The recent class discussions on the different types of feminism, with information from the Tong readings, were really helpful in understanding the feminist movement as a whole. It’s easy to stereotype the feminist movement and place it into a category of angry women who hate men. But there are really so many different varieties of feminist thought, each of which add on to each other and make the movement richer.
There were of course the separatist feminists, who seem to be the source behind the “man-hating feminazi” label. But what I thought was interesting was the different feminists, Simone de Beauvoir among them, who claim that women should be more like men in order to be more equal, and relinquish their feminine qualities. I can’t say I necessarily agree with that, but it seems like that falls in line more with the beginnings of the feminist movement, like liberal feminism. Third Wave feminism, though criticized for being a little too vague, really seems to be the most modern, every-day type of feminism you can find among young women and it’s a very accessible type of feminism. Like Jessica Valenti, I would classify most girls and young women as Third Wave feminists, even if they don’t quite recognize it – being for reproductive rights, anti-sexist and pro-gender equality.
Personally, it’s hard to choose just one particular type of feminism to classify my beliefs into. I feel like I, and many women, could fall into any number of the categories. I think it’ll be interesting to see new waves of the feminist movement crop up in the future, and to see how they change as society’s norms change.
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