The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism [2 volumes]

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The second wave of feminism of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan has given way to the dynamic next generation, the third wave, now 15 years old. The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third Wave Feminism introduces the third wave's key issues, members, visions, writings, and morewith essay entries on abortion to zines, with the Riotgrrrl group Bikini Kill, cyberspace, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, queer theory, and activist/writer Rebecca Walker in between. The scope of the more than 200 encyclopedia entries is multidisciplinary and multicultural, inclusive of diverse gender orientations and sexualities, with a focus primarily on the movement in the United States. The Primary Documents volume showcases a wide variety of writings from some of the leading third wavers. This is meant to be the essential reference work on the current movement, as it charts, describes, and clarifies what has been a much debated and misunderstood phenomenon. The second wave of feminism of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan has given way to the dynamic next generation, the third wave, now 15 years old. The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third Wave Feminism introduces the third wave's key issues, members, visions, writings, and morewith essay entries on abortion to zines, with the Riotgrrrl group Bikini Kill, cyberspace, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, queer theory, and activist/writer Rebecca Walker in between. The scope of the more than 200 encyclopedia entries is multidisciplinary and multicultural, inclusive of diverse gender orientations and sexualities, with a focus primarily on the movement in the United States. This is meant to be the essential reference work on the current movement, as it charts, describes, and clarifies what has been a much debated and misunderstood phenomenon. A major collective effort has been made by more than 70 contributors to present as much information about third wave feminism as possible in the encyclopedia, and they have conveyed the freshness and excitement that often characterize work in the third wave. Contributors such as Amy Richards, Jennifer Baumgardner, and Lisa Jervis, are leading activist voices in the movement. Others, such as Rebecca Hurdis, Sarah Gamble, Rebecca Munford, Stacy Gillis, Gillian Howie, Alison Piepmeier, Rory Dicker, Deborah Siegel, Leslie Heywood, and Jennifer Drake, have been influential in academia. A chronology and historical introduction put the movement and the encyclopedia and primary documents into perspective. Numerous photos visualize the topics. A Selected Bibliography lists classic third-wave books, Web sites, and films. The Primary Documents volume showcases 77 of the rich and wide range of voices that have contributed to the significant body of third wave feminist work. Some highlights include illustrated pieces from the art activist collective the Guerilla Girls, articles from Bitch Magazine, and Joan Morgan's essay Hip-Hop Feminist, from her 1998 book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost.

Reviews

The term third-wave feminism, coined in the early 1990s, refers to the newest generation of feminism. This encyclopedia is the first to introduce the movement's key issues, members, visions, writings, and more. A chronology and historical introduction provide an excellent overview of third-wave feminism. Following these are two lists of entries, arranged alphabetically and topically. The majority of the 200 alphabetically arranged, signed entries, written by key activists and academics, conclude with a further reading section. Cross-references are abundant and often refer to the set's second volume of primary source material. The primary documents highlight the various writings of third-wave feminists. Both the documents and the encyclopedia entries focus mainly on the movement in the US. Greenwood has published an important set that should be purchased by every library interested in keeping current on the feminist movement. Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above. * Choice *
The material resonates with a message common in most variations on third-wave themes: contemporary feminism thrives as polemics in praxis. Frontrunners Rebecca Walker, Jennifer Baumgardner, Amy Richards, and Ariel Gore debate such issues as cultural, legislative, and electoral activism; racial politics, globalization, and emergent technologies; motherhood; and much more. Noted editors, authors, and activists such as Lisa Jervis and Anita Harris refine the very definition of third-wave feminism and its distinction from the ostensible postfeminist age-recalibrating social, sexual, racial, chronological, technological, and economic variables to strike a new balance in feminist objectives.[T]hese two volumes dovetail well as a sound response to the common quandary over where to start one's feminist education. Highly recommended. * Library Journal *
High schools and colleges with programs that emphasize contemporary feminism will find this work concise and current, providing significant information that isn't found in other reference works that one might already have.[w]hat is unique (the format, selected entries, and the thematic groupings of entries and primary sources) does, by just a bit, justify adding this work to one's collection, be that a library collection or a personal library. * Reference & User Services Quarterly *
This encyclopedia is an engaging read, charting the development of the Third-Wave movement and presenting sources from all sorts of media rather than restricting the evidence to scholarly articles While this will be useful for gender studies and feminist courses, it would be an interesting book for the general reader as well. * Reference Reviews *
From compulsory heterosexuality to girl power, key terms and concepts are identified and defined, while the impact of feminism on popular culture is also explored. The second volume provides a selection of 65 readings of 15 years of feminist writing. The selections are often substantial excerpts or complete works and, like encyclopedia essays, treat issues of definition, cultural resistance or identity. Many of the featured writers, including Susan Bordo, bell hooks, Lisa Jervis, Amy Richards and Leora Tanenbaum, are also subjects or contributors of the encyclopedia articles. The result is a guide that is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the pluralistic approaches to the feminist movement in America today. * Lawrence Looks At Books *
This two-volume encyclopedia endeavors to capture and explain feminism's third wave, which is said to have started when feminists began identifying themselves as post feminist, around 1991. * VOYA *
If you're a Second Waver who hasn't kept up with Third Wave developments and publishing or someone who has limited knowledge of feminism in any guise, the Encyclopedia is a great place to start exploring the phenomenon. If you know it well, it is a handy compendium for reference. * Feminist Collections *
The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism provides a strong 2-volume reference charting the third wave women's movement's key issues, members, writings and more. * The Midwest Book Review - California Bookwatch *
Third-wave feminism--that is, the evolution of the women's movement since the second-wave feminism of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan--began in 1991 with Anita Hill's appearance at the Senate confirmation hearings on Clarence Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court. This set is designed to showcase feminism's new issues and the women driving these philosophies forward.[t]his set is recommended primarily for exhaustive collections in Women's Studies and Pop Culture. * Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin *
Of interest to undergraduate and advanced high school students as well as the interested reader, this two-volume reference provides over 200 entries and an entire volume of primary sources that demonstrate and define the inclusive issues and thought of contemporary feminism. * Reference & Research Book News *

Author Bio

Leslie L. Heywood is Professor of English at SUNY Binghamton and the co-editor of Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism (1997) and the author of Pretty Good for a Girl: A Memoir (1998), among other works.