Abstract
Chamberlain addresses the way in which the wave narrative is established and how it has been historically understood. Looking to the problems and difficulties associated with the narrative, the chapter explores why feminists might choose to reject the wave. This is countered with a positive understanding of the narrative, which could be a much more open and fluid means of approaching feminism than the mother-daughter trope. The chapter finishes with a positive understanding of how the wave is necessary for feminism, emphasising shared feeling and collective cohesiveness.
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- 1.
Cisgender is a term used to describe people who identify as the gender or sex in which they were born. WoC is used to apply to women of colour and often used in discussions of intersectional failure and representation. TERFs relates to trans-exclusionary radical feminists, and is used by both trans-activists and the feminists who identify as trans-exclusionary.
- 2.
I explore this issue in my chapter on the fourth wave of feminism specifically, but a number of activists working within this moment have been forced to leave their houses after threats on their well-being, including Laurie Penny and Caroline Criado-Perez. Otherwise, it is commonplace for feminists to receive rape and threats of violence online in response to their campaigning and activism.
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Chamberlain, P. (2017). Introduction. In: The Feminist Fourth Wave. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53682-8_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53682-8_1
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