What Is Third‐Wave Feminism? A New Directions Essay

While third-wave feminists do not have an entirely different set of issues or solutions to long-standing dilemmas, the movement does constitute, more than simply a rebellion against second-wave mothers. What really differentiates the third wave from the second is the tactical approach it offers to some of the impasses that developed within feminist theory in the 1980s. Third-wave feminism continues the efforts of second-wave feminism to create conditions of freedom, equality, justice, and self-actualization for all people by focusing on gender-related issues in particular, even as it offers a different set of tactics for achieving those goals. Here, Snyder explores a wide array of popular and academic literature on third-wave feminism in an attempt to make sense of a movement that on its face may seem life a confusing hodgepodge of personal anecdotes and individualistic claims.