Oh, I'm sure the media coverage definitely had a lot to do with it. But I do find it interesting that Rich and Dworkin, especially, form a lot of the core material in many women studies classes even now. At least they did when I was taking them. I remember one of my term papers was on how the conventional wisdom that porn is necessarily bad was wrong. (I pointed out that mainstream, non-porn sexualization of women has done far more to turn women into sex objects than stuff like, say, amateur hardcore with couples filming themselves in their basements.)
I suppose "traditional feminism" is probably a misnomer anyway, though. I don't think it can be said that there's ever really been a unified feminist voice, in any of the waves. Even the suffragists disagreed on philosophy. (Which reminds me: Iron Jawed Angels is a great movie.)
I guess my version of traditional... wrong word, but... is probably the stuff that sparked me when I was a kid. I don't recall specific voices at the time, I just remember hearing a lot about the ERA, and a lot of rot from Phyllis Schlafly about how we were going to get stuck with unisex restrooms and other silly stuff. My dad was the primary filter for me at the time, and the big message I got was that girls could do anything boys could do and men were pigs. Thanks, Dad. :) (Seriously. There are things my dad taught me that I disagree with now, but I really love him for encouraging me to be strong, even as my mom was trying to get me to wear dresses and be rather less vulgar.)
I didn't start hearing specifics in terms of theory and perspective until I realized I was queer about 12, and started in on gender-related writings from that angle. Amusingly, one of my first books in that direction was Our Bodies, Ourselves, the 1973 edition (still sitting on my shelf, actually.) My mother had gotten it from a co-worker who recommended it as a good book for sex education. I don't think my mom knew what was actually in it, though, especially considering the other book she presented me with at the time (donated from an entirely different co-worker) was a 1965 edition of the workbook from the "Sears School for Young Charmers." Add in all the teen rags and the issues of Cosmo I started buying around that time, and I'm sure you can imagine how confused I was. ;)
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the generation just behind me came away with such a warped view of things. I was growing up right in the thick of the movement, but by the time all those Reagan-era babies started being born, the ERA had been defeated, the socialist angles of feminism were being derided as un-American, and female power became embodied by becoming part of the captialist machine, or emulating the women on Dynasty. The more grassroots stuff was just considered hopelessly out of fashion as soon as denim gave way to polyester. I feel lucky that I was steeped in as much of it as I was, considering how anachronistic it was characterized as later. I also feel lucky that the third wave, and the older women who energized it, started up right around the time I was starting college. I remember reading Backlash and The Beauty Myth and getting really excited. But then the Backlash backlash started, and the third wave splintered, and Katie Roiphe started whining, and it was kinda all downhill from there.
I'd like to think that maybe the Clinton-era kids will become something of a 4th wave (they do seem pretty smart) but I'm afraid we're going to have a lot of infighting that's going to limit what the movement as a whole can do for the forseeable future. Maybe there will be another seminal work that sparks some unity, but for now, it does seem like there's no getting past the girl power crowd, and merely calling oneself a feminist, traditional or no, isn't quite enough to explain what it is one really stands for.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2005-07-25 05:24 pm (UTC)I suppose "traditional feminism" is probably a misnomer anyway, though. I don't think it can be said that there's ever really been a unified feminist voice, in any of the waves. Even the suffragists disagreed on philosophy. (Which reminds me: Iron Jawed Angels is a great movie.)
I guess my version of traditional... wrong word, but... is probably the stuff that sparked me when I was a kid. I don't recall specific voices at the time, I just remember hearing a lot about the ERA, and a lot of rot from Phyllis Schlafly about how we were going to get stuck with unisex restrooms and other silly stuff. My dad was the primary filter for me at the time, and the big message I got was that girls could do anything boys could do and men were pigs. Thanks, Dad. :) (Seriously. There are things my dad taught me that I disagree with now, but I really love him for encouraging me to be strong, even as my mom was trying to get me to wear dresses and be rather less vulgar.)
I didn't start hearing specifics in terms of theory and perspective until I realized I was queer about 12, and started in on gender-related writings from that angle. Amusingly, one of my first books in that direction was Our Bodies, Ourselves, the 1973 edition (still sitting on my shelf, actually.) My mother had gotten it from a co-worker who recommended it as a good book for sex education. I don't think my mom knew what was actually in it, though, especially considering the other book she presented me with at the time (donated from an entirely different co-worker) was a 1965 edition of the workbook from the "Sears School for Young Charmers." Add in all the teen rags and the issues of Cosmo I started buying around that time, and I'm sure you can imagine how confused I was. ;)
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the generation just behind me came away with such a warped view of things. I was growing up right in the thick of the movement, but by the time all those Reagan-era babies started being born, the ERA had been defeated, the socialist angles of feminism were being derided as un-American, and female power became embodied by becoming part of the captialist machine, or emulating the women on Dynasty. The more grassroots stuff was just considered hopelessly out of fashion as soon as denim gave way to polyester. I feel lucky that I was steeped in as much of it as I was, considering how anachronistic it was characterized as later. I also feel lucky that the third wave, and the older women who energized it, started up right around the time I was starting college. I remember reading Backlash and The Beauty Myth and getting really excited. But then the Backlash backlash started, and the third wave splintered, and Katie Roiphe started whining, and it was kinda all downhill from there.
I'd like to think that maybe the Clinton-era kids will become something of a 4th wave (they do seem pretty smart) but I'm afraid we're going to have a lot of infighting that's going to limit what the movement as a whole can do for the forseeable future. Maybe there will be another seminal work that sparks some unity, but for now, it does seem like there's no getting past the girl power crowd, and merely calling oneself a feminist, traditional or no, isn't quite enough to explain what it is one really stands for.