Leading the second wave into the third wave: U.S. women journalists and discursive continuity of feminism

ABSTRACT

The #MeToo movement resurfaced tensions between second- and third-wave feminists, who are often framed in media narratives using a paradigm approach that defines them as separate, competing social movements. Using a historical analysis, this study builds upon evidence supporting a continuity approach to social movement scholarship that instead emphasizes ideological connections and spillover effects. An examination of the archives of Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) members in the 1980s and 1990s illustrates that second-wave feminists played a discursive role in helping shape the priorities of the third wave, creating a continuum of the movement to help ensure its future. This study argues that embracing this theoretical perspective and approach to media framing better serves the feminist social movement by providing a more historically accurate portrayal of the transition between waves and by creating a structure of collaboration rather than competition.

KEYWORDS:

• #MeToo movement
• second-wave feminism
• social movements
• third-wave feminism
• women journalists

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teri Finneman

Teri Finneman is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Kansas. Her research centers on women politicians, first ladies, women journalists, and oral history E-mail: [email protected]

Yong Volz

Yong Volz is an associate professor of journalism studies and Roger Gafke Faculty Fellow at the University of Missouri. Her research centers on journalists and their place in society and history, especially concerning gender, social mobility, and the construction of collective identity. E-mail: [email protected]