Abstract

Abstract:The women's movement in the United States has a long and complex history, incorporating a variety of contexts, issues and identities. Often conceptualized as a series of waves of mobilization that grow, peak and decline, the U.S. women's movement is broadly divided into a first (1860s-1920), second (1960s-‘80s) and third (1990s and beyond) wave. However, feminist scholars find the wave metaphor problematic, a critique taught in many Women and Gender Studies classrooms. Analyzing interviews with self-identified contemporary feminists, I argue that the wave metaphor is a discursive legacy that is used to locate contemporary feminists' place in history, while at the same time emerging feminists are taught to critique it. The result is both a rejection of the wave metaphor and an acceptance of many aspects of history it provides and the adoption of a “wave” vocabulary. Consequentially, the past becoming a problem to be corrected by contemporary feminists and a yardstick by which to measure and identify their own feminism. Overall, this discursive legacy of “wave” talk encourages feminist generations to view each other through a lens of opposition and difference and influences their view of the viability of the movement.