#Intersectionality: T e Fourth Wave Feminist Twitter Community Intersectionality, is the marrow within the bones of fem- Tegan Zimmerman (PhD, Comparative Literature, inism. Without it, feminism will fracture even further – University of Alberta) is an Assistant Professor of En- Roxane Gay (2013) glish/Creative Writing and Women’s Studies at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. A recent Visiting Fel- This article analyzes the term “intersectional- low in the Centre for Contemporary Women’s Writing ity” as defined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (1989, and the Institute of Modern Languages Research at the 1991) in relation to the digital turn and, in doing so, University of London, Zimmerman specializes in con- considers how this concept is being employed by fourth temporary women’s historical fiction and contempo- wave feminists on Twitter. Presently, little scholarship rary gender theory. Her book Matria Redux: Caribbean has been devoted to fourth wave feminism and its en- Women’s Historical Fiction, forthcoming from North- gagement with intersectionality; however, some notable western University Press, examines the concepts of ma- critics include Kira Cochrane, Michelle Goldberg, Mik- ternal history and maternal genealogy. ki Kendall, Ealasaid Munro, Lola Okolosie, and Roop- ika Risam.1 Intersectionality, with its consideration of Abstract class, race, age, ability, sexuality, and gender as inter- This article analyzes the term “intersectionality” as de- secting loci of discriminations or privileges, is now the fined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in relation to the overriding principle among today’s feminists, manifest digital turn: it argues that intersectionality is the dom- by theorizing tweets and hashtags on Twitter. Because inant framework being employed by fourth wave fem- fourth wave feminism, more so than previous feminist inists and that is most apparent on social media, espe- movements, focuses on and takes up online technolo- cially on Twitter. gy, social media outlets like Twitter provide an unprec- edented means for solidarity and activism; moreover, Résumé tweets can reach not only hundreds, but also tens of Cet article analyse le terme « intersectionnalité » tel que thousands, of people in a single moment (for example, défini par Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw en liaison avec #BringBackOurGirls and #fem2). This analysis refer- le virage numérique : il affirme que l’intersectionnalité ences such broader examples as a means to contextual- est le cadre dominant employé par les féministes de la ize the fourth wave, but for practical purposes is mostly quatrième vague et que cela est surtout évident sur les concerned with the hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewom- réseaux sociaux, en particulier sur Twitter. en. The popularity and polarizing effect of this hashtag underscores the feminist need for an online platform like Twitter because it serves as an instigative, activist tool amenable to intersectionality. Adopting intersec- tional feminism as my methodology, I argue that the fourth wave is characterized by an intersectional fem- inist framework, exemplified when analyzing the dis- courses on racism, feminism, and online representation presently taking place in the Twitter community. Supplementing the lacuna in scholarship, in what follows, I provide a much needed genealogy and trajectory of fourth wave feminism, which situates the Atlantis 38.1, 2017 54 www.msvu.ca/atlantis movement in relation to the first, second, and third vak 1999; Mohanty 1988, 2002). Second wave feminist waves. Fourth wave feminism, the foundation of which concepts, such as woman, oppression, and patriarchy,3 is laid by the works I outline in the first section, fights were perceived as problematically universalizing and oppression like racism and sexism via an intersectional essentializing. Distancing itself generationally from the feminist lens that 1) considers social media (e.g., Twit- second wave (see Walker 1992), the movement radi- ter) an indispensable and essential tool and 2) strong- cally challenged binary, hierarchal positions as cultur- ly resists separating the offline from the online. Taking ally constructed; for instance, the categories and con- into account both race and gender as identity markers, structions of sex and gender. The reconceptualization the second section considers Crenshaw’s work over the of sex and gender (including discourses on queerness last two and a half decades and develops a definition of and transgenderism), a decolonizing of feminism (call- intersectionality that is suitable for the fourth wave. In ing for heterogeneity and a politics/complexification the third section, which makes up the majority of this of location), and a reclaiming of femininity and beauty article, I offer a detailed analysis of how the aforemen- culture in the name of girl power or girlie feminism be- tioned hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewomen, by propa- came key attributes of the third wave (Knappe and Lang gating meaningful and necessary critical dialogues on 2014, 364). Additionally, early theorizations, particu- race, feminism, and online representation, evidences larly Donna Haraway’s (1986) groundbreaking work on that intersectionality is the political impetus and theo- the cyborg, launched a robust feminist inquiry into dig- retical framework employed by fourth wave feminists. ital culture, cyberliterature, and cyberworlds.4 Contrary to studies that trace the origin of the A Genealogy of the Fourth Wave movement to 2008 (Baumgardner 2011, 250; Phil- While many scholars, such as Judith Roof lips and Cree 2014, 938), the fourth wave in fact com- (1997), do not like a simplification of feminism into menced with the new millennium (see Kaplan 2003; waves, this delineation proves useful when situat- Peay 2005; Daum 2006). Defined in relation to the 2001 ing the fourth wave in North American and British terrorist attacks on the United States, psychothera- feminism.2 Typically, the first wave fell between 1840 pist and activist Kathlyn Schaaf, for example, began or- and 1920 (Phillips and Cree 2014, 936) and focused ganizing women on her website Gather the Women as a on women’s suffragism, legal rights (marriage, prop- call for world peace. Shaaf’s website on 9-11 prompted erty), and political representation. The movement journalist Pythia Peay (2005) to claim, “the long-await- gained public momentum via speaking, demonstra- ed ‘fourth wave’ of feminism [is]—a fusion of spiritu- tions, militant protests, and incarcerations. The sec- ality and social justice reminiscent of the American ond wave, meanwhile, began roughly in the 1960s civil rights movement and Gandhi’s call for nonviolent and centered on egalitarianism and activism related change” (59). The term, however, did not reach a main- to 1) sexuality and reproductive rights; 2) wages, ed- stream audience until 2008. In “The Feminist Reawak- ucation, jobs, and domesticity; and 3) visibility in art, ening: Hillary Clinton and the Fourth Wave,” Amanda history, science, and other disciplines. In all three ar- Fortini (2008), a leading journalist, brought acute sex- eas, “The personal is political,” became an important ism and gender-centric issues to the forefront (42). The message for collective consciousness raising (Phillips pernicious sexism Hillary Clinton experienced during and Cree 2014, 937). Unlike the first wave, which was her campaign to be the Democrat’s candidate in the US predominantly fought by and for middle-class white presidential bid, Fortini argues, (re)politicized many women, the second wave crossed over into other women and created a new anti-postfeminist collective identity markers and political demarcations, such as consciousness (43).5 At this time, online representation race, class, and sexuality, but arguably continued to and digital technology as the organizing and conscious- marginalize these voices. ness raising tool of the fourth wave feminist movement Confronting this marginalization head on, the replaced 9-11-centric discussions.6 third wave began in the 1980s with postmodern, cyber, Surprisingly, between the years 2008 and 2013, anticolonial/postcolonial, and transnational perspec- the movement gathered scant attention in academic tives (see, for example, hooks 1990; Haraway 1991; Spi- and popular publications. Still in its early development, Atlantis 38.1, 2017 55 www.msvu.ca/atlantis scholars were quick to identify feminism online, but the fourth wave is “defined by technology: tools that were reluctant to articulate exactly what the role of the are allowing women to build a strong, popular, reactive internet and other digital technologies was, as Deborah movement online” (n.p.); and, today, one would be hard Solomon (2009)’s interview with Jessica Valenti, co- pressed to find a scholar who did not believe that so- founder with Vanessa Valenti of the most widely read cial media, used as a public forum, is the defining fea- feminist publication at the time Feministing.com, dem- ture of the new wave. Beginning with Cochrane’s ideas, onstrates. Consider Solomon surmising: “Maybe we’re written on the cusp of 2014, the movement has since onto the fourth wave now” and Valenti’s casual reply gained momentum. Like Cochrane, current scholarship “Maybe the fourth wave is online” (n.p.). This skepti- suggests the fourth wave is accomplished in part by a cal attitude is also reflected in cultural critic Jennifer return to the street. That is, more so than the third wave, Baumgardner’s (2011) final chapter in F’em! Goo Goo, the fourth wave is energized