arguments should be as extremist and

historically and aieoretically unfoundeâ. 130

Memben of the third wave, acutely aware of the popularity and visibility of the poaeminist perspective, have attempted a more nwnced approach to the discussion of women's sexuality. While acknowledging the neeû for women to

explore and establish their own ernpowered sexuality, they have also attempted to

Sbliiati, 218. '" Susan Cde, "What do We Want and Why do We Want it?"mm Toronto: Second Sm Press, 1995,U. Filh and Wrarnboise have both utilized this Iine d reasoning. More recentîy, the results of a study ooridiia#l at Simon Fmr Uniwrsity in Biiolsh Gdumbia by DOMU Sharpe and Janelle K. Ta* in 1999 ("An Examination of Varbbks Fma Sodal-Dévekpmental Mode1 to Explain Physkal anâ Psychdoqical Dating VkleKe") whkh oonduded that "males were more likely to report miving vioienœ, femaîes more likely b report inflwng vbienceWhas rrahnd oonsiderabk publidty. UD Vahnrdc, (1985) 16. incorporate a multitude of other aspects which direct)y affect women's decisions, readons and experiences regarding sexuality. Some have reassessed the value of their own sexual education:

JO: 1rememkr a iieu thenpie or a sex pemn cvmhng in tv talk wltl, us and she was sayhng that if pu French-kr/&d a boy Mat mntywr gave hi# penn/sion to have sew wlm wu. mese wre the lypes of thlngs m taugltt..Lodkii back at it now I &/ ml&, m/bangty at meof ways I was repreissed...but Ive got a lot of mgor mental pmb/ems Wuseof these people telling me how hd1 am, how wmg 1 am, hOlv d/lty I am, how 17/ be diseased, ho M..1 dont know, and I'm sall mad And I think per- sona//~1 have th& huge vendetta agahst Society mat I want to educate gMs and tell them that tKs O& Gat feelings aare nomab and tlMt you shouldnt h lmked up in your mmand toM #at 'wuk kdMordont talk abut it mers have actively attempted to seek out positive representations of women'ç semiality, images which depict women receiving pleasure outside of the male- centred realrn of mas-produced pornography as well as informative articles focused more on pleasure and les on "perféct" bo6/ type and peif~rmance.~'

While some third wavers have described themselves as vehemently against pornography, the commercial adult film and magazine industries have sparked the interest of a nurnber of young feminists in the 1990s. The gravitation of some women towaids explicit sexual imagery - and the potential political implications of such fascinations - has incited many feminist investigations over the yean. Some members of the third wave are active supportes of the development and

*' During the gmp dbîogue, Lwra mmnteâ on the bd< of avaLbMe inibnnath on wanen's bodks boday, and on how infiequentîy women hsppen upon CnfamiaaVe aiades. See Jennifer Johnson, "€xposed At La* The Tniai About Ywr Clitoris," Mnkuv& Vol. 12, no. 3, (Fall 1998) 19- 20,29. Interestingly, rnany of the "Mmren-positfven items have ken îocated ouMde of mainstream sources: in viswl art, music, theattre productions, and independent print publications. comumption of fernale-orienteâ wcual Rlms and photography, oRen distinguished from mas-produced, male-centred pom as 'erotica.' ûthen have admitted an attraction to '"litically incorrect pomw and articulated that "they believe they*re traitors ta the cause" as a resukU2 While the pomography debates within the women's movement and elsewhere have been ongoing and cornplex, many women have admitted that some of the images that had ken defined as "male oriented" and "inherentîy degrading" were alxi titi~lating.~~~''Pornography," as Lisa ?abc confessed, "could be stupid, depressing, and incredibly ar~using."'~~However, part of the third wave (following the lead of their pro-sex predecesson) feminist strategy has been to contextualize such desires:

When a woman looks at a picture of a man and woman fucking, doesnt it matter if she 1s straight or gay, likes cocks or thinks they're awful, was raised in a Catholk in a srnall town in Minnesota or was the only gypsy child in her community? Ooesn't that have a deep and radical impact on what a woman considers pornographie and what she considers sexy? Or are we to believe that there is a "natural" reaction which al1 women have to semially explicit images which wams us immediately if and when those images cross the line to 1ewd7l~~

The interest of third wave feminists in pomography as a potenaal site for examining female sexual pleasure has emerged, in part, as result of their deconstruction of

"feminist" and "unfeminist" desires. Third wave perspectives on pomography and

"~miinistsFor F& ~~~pksiori"bcateâ at mm.htmI.Tk site provides an extensive bibliognphy of aimnt pnwa< arguments, and links to slmihr web sites and web pages. *~isci?daqaiaie@a(tha~:~ow~~~(~f6:Uta,~mwnand Company, 1998,33; Sa also Vogek (1995) 'Pom Stars: WmGet in on tha Act," 113-117. us Amkr Hdlibwgh, 'Mre lirr the Mure: Radical Hope in Passion and Pkasure," in Vans, 40). 163 erotica may have been affected by legislation conceming sexual imagery in aie recent past. In 1992, R v. Buter presented the first constitutional challenge to Canada's obscenity laws. The Supreme Court upheld the section on obscenity, and modified its interpretation to a stronger focus upon the "undue exploitation of

se^.""^ It has been noted that since 1992, "straight, rnainstream pornography appears to be flourishing." However, imageiy that presents (explicitly or irnplicitly)

"alternative" sexualities have been subjected to intense xnitiny under the law and "sexual representations that challenge conventional notions of sexuality - gay and lesbian sexwlity, s/m sexwlity, youth sexuality - are now the focus of the censor's ~corn."~~~The message to third wave feminists has been clear: while the direct aial pdicing of women's bodies and of eroticism has changed considerably over the yean, further inquiries into the legal and moral regulation of sexual identities must be conducteâ.

As the debates over sexuality and pornography progressed, a new variable emerged which further complicated the third wave discussion: AIDS. Perhaps more than any other issue, AIDS and AIDS prevention Strategies have ~nque~onably informed and influenced third wave perspectives. Som after the virus was announced to the Canadian public in 1985, reports of "the age of epidemic ensued and the media promptîy pronounced the sexual revoluaon dead .13' W hile

" Klnmn, 346 noted that the CouUs interpr&atkn of "undue expkitatlon of sa" transiated into "too much rerwl B

"reintroduced the connecüon of sexuality to death," but in a unique manner, as

"AIDS does not distingukh between the sexes."'" Infmation on the use and are of condoms rapidly increased, and the drscussions that accuned challenged and, in many cases, changed previously held nouons of sexuality:

JO: I motlmaglne /i@wib74ut the condom. I ant&Horn me tirne when I actual& have tv deal with bttat sort of thhg...ln my wperience, thete's no quesüon as to whether or mt orne's guhg to be used...when It comes Ume if I ever chose or make the choie tv bwme pwnant and not use a mdom, I tWnk that wu/d be the mngest #hg!

Whlle some have suggested that "the pill gave women the right to say yes to sex,

[and] AIDS gave them the rigM to say no," most critiques have failed to review the

social implications of the virus.14o kwer have performed in-depth critiques on how

AIDS has affectecl women's sexuality.

While a number of articles in the mainstream press have focused on the ever-

growing number of women who have contracted the virus and emphasizeâ the need

for increased AIDS awarenes among heterosemial women, a number of third wave

ferninia have been actively engaged in more representaüve analyses. 14' Stressing

that HN-positive and "high rlsk" women should be included in feminist analyses on

sexwlity, thlrd wave writings on AIDS have attempteâ to address concems in a

"Cossman, Bell, Cotell, and Ro9,27; Giâdens, 27. la McLaren and Mdam, 140. Ann SilverMes, mFaœIt: NkGirls Do Cet NDS," Eh (Summer 1998) 95-102. more inclusive manner, and to dispel many of the myths that surround the virus.lq

As Zoë Whittall explains:

Ilre become an AIDS nerd. That's al1 1 could write in my journal. The geeky kinky sex-pos queer bi femme and well ...AIDS nerd. Did you see the movie in sixth-grade sex ed? It was about this dorky kid who thought you could catch HN from kissing. My paranoid hypochond-ria has gotten me nowhere in life... My friends and 1, we live in al1 those high risk boxes, categorized by identity and not behaviour. On the Red Cross bad list. Wonsee us, and say "Young? Queer? PooR Sex worken? That means HIV by twenty- fiw. DM you expect to live to thirty?" 1 want to ôe a Raging Granny. 1 want to have kids. 1 know HIV isnt a death sentence and that 1 could be hit by a bus tomorrow, but when it comes to disease, 1 still can't help ôelieving it.'"

Some aiird waven have sought to remove the negative stereotypes that surround the virus and those who have been diagnosed with HN. As Adams has noted, AIDS has provMed fodder for numerous consenative campaigns against "deviant" sexual acts and lifestyles, and has served to give the illness "a political context well understocxi by feminists in blamethe-victim type rnoali~ing."~~~Because of the backlash, many feminists have used the experiences of HN-positive women as a foundation for fumer inquiries into women's heaith and sexuality.

AIDS awareness has bcilitated a reneweâ interest in the medicalization of women's bodies, partkularly in removing power from physicians and placing it in the hands of women in an affinning manner. There has also been a revival of interest in

14' 14' Dailen Taylor, Dionne Fakoner and Unda Gaidner, "Wwnon the Fmt Une: AIDS Adivists in Discussbn," in Unâa Caty, ed., IhQ StUl We ~oronto:Thc Women's Press, 1993), 343-344. lQ Zd! Whiuail, "Kissing Hcr with a b# Sore," um,Vewdubkri Girl W.*but 59/60, Fall/Winbw 1997,116-117. l* May Lwise Adams, Vbgued by the New RlgM: Poliücs, Womand Aids," HWuns, Vol. 4, No. 6, (wt1986) 22. information on women's malorgans, gynecological and breast examinations, the rights of medical patients, and practical demonstrations on the use of speculums.

Women's organizations and centres have pmvided information pamphlets, guidelines, and newsletters on a myriad of women's issues and c~ncerns.~~~

Ranging from surgical operations to enhance, sculpt, or rejuvenate the vagina, to tips on body pierdng, to personal accounts of experiences with the morning after pill, al1 focused primarily on education, choice and the potenüal physical, cultural and political implications of such decisiond* Interestlngly, these exad concerns were also of fundamental importance to feminism in the late 1960s and earîy 1970s.

The third wave ferninist reactions to the AIDS virus coalexe neatly with the intentions of those early discussions.

Uke their early second wave predecessoo, many memben of the third wave have admitted bat they have only a cumry knowledge of their bodies and of how malpleasure can be attained, despite the fact that they, as a generation, grew up in the age of feminism, a seemingly more sexually-liberated wxiety, and sex education. That lack of self-knowledge, coupled with the AIDS virus, has led to a resurgent interest in the ways in which women's bodies have been dixussed and

Rguring out what's going on "down the& is on the minds of a lot of Norai American women these days. For many, it!s sot as simple as a tryst with an electrical appliance. Women report more wtual

"See AGENDW, Carkton Unhmslty's Womyn Cenûe's newsküm, and QW,mge tk &mpüons! 60th Illustrate a cwem aitiaibted in the miâ-l980r, aprrncd in Sharken JohmMm, "Help Yourdf," Herl#wrs, Vol. 4, No. 1(Jan/ Feb 1986) 39. '* Stephanie Coodwin, "Vaginal Rejuve... What? AGENO€iQr (Ottawa: Carlebon Unknisity Womyn's Ceribe -, Aprll1999). problems than men do, yet les has been figured out about how their bodies get aroused, or dont..Some wony that science may be tempted to duce the complex mystery of sexual desire - arousal and ultimately satisfaction - to mechania, requiring nothing more than a qukk tune-up at the doctor's office or an even quicker pit stop at the drug store... 147 ûespb assedons in the popular press that the majorlty of women today 'are knowledgeable about orgasms, Espots, oral wc, anal sex, the morning-after pill, bondage, s&m, and whether genital piercing enhances sexuality," many wornen have conceded that putting such information into practice has been considerably

more difficult."

Although many young women in the 1990s have been actively engaged in their punuit of semial pleasure through a variety of rnean~,~~~many third wavers

continue to struggle with an ongoing feminist dilemma: sexual orientation. The

cuvent decade has witnessed a renewed debate on "feminist heterosexuality", one

mat differs only in historical context from the "compulsory heterosexuality" debates

of the past One side of the discussion asserts the compatibility of feminism and

heterosexuality. Proponents argue that women have secured a stronger position in

sadety in recent times, one that has enabled them to take control of their sexual

'" Krista Foss, "Finding the Joy of Sex," nR Gb& andMi{ 20 Odokr 1998, A17-A18. '* Foss, 144. la Katk MoMgk, *al1 about Eve's Garden," hk (Novemkr/Deamkr 1995) 53-55; andy Filipnko, "A Stirnuhüng Business Roporltlon," Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summr 1997) 26-27; Heather Richardson, The Joy of Sa< foys,," h(wPwrr, Vol. 4, No. 2 (March 1986) 39; Brigette Sutheriand, "HmErotka: A Collage of Womcn's Vokes," -, Vol. 1, No. 8, (Nw 1983) 27-33, have al1 d(#usred the gmwing number of sucœssful kminist sex boutiques in Canada. Women-focused feminist sex stores hwe empbyed a phibsophy of satual empowement for women, and attanpt to break traditional myths sumunding sex toys and to improve mwnen's knowkdge of their own sexuel optkns by way of advice cdumns, web sites, information guW and how-to boddels. Although indicative d a m#c di- amptby woman Q puisue their sexual pleasure mmdi-, women's choiocs min sodcty minUmiteû, as %ere are süll too fcw mfbrtable and nonacgbitative vrnueswhacmnncncanbuythebookandtoys withwhich toapkrrmelrsotwlity." relationships with men.lS0 One woman dedared that she was "tired of hearing that men are the only creatures that can have a sexual encounter, pull their pants on, say thank-you and leave," and insisteâ that "choice is really what iYs aboutmd51

ûthers have been more contemplative:

Courtney : IYs intenWng the negoifaüon Hat hsto go on beh.veen hetemswualily and Women 3 Stwdies. Uke (mmI'm Mga bit priowmptuous) but I iWnk Mat mwt of th? wvrnen in Mis mm haw at mepoint biougihf %rn I ma/& hetemseixua/? anI ml& love men knowhg this?# or "On1 be a good fema/e lover and sbll be a @miniR. ntem's Mat constant nqobiat#on Mat has to go on, and uxnebimetimes I find that lt gets played out In W. Uke hrnrnrn, '7 should be doninatingN You know? Ur hmmm. ..tlls is wrong! Sb 1 just wonder how we ananmlve those negoffat4ons.

As Courtney illustrated, the notion of "sleeping with the enemy" has not dissipated, and the fear (whether real or perceived) of not participating in good "feminist sex" remains. Also significant to third wave discussions regarding heterosexuality has been the emergence of "difference" as a theoretical tool to analyze sexuality and desire between men and women. Sheila Jeffeiys and Sallie Tisdale have both noted that the institution of heterosexuality has ken founded on the ideology of

difference,lS2 and that, although "the difference is seen as natural, it is in fact a

difference of p~wer."~~~

Not surprisingly, many third wave discussions regarding heterosexual

relationships have focused on the implications of çexual acts that accentuate the

-

lm50 AKonso and JO Trîgilb, "Surfhg the Third Wave: A Dlakgue Betmen Two Third Wave Féminists," HLpst;b, Vd. 12, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 12. " Sephanie Grey, 7he Sexual Revdutbn! Lust Without bmmibnent," Caland O//Uub -ne, (23 Aüpt 1998) 5. "Qlly TMaie, f9lk Dirb to Me: An Intlfr@tePhi vof (W: A- ~OOIS~1994) 64. Sheiia kehys, m:A (New Yotk New York University Pressr 1990) 299. dynamics of power and control during sex. More than any other sexual act, fellatio has been the subject of numerous investigations, particulam/ concerning shiftlng sexual politks and gender roles. Wendy Dennis examined the idea of the "politically conect blowjob", and questioned whether kneeling during the act could be consbuecl as symbolically sub~ervlent.~" While dodging the political implications of the act itself, Dennis concluded that many women, "though disinclined to admit it, get their own erotk bua from pefiorrning the hanbmaiden role."" The results of other surveys have conc~rred.~~~Although many women have reported positive experiences of performing oral sex, othen have experienced the opposite:

Courtney :... even wiai [#y parnef] who 1% bewr wltl, /W a/most 3 years now, we go thrvugh peh'ods where Ijust canf have sew, its just not a possibili~. Just kause of something we do in Wumen's Studipc w something happens and I ieel vio/ated..&e best wrnp/e Mat I cm atink of 13 srne guy cumming in your face when you wn?suppared to be giving him oral sew. That lype of humi/iaaon Mdtfust bnings you îb He kwwt Aep of Me ladder. And then when you put yourseJf in atat ssltwon agah and you think ifs a moment of pleasure and then it a// tomes hack And 1 think Mar's why I'm constan~ynegot7ating and dmading tlMt montent when it a// cornes back to u. And I imagine Es Ote sane wiü~rape, inceist, ~enœ?k The negoüation process dexribed above - between the imrnediate desire to give or

-- - "Dennis, 162. Ls ûennis, 162. ~6 Anne Kingston, 'Maûing a Big Man knall," The /Mtibns/ (14 Deamber 1998) stated that awuda tmvads oral sa dsarîy dMde aîong peneratknal lines. Accordhg to a 1994 midy by the Social Otganizat&n of kxuality, 21.1% d mwn batmen 25 and 29 sdd gMng oral sex uvas "very appedlng" whik only 7.2% of women aged between U) and S4 fisimiiaily. Mmvei, the sady was bas& sde)y on agt?, and outside variabks (such as pstsaaial expcrlcnas) mn not applkd. " Sa alvr Sue Johnson, k km -1. But Not Per&& (Tmbo: Pavjub Bodo, 1992)lZl; More Se& (TnonbD: penOuin Books, 1996) 154-la.Both tatr have brge rcdlons an wamn's questknr and aw~cmrregardnq theh appehembn wM perfomibg Mbtk. receive sexual pleasure of a paitrcular kind and the political mindset at the moment

(whether it be feminist theory, negative sexual experiences of the past, discornfort, or embarrasment) has ken described by othen as well:

Story: 71raYs the sort of d/chotvmy that happens whn you're witt, your parnef k Mat when sometfiing tS seixualb l)lmulaCI'ng and you want ic but then duMg tlle serua/ act it Hrns gw, lke evwy- th/ng's me, and men you iMnk; and Ibn 2 /et your -...And k gets ta be vevy contüsling bibr my partrtets as Wll,&wuse /t al/ of a sudden you get inbrmat, and oten you say "stop, just stop. *And » couM be sometning Mat was Wd or sometnlng that was done to you and t Mggers and pu just want lt tu end Sb it seems mat wrnen's sema//@is just so üed up wltt, a// of me wpeniencs that ywte ha&=

The aiird wave objective has ben, to date, an atteempt to directly address and work through sexual experiences and to reconcile feminist perspectives with personal fears, pleasures and desires.

Valverde has assertd that some women who have vocally embraced the

notion of an "egalita hnheterosexuality that stresses choice and creativity," have often "fall[en] inb traditional gender roles which they experience as 'naturalt in their

own lives.lS Memben of the third wave, when dealing with issues like monogamy,

have acknowledged that contradiction in their own relationshlps: While rnany memben of the third wave have attempted to break tradltlonal notlons of sexual relations and have acknowledged the social constnidion of monogamy, a thorough analysis of serial monogamy in the 1990s has yet to be peperf~rmed.'~'The recognition that women's sexual desires have largely been shaped and affectecl by outside sources (such as religion, education, media and even, to a certain extent, feminism) has made some third wavers particularly critical of their own adherence to certain prescribed lifertyles, attitudes and activities. Awareness of the soda1 construction of sexualky, one of the valuable legacies of the second wave, has pmmpted the third wave to attempt to create new analyses which incorporate the lived contradictions of their lives into ppactical, inclusive, and empowering theoretical ferninist frameworks for the future,

Critiques of rnonogamy have led not only b reewrninations of compulsory heterosexuality and the institution of maniage, but also to inquiries about the role of men in future feminist analyses. Judy Rebick has adviowledged that the inclusion of male perspectives would make a marked diverence in the direction of the women's

~a ah~ogek (1995) ~y €go: Monogamy and ~tkrwus a Nature," 23-27; anci VO@S (1998) mQieatSm," 52-56. 16' 16' Scc Dossie €aston and Catherine Uszt, A A- ml (San Francisco: Greenery Press, 1997) for onc of the only contemporary tex& solely devoteci ta eradicating smblly-mbed rules of mmogamy. movernent:

...we need to expand Our horizons to lnclude men. In the 60s and early 70s feminlsts talked obsessively about Our relationships with men. It was Me topk of conxiowness-raising groups, and we retumed again and again to those relationships then we realized that what we wanted was to stand on our own two fed We needed to define ourselves as independent beings, not only as mothen, wives and loven. But half of humanity is male - and if we are going to tramform suciety into a more egalitarian, fairer place, we are going to need the help of rnen.lg

Amy Miller, a young feminist active in the American organization Third Wave, agrees, and commented that the third wave "has worked to continue the work of the second wave" and are now trying to "prove that 'men can do what women can do."'1a For rnany third wave feminists, the "next level of feminlst satisfaction" will be attained when both women and men eradicate traditional sex roles and begin to view gender as a broad spe~trum.'~ That recognition has translated into an concerted effort to take the input and experiences of men into account.

Third wave feminists have also actively integrated queer theoty and the

experiences of historkally marginalized sexual identities into their analyses as well,

in an attempt to expose the multitude of myais mat continue to surround

homosexuality. la One of the challenges has been to exterminate the pervasive

lm Judy Re#dt, 'Feminism and The Future," Mwwmkw's, (May 1998) 61-69,68. la Amy Richards, "On Third Wave kmkisrnHn,.yww.fmi /3wave,hhnl 13 April, 1997. Susan Sanford, Kh €Wh&, and MChemFeminism Our Style,' R& Anne, Edmonton: August 1998; Vogdr, (1998) "Guys Talk," 67-73. Thc work of Mkhiicl Kaumiann has alro ken dted by Thiid Wave ferninids as valuabk to the indurbn d men in feminlsm and the women's movement* Whelehan,lOS. A 'posüëmlnlst' ksbkn idenüty has abemcrgcd in recent ysiirs. The image pesmted bas âep&ted wamn ejecting "o# iesbian identity" in faveur of a new, sexually empowcnd and aggnsshn one. Whekhan has stated tha tfe 'new 'port-CaninW ksbisn version is, in partatkast,a reuivalda mmanüdzaüonofksbbn üentitiesdthc pre,feminirt'SOsand 'WS.~ negative archetype of lesbian identity. Adhering to the third wave mandate of recognizing divenity, young feminists have also attempteâ to make the multiplicity

of identities within lesbian culture more visible. The third wave has consistently

maintained that confronting the problems of privilege that exist in al1 communities,

"straight or gay," is paramount to a politics of inclusion, one that rquires the

members of the women's movement to "labour diligently against the spread of

oppressive belief~."~~In essence, the goal has been to present a more realistic

depiction of lesbian existence:

Women who f'all in love with women experience amazing highs, amazing joys, and sometimes, as in al1 relationships, terrifk pains. Although many know that lesbian existence is never devoid of political predkaments, few know of the bright, sbong and powerful present and future of the lesbian situation; this emergent power is central to our stniggle for sexual liberation - for the right to love whorn we please.... The common portrayal of lesbians is one of suicidal mania and manic depression. We are never portrayed as the blissfully happy gals who have just fallen in love.lQ

The key has been to increase lesbian visibility, to impmve public knowledge of lesbian existence, and to change perspectives - within the women's movement as well as outside it - in an effort to undo years of sexist and homophobic conditioning and to transform Yolerance" and tokenism of lesbians into acceptance.

Direaly linked to the resolute interest of the third wave in lesbian identities

and the adamant defense of lesbianism as an integral part of the struggle for

women's independence has kena thoroughgoing critique of identity politics within

MClkLafranœ, *Assumption: Lesbhns Are Sulddril fbnne(-shlit-wiearing Tomboys Who Caildn't Ge& the Guy," h Campbell, and Dhaliwal, 29-30. laFramt 29-30. the women's movement itself. The third wave has recognized that the mainstream feminM agenda has most often been prescribed by women in privileged positions within the movement: articulate, educated, white, and kterosexual women whose perspectives have been presented as representative of the views of women in general, with significant implications:

Most crucially, it implies that the acquisition of sexual identities is only of interest within the context of difference. When lesbianism is thus treated as 'other,' the acquisition of heterosexual identities remains unquestioned, preserving the integrity of mainstream feminist aieorizing and the illusion of heterosexuality as an unproblematlc gi~en.'~~

As more information about and writings by lesbians, women of colour, and other previously-marginalized groups of women have emerged, aiird wave feminists have attempted to inteme the divenity of Canada's racial, ethnic, and religious traditions into their writings and actkism. As well, they have demanded that the

more privileged feminists relinquish space and include the perspectives of previously

invisible (and thus unheard) groups.

The diversity and contradictions of aiird wave writings on women's wcualities

and sex activisms illustrate that their preliminary work has ken more inclusive,

cornplex, and thorough than postfeminism, and "goes beyond the reductive and

divisive label, 'pro-sex. "''69 The myriad of pmblems, issues and concerns facing

women in the 1990s alsa indicates that the aiird wave's "semial project is just

Glllbn A. Dunne, Womcn's Wok and the Pditks of &md& VomntD: uni- of Tmto Press, 1997) 226. Drdo, 105. beginnir~g."'~~As Lynn Crosbie attests, "its liberating potentlal is infinite and

inca~culable."~~Uterature wrltten by memben of both the second and aiiid waves of feminlsm has illustratecl that aiorough and inclusive examinations and analyses

women's sexwlity have always been arduous. However, the third wave has also emphasized that the creation of "socially legitimate public language in which women. ..cm directly and expliciüy express anger at the 'mundane kinds of sexism"

is both necessaty and urgent.172

In response to the diverse, often contradktory conditions surrounding

women's sexual lives in the 1990s, third wave femlnists have sought to combine

radical perspeai*ves on sexual theory with the everyday occurrences of women's

lived experiences. That has translated, to date, into a cornplex reinterpretation of

both personal and collective identities, an interrogation of the women's movement of

the past and of the current period, as well as optimistic visions for the

Mariana Valverde has noted that there have ûaditionally been two genres used by

women to talk about sex: the intellectual application of a number of abstract

theoretical frameworks to women's sexual experiences and detires, and "the

confesslona~."~~Memben of the thrrd wave value both, and have ken actively

attempting to combine the Nostrategies in a concerted effort to work through the

'liveâ messinessr of women's lives.

CIosMe, di. ln Owbic, dl. ln WWk, 46. ln Gidderrs, 30; Stmao, 238. 17' 17' VahreideI 19-20. Key to the third wave goal of expanding the feminist lexicon to account for and include "problem desires" and previously unheard perspectives on women's sexuality has ôeen a focus on dialogue. Although "straighVorward talk about sex that generates shiny Yniths' based on one's 'e~perience"'~~~is an impossibility, many memben of the third wave have emphasized the import of communication in a feminist arena where a multitude of vokes can be heard, free from moral reprimand. The lines of communication between and among the waves must deepen and expand to encourage more wornen to identify and act in their own sexual self-interest:

If sacan be regarded as a kind of theatre where subjective negotiations beONeen men and women are played out, then the choreography of sexual encounters - what counts as active and passive, whose boundaries are breached, who gives and who takes pleasure - tells us something about these negotiations... while the rituals of heterosexual sex can and often do enact the non- reciprocity of destruction that she condemns, they can also lay out disturbances and secret reciprocities in this eroUc economy.' P

Multitudes of insightful perspectives exist and have been struggling to be heard against the establisheâ occupancy and power by a privileged minority of women.

InnoMtive texb are king produced, new ideas are king formulated, and unique strategies are being developed; now what is required is a space where they can be

Third wave feminists argue that mainstream second wave works on sexwlity

'7~Vatverdet 23. " Catherine Waldby, "Desbudbn: bunday Emücs and Refiguraüons of the Hetmsxual Mak Body," In: Elizabeth Glwr and Elspeth Probyn, eds, of nmlnkm. (London: Rwtlcdge, 1995), 267. have ken incomplete, and that items in the popular press (infiuenced and minwed by postferninism) have largely dictated the current sexual debates. That has contributed to negative and inaccurate stemtypes of what constitutes a "feminist."

As Rebecca Walker has noted, ...rigid definitions of a "good feminist" entrap women as much as sexist definitions of womanhood ever did, so that for many of us it seems that to be a feminist in the way that we have seen or undentoad feminism is to conform to an Identity and way of living that doesnt allow for individuality, complexity, or less than perfect personal histories. ln

The examination of the publlc debates and intemal dlscussions on women's sexuality as they have occurred throughout the relaüvely recent history of the second and hird waves of the women's movement illustrate that much more work needs to be done.

The third wave has made a concerted effort to reconnect issues of women's sexuality to more comprehensive political analyses. They have done so, in part, to undermine the promulgation of the feminkt backlash perpetuated by postfeminism and rigM wing neosonservatism, and "to move feminism beyond the simplistic name-calling and dichotomies characteristic of the current debate."ln While memben of the women's movement have never agreed on appropriate aieories on semral ethia, the oiird wave has displayed a strong desire to reconnect "the personal" with "the political" in ternis of wamen's sexuality and sexual pl-.

However, they cannot do so alone. Reshaping the social, cultural and political forces

Rcbccca Walker, To Bc Ra-. Tmanâ aipnoina the Face of Ferininism (New York: DouMedayI 1995) #odli. '70 WIin adPay, xvi. that have influenced public debates on sexuality - including the tendency to reduce feminist perspectives to a lone stereotype - will require the dedicated cornmitment of al1 women actively engaged in the women's movement. Condusion

Cacophonous dixorci is sometimes more exhilaiaüng than stagnant silence, and the clamor of individuals stuttering more euphonious than the symphony of a master narrative.'

In the sprlng of 1999, Germaine Greer, one of Western feminism's most noted spokespems, published The Whole Woman, the book she had said she would never write: a sequel to her groundbreaking feminist text of the 1970s, The kmale Eunuch.

Presenting a hanh critique of the current state of the woments movement, Greer thrashed contemporary feminists and feminisms:

The future is female, we are ad. Ferninism has served its purpose and should now eff off. Feminism was long halr, dungarees and dangling eanlngs; postfemlnism was business suits, big hair and lipstick; pst-pst-feminism was ostentatious slutüshness and dlsorderly behaviour. We all agree that women should have equal pay for equal worû, be equal before the law, do no more housewoik than men do, spend no more time with children than men do - or do we? If the future is men and women dwelling as images of each other in a wodd unchanged, it is a nightmareO2

Greer devoted a small poiaon of her text to young women's misguided

(non)participation in the women's movement. In les than 10 pages, the feminist

icon added her perception of the latest generation of young women to a list of what

she called "false starts and blind alleys" in feminismts history.' Greer erroneously

correlated Riot Gml activism in the 1990s and the 'girlpowef of the Spice Girk, and

discarded thern as medioae facsimiles (corrupted by corporate media) of 1970s-style

-- - l siegd, 74. Gemiaine Gmr, The Whde Waman. (London: Bantan-Wl-DouMedayt 1999) 4. 'Greer, 310. rockers Vivienne Westwood and Chrissie ~ynde.* Pm-feminist, independent 'zines were mentioned with nostalgia, and Greer stated that the "fossilized rernains of the feminist fanzines" can only be found buried deep (or in an appropriated, commercial fom) in the pages of glossy fashion magazines and on te~evision.~Young women's activity on the World Wide Web was limited to one site: AustraliaS "~eekgirl.'~

Essentially, Greer negated the struggles of the third wave with her own mainstream ferninist privilege; the power to dictate feminist membenhip, the control over deciphering "good" feminism and "bad" feminlsm, and the ability to captivate a popular audience. Consequently, young femlnist attempts at activism were dismissed as a "cultural phenomenon" amounting to little more than the recydeâ work of "kinder~hores."~

Similar sentiments have been found in Canada. Prominent ferninist journalist

and social commentator Mkhele Landsberg, in a column for me Toronto Star wrote

"A Teenager for a Generation to Look Up To," in ûctober of 1999. The article was an

interesüng and innowous item on a progressive young woman, Tanya Roberts-Davis, who was earnestly involved in the eradication of child labour in Nepal. While

describing this young wornan, however, Landsberg was also guilty of dictatlng what

constitutes legitimate feminism and "proper" feminist acthrism. The writer

characterizecî Roberts-Davis and her colleagues as "Iiv[ing] outside the anxious clatter

of consumer culture," and conlrasteâ them with youths who more often capture the

'Ibid., 310. 'Greer, 315. IM., 314. attention of the mainstream media: those who party at "all-night raves) those with

"tongue-piercing," and uses of "illict drugs." With a sweeping generalization of an entire generation in her opening line, Landsberg dixounted aiird wave feminist acüvists who have been vigorously engaged in complex critiques of popular culture and consumerism. Because they do not fit the description of "clear-eyed, bright acthrist youths like Tanya RobeRs-Davis," women who work outside the realm of a prescribed definition of "activism" remain invisible?

00th Greer and Landsberg expressed (explicitîy and implicitly) their frustration with the seemingly unsympathetic and apolitical generation of wornen following in their wake. The "parent generation," which Greer labels herself and her conternporaries, has not recognized that a younger, activist, and unrnistakably feminist generation of women has emerged in ment years. For Greer and her colleagues, the third wave does not exist. Greer assettecl that women at the

millennium are in crisis, and expressed her distress over the prevalence of apathy in

contemporary feminism. Greer declares that "it's time to get angry again."1° But

third wave feminists areangry. And vocal. And active. The problem, as Boa DRuelle

suggests, is that no one has been listening:

But we do not talk.

Oh. No. I think this is an adult le. We talk, in Our cornmunitie~~ dialects, patois, rhythms, languages, music, spoken words, steps, hiphop, signs, zines, rants and ways. 'IMd., 310. 'Mkheie La-, "A T- for a Cmrotkn O Lodr Up To," Ina TmtoS2ac cdumn. (17 1999) AZ. Landsberg, A28 'O Greer, 3. We talk, we yell ...we ewn blte.l1 Few have recognized the fernlnist activism of the younger generation. Even fewer have acknowledged the existence of the third wave as a legitirnate part of the women's movement. While not arising out of an easily-identifiable, mass-based, social acthrist movement, this new generation of wornen has been striving to redefine, reform and change the very nature of feminism itself and to articulate their own strategies for change. The challenge of visibility - to be recognized and perceivd as an integral part of the women's movement by their feminist predecesson - has been only one of the generation's many concems. Thkd wave feminists grew up in an environment strikingly different from their predecessors. In many ways, they are "the daughten of feminism": they were the first generation of women able to benefit directly from the ammplishments of the women's movement, many of which were achieved

before they were bom. With feminism as their birairight, the rnemben of the third wave grew up with a sense of entitlement. Accessible and reliaMe birth control,

legalized abortions, and sex educaaon were rights taken for granted, not battles to be

fought. However, their realities have aka been shaped by a multitude of new

concems: neo-conservatisrn, individualist ideology, AIDS, date tape drugs, technologkal advancements, increased commerdalism, postkminism, and the spread

" Boa d'Rudk, The Longest Days The Most Ignoreci The Cupboards Tw High The Adults Too Namm," Fimweeû, 'Revdution Girl Style," Issue 59/80 (FalWinter 1997) 120-122. of pop culture inflwn~es.'~The world has changed immensely in the last quarter- century, and the third wave has inherited a complex soda1 environment, an increasingly compticated women's movement, and an unfinished sexual revolution.

Acknowledging that the accomplishments of the women's movement in the past thirty yean have been astounding, the third wave has affimied that many of the concems facing women in the 1990s rnirror those of the past. Reliable, accessible information on women's bodies remains unavailable and "the good girllbad girl distinction süll applies to some degree, as does the ethic of male conquest."13 Over the years, new rules have replaced the old, but myths surrounding women's bodies remain, homophobia penists, the intricate aspects of women's sexuality remain unanalyzed, and language has not sufficiently expandeâ to name and articulate the complexities of women's experknces. Perhaps the third wave's ardent interest in body potitics has contributed to their invisibility. Charges by the second wave that younger women are "reinventing the wheel" have been rampant, and have led many to believe that there is "nothing new" about third wave approached4

The strategies adopted, attempteâ, andior theorized by the third wave have

not ken naïve. One of the disünguishing features of feminism has been the synergy

of the personal and the political, the connedon beWeen women's personal

experience and the polithl context within which it is organized.lS In its early days,

memben of the women's liberation movement bok great piide in "listening to each woman's experience and respecting her de~isions."~~Members of the aiird wave have recognized that, as Imelda Whelehan has suggested, "the legacy of radical feminist politics provider, perhaps, the sbongest potential for both defense and counter-attackad7 Third wave feminists have asserted that a return to the tradition, of thoroughly blending personal experience with the political has becorne necessary again. Discussions of this sort have already been taking place in small groups,'' but there is both a need and a desire among feminists to thoroughly dixuss concepts of oppression, power, and privilege both in society and within the movement itself.

Effective dialogue bebueen and among feminism's diverse groups of women has never been a simple task. Intergenerational dialogue has proven to be an even tougher challenge. Successful discussions between feminism's generations must begin with an acceptance of discordant experiences and opinions, and must be based on mutual respect. Consequently, mernbers of the second wave must recognize their privileged positions wiaiin the movement, and relinquish both space and power to thek successon. Accordingly, aiird wave feminists need to transform the defiance of their forernothers into potent resistance to women's oppression in society. Power structures within the women's movement must be addressed, and women of al1 ages must leam how to effectively listen to and lem frorn each other's experiences and perspectives. Intergenerational dialogues must be conducteci with a strong, shared objective. Threats to contemporary feminism have been aggressive

-- - -- l5 Cerrildlne Finn, Introduàkn, (Hal* Femwood PubIWIing, 1993) 12. l6 hanna Dean, "Mothcn Are Wm,"in Finn (1993), 31. l7 Whdchan, 241. and insidious. The public dernonstation of a strong woments movement, one whlch supports aie interests of women of al1 sexual orientations, ages, coloun, ethnicities, abllibies, educaüon, and economic backgrounds, has becorne an important and immediate endeavor.

Janet Ellerby and Barbara Waxman have discussed the effectiveness of dialogue in terms of theoretical collaborations among feminist academics. Their

insights are applicable to a variety of feminist conversaUons, and are particularly

relevant to discussions between the waves. They argue that:

We need the more daring products of pioneering feminist teams. Collaborative feminism leads to new tniths that can fire Our collective imaginations and prepare us for a social arena where the communal values of feminism are in jeopardy and need our earnest defen~e.'~

The ongoing feminist challenges to the status quo, which has oppressed and

constrained woments identities and vokes in recent yean (particularly neo-

conservatism and postfeminist ideology), have created the necessity for more radical,

grassmts approaches. Dialogue stands as one such Strategy. Many members of the

third wave agree, and actlvely promote discussions between the waves, stating that

the warnings, refiecüons, and experiences of "those who have already suffered with

the dilemmas we face" will not only improve sdidarity among feminists, but may also

provide solid guidelines for the movement to follow in the fWremM

l8 Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, "In Womcn's Gmps, Back to 'Clil Talk;" MW York Ti(11 April 1999). l9 Janet Elkiby and Barbara Waxman, "Cdbhbkn + Hmlnirm = Ncw Voices, New Tniths, New Dkcoucses," l4+bmmfWB: An Inlk?mW@imtyAwnw/IVd. 26, No. 2 (1997), 220. " Drakt, 101. The decade preceding the millennium has experienced persistent calls for a re- evaluation of the last aiirty years of feminism. At present, as Coppock, Haydon and

Richkr have noteâ, "feminism Is leaming to rec0nstitut.e itself as a social force that takes account of women's differences rooted in experiential identitie~."~'The time has corne, strategically, for feminists to re-examine both the accomplishments and setbacks that have occurred over time. That will require in-depth investigations of the challenges hcing contemporaty feminism: those of prhrilege, participation and control. Sbonger bonds of communication between and among femlnismS waves will not only increase feminist solidarity, but may also assist In the eradication of feminist archetypes, dispel myths of the women's movement's demise, and create new strategies that will advance the promotion of women's rights into the Wenty-fint century.

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