The core ideas of second-wave feminism were rejected. The core idea of second-wave feminism is that gendered oppression is common to all women. The question arose if second-wave feminism represented the common grievance of women worldwide. Did it represent the interest of all women? The third wave feminism found the problems in second-wave feminism that second-wave feminism for two women of the whole world under one group by showing that they all have the same grievances. The reality is that these women didn’t have the same grievances.
The new thing which was found by third-wave feminism was that women faced operations not just based on gender but also based on their caste, class, race and ethnicity. Focusing on one universal category of women seemed undemocratic. Postmodernism is a theory that rejects modernism and says that there should be no generalisation. There were no universal categories like second-wave feminism that put women of the whole world under one category.
Key points of third-wave postmodern feminism:
Non-universalist-
1. According to third-wave postmodern feminism the man-made categories like men and women, sex /gender masculine and feminine didn’t have any value.
Intersectionality-
1. According to this point women’s operation is not based on a single factor of gender.
2. A woman’s condition is determined by the intersection of many factors including race, class, caste, ethnicity etcetera.
Cultural relativism:
1. Different cultures have different practices and traditions.
2. One cannot make a judgement about other’s cultures without experiencing them.
3. So it is not right to judge women’s oppression worldwide by analysing just one western culture.
Plurality and diversity:
1. Being different does not mean being abnormal.
2. Diverse voices and diverse positions should be accepted.
3. If someone is neither male nor female, it does not mean that they are abnormal.
Implications of third-wave feminism:
1. Diversification of feminism
A. Black feminism:
• Black women do not face discrimination based on sex only. They face discrimination based on their race.
• It mentioned that the experiences of black women are different from white women.
B. Postcolonial feminism:
•When colonialism was end date then this form of feminism was witnessed.
• The non-white women were affected by long-lasting political, economic and cultural impacts of colonialism.
C. Dalit feminism:
• Dalit feminism was purely Indian feminism. It focused on upper-middle-class women.
• Dalit women’s interests were excluded from mainstream feminism.
2. Weakening of feminist politics:
• Third where families were important the concept of feminism and various type of feminism flourished so it rejected the unity approach.
• After third wave feminism women of the world were very divided into various groups according to their grievances.
Postfeminism and postmodern feminism:
Postmodern communism was an idea that arose in America during the 1980s. The proponents of this idea were of the view that society has achieved gender equality, feminism has achieved its goal. So it is time to move away from feminism.