- Introduce the overall aim and argument that you are going to make
- Establish your first main critical approach (I would suggest Gender as Performance by Butler, but . . . )
- Develop this approach by using key words, phrases and quotation (Mulvey, Kilbourne, Moi, Wander, Wollstonescraft, Woolf, de Beauvoir, Van Zoonen, Dollimore, Woolf, Levy)
- Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
- Show some historical knowledge about societal changes
- Establish a secondary theme or idea that you wish to raise (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th wave feminism, Raunch Culture, Queer Theory, Intersectionality)
- Develop this approach by using key words, phrases and quotation
- Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
- Show some historical knowledge about societal changes
- Establish a contradictory argument that shows your ability to think and engage
- Develop this approach by using key words, phrases and quotation
- Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
- Apply your theoretical ideas to either or both of the set CSP’s
- Summarise your main arguments
- Ensure you have a summative, final sentence / short paragraph
Daily Archives: December 10, 2021
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Judith Butler describes gender as “ an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts ”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance
How useful is this idea in understanding gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns?
Most people believe gender is distinguished as just male and female however Butler says that it is played out and sometimes that causes misrepresentation like in the score advert women are sexualised and objectified however in the maybelline “boss up” advert there is a variety of identities. Butler is a gender theorist and says that gender is a performance where everyone is performing their own gender and that it’s a fluid of identity which David Gauntlett coined for his own. The use of identity isn’t based upon gender and I am going to discuss the representation of gender and identity in the Score and Maybelline adverts.
In contrast to Butler, Laura Mulvey identifies the sexualisation of femininity and female characters compared to the male character that we identify with due to the lack of sexualisation and the addition of development and characteristics shown to deepen their character, in a lot of games and movies, Mulvey stated female characters are forced to identity with passive objects to be looked at and desired compared to men’s representation which is more focussed on how the characters body language reinforces the features they have- e.g. an assassin moving sneakily. She also has the idea that the majority of movie directors, game developers, big artists and key people in the media are men therefore we view media in a mans view hence the male gaze, an example would be in a film panning the camera on a sexualised female scene or in a media game exaggerations of female body parts overlooking how they’re actually meant to walk to show more depth to the character. This doesn’t mean male characters can’t be sexualised either- there’s just a stronger amount of female sexualisation- someone replaced popular oversexualised female poses with a boy doing it but that would still be viewing it in the male gaze. The male gaze supports the idea that a sexualised way of looking empowers men and sexualised women.
The Score hair cream advert is an historical artefact from 1967, as such it can be examined productively by considering its historical, social and cultural contexts, particularly as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. 1967 can be seen as a period of slow transformation in western cultures with legislation about and changing attitudes to the role of women and men in society, something that the advert can be seen to negotiate. The first wave of feminism can be described with a quotation ‘ sexism was coined by analogy with the term racism in the American civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Defined simply, sexism refers to the systematic in which men and women are brought up to view each other antagonistically, on the assumption that the male is always superior to the female. The Score advert can be similarly linked to this idea because we can see a total of five female figures holding up the male figure giving us the assumption that the male is superior to the females.
In addition, the idea of fluidity of identity by Gauntlett Fluid of identity is having the choice to change the way you come across however you like. If you don’t want to look a certain way, fluidity of identity creates the meaning of being able to change that and change how you perceive yourself as a person. Not only that Fluid of identity also means having the fluidity to change the way you act to something favoured or to something which can be categorised as normal. Fluid of Identity is the freedom to change who you are as a person from how you look to how you act if you prefer to-do that.. For instance, gender is fluid, you can have the choice who to identify as. This supports Butler’s theory, who quotes “ Biological anatomies do not determine our gender”. She concludes that masculinity and femininity are not naturally given states, but instead are maintained by individuals through everyday acts meaning that an individual is not born neither male nor female, however your gender defines you through your actions everyday. Gauntlett commented on the changing of representation of men and women in mainstream media. For example the depiction of the passive housewife throughout the twentieth century was being increasingly replaced by images of assertive women taking control of their lives, epitomised by the “girl power” endorsed by the Spice Girls. The representation of men being active and confident was giving way to a more introspective and emotionally aware version of masculinity. Despite the old binary representations still finding their way to the front covers of magazines, now there is a “great diversity of identities”. In this way, we do not always have a fixed identity because we are willing to adapt to new cultural norms.
This theory is not implied in the score advert, however it can be seen in the more contemporary modern advert from Maybelline, this is because in the Maybelline “boss up” advert we can assume the representation of the female gender has adapted over time, we can make this assumption due to the reason that the gender roles are are suggested to be more equal. Within the advert you can see a homosexual male celebrity with what is thought to be feminine characteristics, also in the advert there is also a female character who is depicted up feel like a “boss” after using the product, this is found towards the end of the advert. This can dispute the idea that there are fixed gender roles and the historical idea that men are superior to women. The theory of raunch culture is also demonstrated in this advert due because the female character is not being sexualised in any way within the advert. “Raunch culture is the sexualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as high sexually available.
The maybelline advert is seen to demonstrate the third and fourth wave of feminism. Third wave feminism was coined by Naomi Wolf as a response to the generation gap between the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s, challenging and re-contextualsing some of the definitions of femininity that grew out. It saw women’s lives as intersectional and demonstrated a pluralism towards race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender and nationality when discussing feminism. It can be described as the ‘rebellion of younger women against what was perceived as the prescriptive, pushy and ‘sex negative’ approach of older feminists. This concept is demonstrated by the Maybelline advert because of the female representation within the advertisement is not being sexualised or objectified in any way meaning that she opposes the stereotype of what the first wave of feminism suggests what it means to be a ‘female’.
In conclusion, I believe that Butler’s description of gender as “ an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts ” helps people to comprehend how gender is represented to a more clear extent in the Maybelline advert in comparison to the score advert due to the fact that the score hair cream advert opposes the idea that gender is not determined by biological genders.
CSP 3 + 4 Essay
Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance.
How useful is this idea in understanding gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns?
Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. This can link to the advertisement of Maybelline and Score. Identity is the the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Identity comes in four forms such as fluidity, constructed, negotiated and collective identity. Fluidity of identity is the idea that people can change themselves through their appearance, their actions and the world. Constructed identity is the development of a complex process in which humans and people develop a clear sight of themselves and have a specific view on themselves. Negotiated identity is the process that people agree and perceive you as, and identify ‘who is who’ is their relationships. Lastly, collective identity is the sense of belonging to a group, having the same interests as the peers around you, however it does not mean you and another person are the same. They share the same ideas. These forms of identity were first proposed by David Gauntlet, which can link to Judith’s idea of identity performance. The reason for this is the element that connects both fluidity of identity to gender performance, thus via the concept that a persons identity / gender can be altered by the way a person pursue themselves.
Firstly, the quote “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”, demonstrates that the idea of men’s identification is due to their masculine repetitive actions such as sitting with their legs spread out or as it is called ‘man spreading’, where as, women cross their legs in a feminine, submissive manner. As well as, our physical appearance also contributes to our identity and our repetitive acts by the way each of us ‘do things’, women shave and men typically don’t, women dress with pink, purples and nude colour clothing where as men’s clothing is typically whites, blacks, blues, reds and greens. This is because we have constructed and built colours, products and objects to be aimed and specified for genders. Butler gives the sense that we live in a fabricated world, where everything is constructed and one thing is one thing, men are men, women are women.
Furthermore, the Maybelline advertisement have always presented their adverts through glamorous women and sexualised facial expressions since 1999, however this multimillion dollar global eyeliner company released a video advert on 30th May 2017, called ‘That Boss Life Pt 1’. The company decided to go out of the norm and have a male influencer, known as Manny Gutierrez Jr, who is part of the LGBTQQIAAP community, as well as the female influencer known as Shayla Mitchell as their presenters, both in which wore the eyeliner, in a way to make a statement, that men too can wear makeup if they want to, its a choice each of us have. As well, the video presents the idea that to show your true self, you don’t require hundreds of pounds to ‘perform’ your identity. Additionally, convincing the audience that they must perform to figure out who they are. This supports Judith Butlers work on gender performance because Maybelline have started to realise that the traditions of constructed identity is starting to fade. Maybelline knows that makeup is starting to shift from just a females use, to a neutral choice. Ideas globally are starting to see that there is no abnormal choice if a male decides to wear makeup. For example, Johnny Depp is a straight man, however he wears eyeliner, clearly stating there should be no constructed idea on clothes, cosmetic products and peoples actions to determine their gender.
In addition, we see the idea represented in the score printed advert “Score liquid hair groom” made in 1967, displays a recently shaven man who is being praised by five different women, who have been sexualised to be a submissive of the dominant signifier. The advert is manipulated to be desired as men wouldn’t be able to resist the sexualised appearance of the females in this advert, giving a sense of what the males can potentially ‘get’, these persuasive techniques of temptation of women gives men the curiosity of buying the product. The audiences opinion of this advert has changed due to the change in society and the way society views ideas. In 1967, when this advert was made, it was deemed normal for women to show skin and be the less dominant gender, and black men and women to not be in advertisement, however over the last few years, the change in society, diversity and the popular ideas have changed the way products are advertised. This is due to the recognition and understanding of sexism, racism and homophobia. The representational idea of different social groups in this photograph, is the idea that men are the dominant gender and women follow masculinity. As well, the idea of this product advertisement is to encourage men to purchase the product for the opportunity to have a swarm of women admiring them. Moreover, this male liquid hair groom links in to the idea of Judith’s Butlers quote “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts” because the product is advertised and displayed for men’s use, typically expressing that women do not use shaving cream. However, women also use men’s products and proves that it is not solely a males action.
Overall, Maybelline and Score are both linked to Judith Butlers description of gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”, by the way these companies advertise their products, targeting at specific audiences such as men or women.
csp 3&4 essay
Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance.
How useful is this idea in understanding gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns?
This essay will be a discussion and evaluation of theorists and their supporting ideas about gender. How they are relevant to current modern issues and advertising. Then contrasting them to older views about representation of gender in advertising and history.
Judith Butler mentions and holds an unequivocal view of how gender should be represented in modern society. She believes that gender is fluid, changeable and plural. This means and has created an ideology that gender is a matter of choice and representation learnt and chosen through a repeated amount of actions. Actions that can be changed and done differently whenever a person feels as though they feel different one day or one hour compared to the other, gender is actively changeable. To put it simply, someone may feel as though they want to be a male one day; this would mean repeating a masculine regarded repetition of performance and actions; then feel as though they want to be a female the next. Gender isn’t a physical thing, she says that nothing can decide what gender you are, you decide who you want to be and this quote “Biological anatomies do not determine our gender” reinforces this view. This basic idea supports her views that gender can not be assigned at birth, that what anatomy a person is born with has nothing to do with their gender. Gender is how a person feels like, it’s a mental attitude that is always changing and ‘fluid’.
Further to this point, her ideas support views that no matter the way you act you cannot be regarded a certain gender over the other. “Male and female identities are not naturally configured”. We can act in a more feminine or masculine way but specific gestures or speech and acts don’t determine if we are a man or woman. She is trying to break out of typical gender stereotyping where specific acts decide who we are. Such as a sport like football being considered a male sport to play or makeup being regarded as a female thing to use, she tries to break out of this idea and allow anyone to do anything they like to live and embrace their identity. This is contrasting to some of the ideas presented by Laura Mulvey which seem to suggest that gender is fixed – male or female. That gender is controlled and exerted by powerful influencers, institutions and certain individuals. This is an opposite idea to Butler that suggests that we have multiple identities that are performed to different people, in different social settings, under different social conditions.
When applying this to both close study products we can see a vast difference to both advertising techniques and how gender is represented. Looking at Maybelline, made in the 30th may 2017, we can see a modern advertisement where the main signifier and actor used is a man. This is significant as it supports the hypothesis of Judith Butler that make up isn’t and shouldn’t be regarded as a product for women, and using it doesn’t apply you to certain groups or associations. The use of a male star in the advert is a progressive field in the beauty area of advertising. The ad is trying to adhere to all gender, sexuality, race and social class. This can be seen as a strong social statement, but also as a clever marketing strategy to appeal to everyone, to obviously gain the biggest profit and return. But as in consequence it still positively applies to Judith Butlers theory and can be seen as a prosperity in the advancement and deeper understanding of gender and more profoundly, race. When applying ideas of feminism to race, we can see that in the attempt to understand to be oppressed as ‘a woman’, some feminist scholars sought to isolate gender oppression from other forms of oppression’. Therefore, there was a focus on oppression of women who were white and middle aged, if not, there would be a lack of any focus at all. This being a notion provided by theorists ‘Sigle-Rushton’ and ‘Lindström’ in 2013. Similarly, in recent times, the third wave of feminism has a focus on challenging and re-contextualising some of the definitions of femininity that grew out of that earlier period. The third-wave sees women’s lives as intersectional, demonstrating a pluralism towards race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender and nationality when discussing feminism. This began in the early 1990s, led by Naomi Wolf. Furthermore, we can also apply this to the second part of ‘that boss life’ Maybelline advert where they also include 2 new characters, one being a white, presumed straight female and the other being an Asian woman with a typical hairstyle, used to clearly direct the ad and create a conclusion that the product is for everyone of every gender, race and sexuality. The posture in the original ad and also in the second, shows a transformation from the regular casual clothing and confidence, to a more prestigious outfit — after use of their product, it creates a constructed reality where they are now more glamorous and more confident, a total transformation, no matter what gender or race you are, you can be who ever you want and you deserve to be confident in your individuality.
The modernisation of these recent advertisements is affecting and changing new generations of children and their perception of gender. David Guantlet said “We are transitioning from a society in which our identities were constructed via rigid traditions to a distinctly different phase that he calls ‘late modernity”, this idea is showing that our ideologies based from our cultures and traditions are slowly becoming less important and less involved with who we are in modern times, we are now moving away from characterization and organization of individuals into certain groups, it is now up to every individual to decide their identity and how they wish to represented.
On the other hand, we have the score advertisement, this ad was made in 1967 and shows a massive differentiation from modern views and ads. Score, the printed advert, shows a completely different view to gender representation. It shows men and women as separate identities, an identity where woman are shown to be socially beneath men in the hierarchy. Woman are used as a tool in advertising to market a health and beauty product to men. It shoes women holding a man above them, clean shaven, portraying the use of their product. To put it simply, this is a clear opposite view of gender representation, a view where men are viewed as the more powerful and stronger gender and women are beneath them both metaphorically, socially and literally in this ad. As Judith Butler makes clear, “Myths reinforce male power as the norm because males are the more naturally dominant gender”, we can apply this to the score advert dexterously. It shows that a male dominant society is factual and proven in previous times. Upon deeper analysis, we can also assign this to Anita Sarkeesian ideas of the ‘damsel in distress’, although these ideas are applied to modern video games we can also see it in the score advert as we can see the woman beneath the man with some of them holding their hand above their heads, looking as though they are seeking refuge and to be protected by the strong able man. These times held strong stereotypes where woman were not as strong as men, gender was represented in a much simpler and narrow minded way and links to ideas of Laura Mulvey which says that gender is fixed and immovable, you are either male or female. Moreover, this advert follows a clear presentation that certain products are exclusively targeted for certain gender, the score ad is shown to be just for men, using woman to adhere to the male gaze and voyeuristic ideas produced by John Peter Berger.
In conclusion, I believe that in both aspects of close study products, Maybelline has had a more detached representation than common portrayals and ideologies of modern gender attitudes, as followed by ideas of Judith Butler, whereas, Score has a more archetypal show of customary and traditional views on how gender and authority is represented, as well as their displays of thoughts of individuality during the ads time period.
Essay
Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance. How useful is this idea in understanding gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns?
My aim for this essay is to present all the knowledge about wave feminism and the gender as performance such as Butler and the representation of the two other CSPs Score and Maybelline. I will argue that looking at the construction of being male and female is all about civil rights and should be talked more about femininity.
I would suggest that gender as Performance by Butler is “Our gendered identities are not naturally given but constructed through repetition and ritual.” where individuals change their identities over and over again through the act of others. Judith Butler discusses the ideas of gender representation such as gender is fluid, changeable, and plural a set of categories to be played out and performed by individual subjects in individual moments in time and space. I would also suggest that feminist critical thinking emphasis on the differences among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion and fluid and multiple subject positions and identities, therefore it suggests that in the mid 90’s they have low recognisable characteristics.
I would like to explain how theoretical approaches around gender, feminism and representation can be linked to the CSP’s.
First and foremost Mulvey gives us the idea that the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts which refers back to the 3rd wave feminists. Mulvey says “It is said that analysing pleasure, or beauty, destroys it.” for instance the female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, with the male. Kilbourne also assumes the connection between the advertisements of women in public health issues which include violence , eating disorders and addiction. Woolf looks into the third wave feminism about the response of challenges and input about some of the definitions of femininity that grew out of that earlier period.
To begin with the theoretical ideas of Score, it considers its historical, social and cultural contexts, as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. The Score advert was produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality and as such, the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signalling more anxiety than might first appear. Butler believes that there can be no gender identity as it can produce a series of effects as well as Woolf’s point on femininity.
Maybelline afterwards touches on the issue of gender representation, ethnicity and lifestyle. The ad, like its 1960s counterpart, uses an aspirational image showing two friends who do not conform to masculine and feminine ideals but are nonetheless powerful: happy in their own skin, confident in their bodies and their sexuality.
The historical knowledge about societal changes in 1967 as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. In 1967 it is believed to be a time of slow transformation in western cultures with legislation about changing women’s attitudes, along as men in society. This was a way to see the advert to be negotiated.
In the late 1960’s and between the early 1970’s, feminist critical thought became much more prominent where a greater acceptance of birth control and divorce, abortion and homosexuality was pronounced during the counter cultural movements.
I would like to announce the idea of the 2nd wave feminism to be approached by resulting in the term of second wave feminism which was directed by organisations.
Jonathon Dollimore gave the idea of ‘all this should not be seen as a straightforward displacement of dominant conservative attitudes‘, where in the early part of the 20th Century, the international alliance of women worked to get women the right to vote.
The Score advert was produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality and as such, the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signalling more anxiety than might first appear. The reference to colonialist values can also be linked to social and cultural contexts of the ending of Empire. I believe they use a mixture of indexical symbols as it relates to a jungle as they are dressed in safari clothing and there is a platform where the material is a leopard which could suggest they are in a forest as they also have the bushes or trees behind them as there background.
After the recent demise of gay icon George Michael, several gay men had paid tribute to the singer recalling how he was a huge inspiration when they were growing up and helped make their coming out easier, furthermore Judith Butler suggests that that’s why people behave different so they fit into society. I also believe that in the Maybelline advert the whole campaign suggesting is youthful and empowering such as the slogans like ‘let’s get bossed out’. The advert emphasises a lot on the product itself. When watching the advert they try to approach by using the colour gold which illustrates how they are trying to make the product sound like it will shine your world and make you look very satisfactory towards others.
Referring back to Maybelline, society in nowadays makes the attempt to understand what it means to be oppressed as a woman. This is where the experiences of white middle-class or to ignore the completely experiences the other women occurred. The development and articulation of intersectionality began to take place because of this cause.
My counter argument is about Maybelline as I believe that their product doesn’t give the impression to attract the audience to buy the product. This is because noticing them in a new York apartment with some mascara in a golden luggage doesn’t engage the audience enough to know if it is a good product or not. In other words putting on mascara doesn’t change your whole appearance, therefore there should be no need for the colour gold to be shown throughout the advert.
The score post is more contradictory as its audience is aimed at the male gander suggesting that it is quite decriminalisation of homosexuality and as such, the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signalling more anxiety than might first appear. The idea that you will get what you have always wished for suggests that the 3 women at the back suggest that the man are getting their attention from them and the 2 women at the front suggest that they could be showing off on their looks and how lucky the man is which could also explain that the advert is sexualising them.
In terms of applying queer theory to feminist critical thought, Judith Butler, among others expressed doubt over the reductionist, essentialist, approach towards the binary oppositions presented in terms of the male and female gender.
Exploring the notion of intersectionality, it gives us the response that feminism is not universal, singular or homogeneous as it is a reductionist and essentialist way of seeing the world itself. Bell Hook shows us the way of exploring the ideas of the world by highlighting the concepts such as ‘female’, ‘feminist’, ‘feminine’, which approaches sexuality, class, age, education, religion and ability.
In conclusion, I was able to identify and explain the connections and representation about Score and Maybelline and its link towards Judith Butler and how feminism is shown.
judith butler
Judith Pamela Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have served, beginning in 1998, as the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. They are also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.
Butler is best known for their books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993), in which they challenge conventional notions of gender and develop their theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Their work is often studied and debated in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and performativity in discourse.
Butler has supported lesbian and gay rights movements, and they have spoken out on many contemporary political issues, including criticism of Israeli politics.
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity was first published in 1990, selling over 100,000 copies internationally, in multiple languages. Gender Trouble discusses the works of Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Monique Wittig, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault.
Butler offers a critique of the terms gender and sex as they have been used by feminists. Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make “women” a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define “women” and they also believe that feminists should “focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement.” Finally, Butler aims to break the supposed links between sex and gender so that gender and desire can be “flexible, free floating and not caused by other stable factors”. The idea of identity as free and flexible and gender as a performance, not an essence, is one of the foundations of queer theory.
third wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement. It began in the United States in the early 1990s and continued until the rise of the fourth wave in the 2010s. Born in the 1960s and 1970s as members of Generation X and grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, third-wave feminists embraced individualism in women and diversity and sought to redefine what it meant to be a feminist. The third wave saw the emergence of new feminist currents and theories, such as intersectionality, sex positivity, vegetarian ecofeminism, transfeminism, and postmodern feminism. According to feminist scholar Elizabeth Evans, the “confusion surrounding what constitutes third-wave feminism is in some respects its defining feature.”
The third wave is traced to the emergence of the riot girl feminist punk subculture in Olympia, Washington, in the early 1990s, and to Anita Hill’s televised testimony in 1991—to an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—that African-American judge Clarence Thomas, nominated for and eventually confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, had sexually harassed her. The term third wave is credited to Rebecca Walker, who responded to Thomas’s appointment to the Supreme Court with an article in Ms. magazine, “Becoming the Third Wave” (1992). She wrote:
“So I write this as a plea to all women, especially women of my generation: Let Thomas’ confirmation serve to remind you, as it did me, that the fight is far from over. Let this dismissal of a woman’s experience move you to anger. Turn that outrage into political power. Do not vote for them unless they work for us. Do not have sex with them, do not break bread with them, do not nurture them if they don’t prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives. I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave.”
The rights and programs gained by feminists of the second wave served as a foundation for the third wave. The gains included Title IX (equal access to education), public discussion about the abuse of women, access to contraception and other reproductive services (including the legalization of abortion), the creation and enforcement of sexual-harassment policies for women in the workplace, the creation of domestic-abuse shelters for women and children, child-care services, educational funding for young women, and women’s studies programs.
Feminist leaders rooted in the second wave such as Gloria Anzaldúa, bell hooks, Cherríe Moraga, Audre Lorde, Maxine Hong Kingston, and other feminists of color, sought to negotiate a space within feminist thought for consideration of race. Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa had published the anthology This Bridge Called My Back (1981), which, along with All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave (1982), edited by Akasha (Gloria T.) Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, and Barbara Smith, argued that second-wave feminism had focused primarily on the problems of white women. The emphasis on the intersection between race and gender became increasingly prominent.
In the interlude of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the feminist sex wars arose as a reaction against the radical feminism of the second wave and its views on sexuality, therein countering with a concept of “sex-positivity” and heralding the third wave.
Judith butler: ‘gender as performance’
‘identity can be a site of contest and revision‘
Unlike Laura Mulvey who presents gender as being fixed (male/female) structured by powerful individuals who are able to have control and institutions: Butler suggests gender is fluid, changeable ‘a set of categories to be played out and performed by individual subjects in individual moments in time and space.’
Butler also suggests we have different identities performed to different people, in different social settings, in different social conditions, supporting the fact gender is a performance.
The different examples of feminine attitudes (tomboy/girlygirl) illustrate the plural nature of gender.
Gender as performative is recognised as ‘phenomenon that is being reproduced all the time‘ and that ‘nobody is a gender from the start.’
QUOTE FROM JUDITH BUTLER IN AN INTERVIEW TO USE;
‘The historical meaning of gender can change as its norms are re-enacted, refused or recreated.’
Game cover
