Monday, January 18, 2010

Generation Information

I found it interesting reading some of what she says so far from the viewpoint of a few generations under her and am reminding myself that she is writing this from HER generations view and experience with Feminism which (IMHO) is different than my generations view on Feminism.

If I can make a generalization I feel that Generation Y's view on Feminism is a little more mellow and encompassing than her's (Mrs. F-G was born in 1941, not techincally a baby boomer, but a part of the Silent Generation) which seemed to be marked with the development of more of the radical stances of feminism. Because of this as I've started reading Chp 1 I already find myself saying, "No that's not how it is for me and my age range." and "That's not how we all think of x,y and z" so I wonder if this book is actually applicable toward people in their 20's/early 30's in 2010 (info: the book was originally copyrighted in 1996, 14 years ago).

Mrs. F-G would have been dealing with the rise of 2nd wave feminism as a teenager and young adult, right in the prime (and perhaps most persuasive time) of her life and I wonder if she doesn't look back on her old Feminist opinions the way some of us look back on some stupid decisions made in college. And by the time 3rd wave feminism "hit" she was approaching her 50's.

I honestly found myself wondering if Mrs. F-G's book would make more sense to my mother rather than me.

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Generation Info.
A Generation in the USA as of 2007 is typically around 25 years.
Generation Y - mid to late 1970's to late 90's early 00's
Generation X - about 1961- 1981
Baby Boomer Generartion - Post WWII to 1960
Silent Generation - 1925-1045

Feminist Movements
1st Wave 19th Century and Early 20th Century
2nd Wave - 1960 & 70's
3rd Wave - 1990 - ?
4th Wave - Happening Now?

Originally I assumed this book had been published no later than the turn of the new century, and because of that her original statments just seemed a little off from what I've experience but keeping in mind that she's not actually writing to me (as I was 13 when the book first came out), but rather to a group of women almost 15 years ago (with the stated opinions gathered closer to 20 years ago), I find myself able to step back from some of her definitions and assumptions as they were not made for my generation and I think I'll be able to approach this as more of a criticism of 2nd and 3rd wave feminism rather than what I believe the "4th wave" is shaping up to be.

With this information does Mrs. F-G's book make a little bit more sense to anyone else?
And what generation are you a part of?

12 comments:

  1. Great point Molly! I think you're right that it's important for us to keep audience in mind. I definitely think my generation at least (ppl in their 20s) has a more "mellow" stance towards feminism, although when I think of a typical "feminist" it is still the radical 2nd wave type.

    On a slight side note, have you heard that Gen Y has been relabeled the millennials? The trend now is for employees to be trained in how to manage this generation (basically because we're more self-centered, although the following website describes it much nicer http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementtips/a/millenials.htm). Everyone from my mother the social worker to my FIL the big pharmaceutical employee has been attending talks on this in the last year or so. I wonder how/if millennials' attitudes differ towards this just because of a generally different outlook?

    And personally, I'm a mixed bag when it comes to generations. Born in 82, so I guess I have a bit of X and Y in me!

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  2. I think that generalizations are always hard, and especially on topics like this! It certainly helps for me to step back as you suggest and remind myself that EFG was not writing for us in a direct sense, though she would probably be thrilled at how we're able to take a more relaxed view of feminism.

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  3. You're totally right Rae, I probably should have a also specified I was generalizing for the specific cross section of american culture I represent (certain age, race, family background, experience, etc.) My "generalization" might not hold any water when applied to people (perhaps like you) who've had a different experiences in life and exposure to "feminism". Just wanted to clear that up just in case - This is how I figured out why I was having a hard time relating to what she said. But you're right again Rae, it works out in the end because I walked away from the prologue thinking along the lines of the title "THAT feminism is not the story of MY life"

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  4. Elizabeth - it's interesting, though I haven't done a lot of research on the waves of feminism, in my mind the 3rd wave is the more "radical" of the three. I see some of the faults of the 2nd wave, which is what we'll primarily be dealing with in this book considering when it was published. However and I'm not sure, but in my mind the third wave is where a lot of the anti-male sentiments got stirred up and the extremists of "women are better than men" started, but like I said I'm not sure if this is correct.

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  5. Oh Molly, you could very well be correct. I haven't researched the specifics of each wave either. Maybe EFG will address them?

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  6. I've always understood 1st wave feminism to be focused on women's suffrage, and property rights. 2nd wave to be focused on equal pay (which still hasn't been achieved), women being able to work in more varied fields and with more flexibility, and issues of credit etc, which really started in early 1960's with Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique. It was rather quickly hijacked by those who believed that abortion "rights" were more important than any of the above mentioned issues.
    3rd wave was more of the 90's movement that focused on sex, or what I've heard called "lipstick feminism". Women embracing feminine styles of dress once more (returning from the haze of burning all those bras!), but also increased sexual aggressiveness. There's a great book out called "Female Chauvinist Pigs: The Rise of Raunch Culture", which talks about that.
    I feel like I (as a 25 year old woman) was mostly exposed to the "girl power" be sexy all the time, use men and discard them like playthings attitude, growing up. More so than the bra-burning, don't shave your legs, let's all drive fork-lifts version of feminism.

    I think 4th wave is what is emerging now?

    Thanks for posting this; it can be confusing!

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  7. Ditto Sarah, I'm 26, so our eras feminism seemed to more into the Spice Girls and Sex and the City, but hopefully part of the 4th wave will be a realization that anyone using their sexuality or physical appearance to use another person is just wrong. There's nothing against dressing feminine and even a little sexy when the time is appropriate, but it seems like we've almost taken a step back in just being objectified again.

    I just want it okay for a woman to be herself, whether she's a girly-girl or a tomboy.

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  8. Great discussion here and I am so glad you brought up the generations thing, Molly!

    I am an X-er...to the core. I did a whole bunch of stuff on Generations...how to manage them, how to understand what impacted them, etc....during my MBA program and it is the most riveting stuff!

    Anyway, As an X-er...I completely identify with the generalization about X-ers being the first "latch-key kids" and with no-fault divorce...watching divorce rates skyrocket for us. Plus, we are the first generation impacted on a major level by abortion and the pill. Many of us have parents who had us...got divorced, later remarried and had some Generation Y kids...and yes, we X-er "first-marriage kids" are very jealous of our Y-siblings who seem to have everything (especially our parent!!) that we never had.

    i think my take on feminism is mostly impacted by the abortion/pill impact on our generation. if you read the books...you can see just how outnumbered we are...because people were either contracepting or aborting our generation on a higher level than ever before. And that is probably why I see whatever wave brought about legalized contraception and abortion as the part about feminism that turns me off to all the rest.

    Again, great conversation...I enjoyed this.

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  9. oh...and by the way...I LOVE my Y-siblings...I was speaking from a general nature. And even though I do love them...I have been through periods of jealousy toward them, too. That's all I meant by that.

    And I was born in 1973...to give frame to my claim of being X-er to the core!

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  10. Michelle, I think that it is only healthy to be envious of the fact that Y-siblings have your parents in a way that you did/do not. Helicopter parenting isn't good, but the reverse was just as bad. It really was a tragedy that so many children were expected to raise themselves with insufficient parental involvement! Of course you can love your siblings and still be jealous of the fact that they have something that you should have had as well.

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  11. I find this post and discussion fascinating. I've never really looked in depth at feminism, so the discussion of the waves is certainly interesting. I'm always struck by the "pendulum" that you see in history. You start too far in one direction (seeing women as second-class citizens, having some oppression with regards to property, voting, education and opportunity), then you swing too far in the other direction (tearing down men, eschewing those things that make women uniquely feminine; or using them the wrong way.) Granted, that's over simplified, but it seems to be a part of the trend.

    What I think is fantastic is the things that we have gained from the growth of feminism is now something that is well acknowledged. On the other hand, the problems that have come up with an unbalanced or skewed view of feminism are also much more clear at this later date. So we get to have a part in shaping this current wave that will hopefully help keep the gains while balancing the craziness.

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  12. CM - I love your pendulum analogy! and I think you've touched on what some many of us truly want to find, a nice balance where opportunity and respect are equal for men and women

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