The F-Word: Cultural Politics and Third-Wave Feminism

Abstract

My third case study, The F-word website and its activist offshoot, the London Thirdwave Feminists (hereafter London Thirdwave), is qualitatively distinct from the previous two inasmuch as it takes the form of an autonomous online space. Perhaps more importantly, The F-word sits at the epicentre of what appears to be a resurgence of feminist mobilisation in the UK, and thus an analysis of it is integral to an exploration of contemporary feminist practices in the British context. The F-word is not an ‘active’ group in any meaningful sense, but rather, acts as a forum for discussion between, and noticeboard for, the diverse voices within contemporary feminist politics in the UK. As we shall see, this diversity is integral to The F-word’s self-understanding. However, despite this diversity, I argue that there are two key elements to The F-word, which I explore throughout this chapter. These are, first, the centrality of debate and political activity related to the negotiation of feminism ‘in and against’ popular culture, and, second, the negotiation of generational dynamics within contemporary feminism, linked to The F-word’s self-understanding as a specifically ‘young’ feminist space.