Feminism Essay Research Paper Feminism was a

Feminism Essay, Research Paper

Feminism was a very political movement during its first and second waves. Thenew Third Wave of feminism is quite different from the previous two. These threefeminist writers all shed light on the views of modern feminists. Katie Roiphe hascontributed to the New York Times Magazine and Playboy. She has also published twobooks, The Mourning After: Sex, Fear, and Feminism on Campus, and more recently,Last Night in Paradise: Sex and Morals at the Century s End. Roiphe s essay TheIndependent Woman (and Other Lies) tells how second wave feminism is effecting herlife as a third wave feminist. One of her colleagues is Yvonne Abraham. She is a staffwriter at the Boston Phoenix, where she covers city politics, race, and most anything else. Abraham s essay, Lipstick Liberation, is more focused on what is wrong with the thirdwave of feminism from a second wave feminist s view. The third feminist writer isChristina Hoff Sommers. She is an associate professor of philosophy at Clark Universitywho specializes in contemporary moral theory. Sommers articles have appeared inseveral publications including the New Republic, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune,and the New England Journal of Medicine. She has edited two ethics textbooks, andpublished numerous professional papers. Sommers is a second wave feminist, but in heressay, she criticizes second wave feminism. The three waves of feminism must now be explained for the reader to get a fullunderstanding of what these women are trying to say. The first wave of feminism washighly political. It involved the grouping together of many women in this country to fightfor women s suffrage (the right to vote). This movement first got women activelyinvolved in politics. The second wave of feminism, unlike the first, had more than one objective. Second wave feminists wanted equality in everything. They argued that men and womenwere equal in everything, and should be treated this way. This meant equality in the workplace, at home, and in the eyes of the government. However, although second wavefeminists have made many advances in women s rights, all their goals were notaccomplished. Men still get paid more and hold a majority of lucrative and governmentpositions. The third wave of feminism is completely different from the first two. No, or verylittle politics are involved here. A third wave feminist concentrates more on herself, andhow she feels. Third wave feminists write about how they feel, and why second wavefeminism has made it practically impossible for a third wave feminist to have everythingshe wants in life. Second wave feminism has forced all third wave feminists to becompletely independent, even if they wish otherwise. Kathie Roiphe is herself a third wave feminist. She criticizes her mother, AnneRoiphe, and the rest of her mother s generation. Her mother is a second wave feministwho taught total independence at the expense of marriage. Abraham, however, does notagree with Kathie Roiphe. Abraham is chronologically a third wave feminist. She, unlikeKathie Roiphe, agrees with the second wave feminists. She argues that today s popularbrand of feminism focuses on too much individualism, and not enough on politics andwomen s problems as a whole. Sommers is a different story altogether. She is a secondwave feminist who is condemning other second wave feminist for the lies they spread withinaccurate and incomplete data. She believes that political activism is important, but not ifit is based on lies. To put it simply, Kathie Roiphe is confused. Her mother, Anne Roiphe was a veryprominent leader of the second wave of feminism. She was raised in a very liberal feministhousehold, yet her parents were not truly equal. Kathie s father was the breadwinner ofthe house. He got up and went to work everyday, and it was he that paid for all of thefamily s necessities. This, Kathie believes, means that her parents were not really equal,nomatter what her mother said, taught, or believed. Even though Kathie Roiphe is herselfa successful writer, she says that when she thinks about marriage, she says somewheredeep in the irrational layers of my psyche, I still think of the man as the breadwinner (Roiphe 127). She says that she feels as though she is working for fulfillment, for reward, for the richness of life promised by feminism. What she means by this is thatthe second wave feminist have put an image of how every woman should be totallyindependent in the public s mind. Therefore even if it is not what they want, third wavefeminist almost are forced to try to live up to this image. At the same time, this is and is not what Roiphe wants for herself. She is acompletely independent women, and she says that she wouldn t dream of giving up hercareer. However, she dreams of a Man in a Gray Flannel Suit (Roiphe 127). Thisfantasy of her s comes from a book written by Sloan Wilson entitled The Man in the GrayFlannel Suit. Roiphe wishes for someone who can support her, even though she does notneed to be supported. She does not want to have to worry about such things as bills andcar payments. She wants a man to go to work everyday and bring home the money andworry about the bills himself. Roiphe does realize that she cannot have it both ways

though. She knows she cannot have everything she wants. Therefore, Roiphe decides tocontinue to date men who aren t terribly rich, and don t pay for dates and buy herexpensive dresses and such. In real life,