Something old, something new, something borrowed: Themes in the voices of a new generation of feminists

Abstract

This study examines one particularly prominent effort to give voice to the third wave of feminism. We analyzed Listen Up: Voices from the Next Generation of Feminists, which is one of the first and most often cited works claiming to give voice to a new wave of U.S. feminism. Thematic analysis of the essays in Listen Up revealed four themes shared by young feminists who contributed to the book: (a) resisting negative social messages about women, (b) recognizing connections and building collective identity, (c) claiming a voice, and (d) investing personally in the continuing feminist struggle. In echoing key themes of the second‐wave feminist movement in the United States, the third wave affiliates itself with the second wave. However, the rising generation of feminists departs from second‐wave feminists in two key respects: (a) the priority accorded to making feminism inclusive and (b) the starting point of the two movements. Thus, the third wave seems more an evolution—one that is substantive in some ways—than a renunciation of the prior feminist movement.