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David Tomov
Author's Bio
Jennifer Baumgardner was born in 1970. She graduated from high school, but has no college degree. She is an activist, speaker and writer, who participates in many of the new feminist campaigns today. In 1993 she was the editor for Ms. magazine and wrote Grassroots: A field Guide For Feminist Activism along with Amy Richards, which was published in 2005. Her latest book published is Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics. Baumgardner has a segment called She-Span on the oxygen network and has a campaign called I had an abortion, to encourage women to talk about their abortions.
Amy Richards was born in 1971. She graduated from Barnard College in the spring of 1992 and has a degree in art history. She makes her living as a lecturer, writer and consultant. She made the Third Wave, which is an organization about furthering feminism. She has appeared on many talk shows and she has had many magazines profile her as being a leader of the young feminists of today.
Women: Understanding Our Past to Better Our Future
The women's movement today has certainly slowed down, but there are still those who believe that equality is the most important thing in today's society. This book, Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future , written and co-authored by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, tries to bridge the gap between the Second Wave and the Third Wave of feminism. The book reflects what the Third Wave is, what it has accomplished, and what is still left for it to do. The book shows this by giving an outline of the history of feminism from the First Wave into Second Wave and then the Third Wave where it takes a look at the "girlie culture" that has appeared from feminism. Richards and Baumgardner support this "girlie culture" that has been a result of the Second Wave. The book tends to focus on feminism in the media and how feminists are represented in general. Richards and Baumgardner believe feminism is still alive in the country today and that it still holds importance over culture and politics. Richards and Baumgardner ask, "Has feminism changed our lives? Was it necessary? "1 Everybody could agree that the women's movement was needed, but the question of whether it is needed now the book answers.
Richards and Baumgardner start the book off by listing the limited rights women had before the women's movement. Richards and Baumgardner then define the feminist movement of today and how it has evolved and taken hold of women's lives. Richards and Baumgardner use the concept of dinner parties as a way for friends to discuss their views on feminism, STDs, and abortion. The book goes on to explain the issues that the Third Wave is currently dealing -equal access to the Internet and technology, HIV/AIDS, eating disorders, and body image. Within those problems also lies marriage, where the roles of men and women have changed. This has caused mothers to feel under appreciated, because of all the responsibilities put on to them in and out of the home. Another social group affected by feminism is gay couples that have fewer rights compared to those who aren't gay. The book then states the dictionary definition of feminism as a social movement for equality and its roots from as early as the 1400s. As the Clinton scandal was unveiled the feminists grew divided because of the media's interpretation of it. Richards and Baumgardner see history as belonging to the white man, and the only way to change that is to reidentify some of the perceptions of history. Some may fear feminism, because they fear the humiliation of being oppressed or being vulnerable. Because feminists are made up of straight, bisexuals and gays of all kinds that is why it is so diverse in opinions and understanding. The book then shifts focus to education and why schools don't teach more about women in history. Feminism began in 1848 at Seneca Falls where First Wave consisting of Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Sojourner Truth were among the first women to advocate women's suffrage. The Second Wave came in the1960's as labor organizations that then sprouted committees for women's liberation. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a defining moment for the Second Wave feminists, but it was never passed. The Third Wave of the 1990's manifested itself in feminist writings. To further expand the meaning of feminism "Fundamentally, Feminism is a political movement organized for the purpose of getting women out from under subordination", Richards and Baumgardner define it one last time. 2
Richards and Baumgardner then make a transition to describing Ms. magazine and its appearance today. The book then talks about the Riot Grrrl and its involvement in feminism through the art of music. The influence of media on feminism like Times and Newsweek who barely mention feminists at all and the television, that portrays feminism as a negative thing. The fact "The media doesn't know how to deal with feminism, and feminists haven't mastered the media" implies that this bad image of feminists is not just the media's fault but feminist's as well. 3 The media portrays men as holding the top jobs and women as stuck in the lower jobs. Richards and Baumgardner then praise Ms. magazine for standing up to this media injustice and the Spice Girls and Ally McBeal for showing strong women take part in the feminist movement. The focus changes to the Third Wave of today and what influenced it from Kennedy to Madonna. Richards and Baumgardner go on to talk about the "girlie culture" that has emerged from the 1990s and that even though it has created racist and sexist society, women are better off today than before. The 90's gave to the Australian magazine Sassy, one of the first feminist teen magazine to help girls take pride in themselves and the way they look. Like a cult following, a number of magazines appeared to help support feminism. Even though Richards and Baumgardner support today's culture women like Helen Gurley Brown, one of most influential feminists, disagrees with the "girlie culture" of today.
The book then takes look at Carol Gilligan who criticizes the girls of today through books and conferences while also focusing on the negative aspects of not being a man. "Take our Daughters to work Day" was a plan from Nell Merlino to help the children of today to join the women's movement. Unlike Merlino's plan New Moon, a popular magazine, was pushed away by feminists because it reinforced the idea of women being dependent others and not themselves. Richards and Baumgardner try to tackle the problem of keeping the old Second Wave feminists and trying to bring in the new Third Wave feminists. One of the many things that stood in the way of feminism was Barbie "Barbie stands as a symbol of the lack of understanding between the leaders of the girl's movement and the girls themselves." Barbie is often a controversial topic for feminists, because it empowers women, but at the same time Barbie gives a false description of them. 4 Another reason why feminists are so disconnected is because the teenager girls are rebelling against their own mothers and fathers and changing that would help the fight for feminism. The book then addresses another problem of the feminist movement, which is that it is based on assumptions of the elderly and not the lives of feminists. Then Richards and Baumgardner bring up the idea of autokeonony, or making self-choices in a community to not only help feminism, but the family structure as well. Disconnection has become one of the biggest conflicts within the generations; both the Second Wave and the Third Wave ignore each other's experiences.
The last chapters continue exploring feminism and try to create utopian society for women. Richards and Baumgardner start again with another feminist Katie Roiphe, a writer for The New York Times, which received a huge out-cry from feminists because she wasn't talking for feminists, but still called herself one. Then Rolphie created the march Take Back the Night, a plan to make college campuses more aware of date rape and violent attacks. Rolphie encouraged the plan through the book The Morning After. Most feminists grew angry towards her because she lied about statistics and got the media to view feminists as disrespectful and offensive. Richards and Baumgardner then tell about the many feminists that anger other feminists like Naomi Wolf and Ginia Bellfante. The feminists have become divided between "Right Girls," who are dismantling feminist gains, and "Do Mes," who are a media construct. Even a Right Girls, who wants independence and freedom for women, are distinct from each other. Richards and Baumgardner then create the Third Wave manifesta, which is a thirteen point agenda of things society has yet to fix like women's rights for children, reproductive rights, and a broaden view of women's history, as a guide to help feminists. Activism is making a doctrine or policy to make a positive influence in an area. There are myths to activism such as it is a slow process and that it needs a leader for it work. Then Richards and Baumgardner create a list of alternate methods of Third Wave activism to change today's society. Another way Richards and Baumgardner define activism is "Once you embrace the idea that you can change your world, you begin to look for the tools with which to do so." 5 More tools of activism are described to help women and helping the government help women is one of those tools. At another attempt to clarify feminism Richards and Baumgardner then define radicalism and how women and others can create a more feministic world through laws, companies, and other devices. As the book comes to an end Richards and Baumgardner describe a future where women no longer need feminism because they have everything they want.
The authors of Manifest: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future Richards and Baumgardner have written a book that defines what the Third Wave is and states some ways the readers can help feminism. The book states "This book is itself a response to the masses of people we have come across who were looking for tools to change their own lives", its main purpose is to lead people to a way to help express themselves. 6 Richards and Baumgardner write that feminism is still happening today right in front of our eyes, and there are still many things to fix for women in today's society. They contemplate women who preach about feminism against those who are feminists and the bridge between generations of feminism. The world today still needs feminism and people who have the right idea to what feminism is. Richards and Baumgardner view feminism as the most crucial thing in the world. They use many references to other authors and have a broad history of women included. At the same time Richards and Baumgardner take from their own experiences and the experiences of others to write their book. They assume every woman wants a return to feminism and this has made them strive to create it once again.
A review from Washington Monthly, written by Patricia Simon advocates Manifest: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future. She says "Manifest A serves as a guide for young women rather than a rant about what's holding back females," and this book has a great understanding of the history of the women's movement. 7 She also agrees with what Richards and Baumgardner have done by trying to teach women about the women's movement and showing them the strength of feminists in today's world. She talks about how accessible the book is to those who are new to feminism and those who have been long time members. She does criticize the fact about the location of the authors and what kind of input they could have gotten from that location. In the end she thinks it is a book that will help create changes in the world. The second review comes from the Progressive by Laura Flanders also agrees with Richards and Baumgardner about this vision for equality is needed for today's society. Flanders praises the book as "Savvy, conscientious, and ambitious, they represent, in many ways, exactly the bright, brash, and courageous heirs that the Steinem-era Second Wavers sought." 8 Flanders, however, also criticizes the authors for being too angry at either feminism or feminists. She says that since the elderly are tuned off to the pleas of the Third Wave, the second Wave create a wall between young and old that has fundamentally hurt feminism. She talks about the fact that Manifesta represents the young girls of the new generation.
This book called Manifest: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future tries to show the history of the women's movement so that it can explain the Third Wave to those women who do not know they are feminists. This book gave a timeline that allowed it to show the accomplishments of the women's movement and what still had to be done. Richards and Baumgardner are very strong at giving reasons to support their cause like the opening of the book where they talk about all the injustice women had to endure to get this far. They come on too aggressively and it seems they trying to recruit you for the feminist movement. Richards and Baumgardner discredit woman by saying "But celebrate what? The fact that the ERA didn't pass? That it took seventy-two years for women to get the vote". 9 Even though they come down too harshly on those that oppose it, they give women the choice of feminism and what it means to be feminist.
Richards and Baumgardner believe that the women's movement was something that America needed and it was a crucial point for women everywhere. Richards and Baumgardner showed that women were getting more political through forming many organizations and being able to hold positions within the government. In 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act stopped discrimination for women with loans, helping women financial. Several court cases like "A judicial decision known as Doe vs. Hyde effectively affirmed a women's right to bodily integrity", changed the practices of that time. 10 In 1973 the, Roe vs. Wade decision allowed women to have abortions giving women the freedom of choice. Pregnancy Discrimination act made it illegal to fire a woman because she was pregnant giving her a choice to have a baby and work at the same time. People now have different values because women are so involved with society. The women's movement has changed today's society by contributing to the "girlie culture" that has sprung forth from it.
With the Second Wave for feminism concentrating on making rights for reproductive freedom and job equality. It had created a time where women could have the same job as a man and no discrimination could be placed on them. Politically, women gained rights like being able to have an abortion. With woman now having the liberation to choose between a job and the house they could contribute to the economy. Culturally, feminism changed how women looked at themselves and allowed women to form bands and join the rock and roll revolution as "Riot Grrrl bands" that "broke indie sales records." 11 It gave women the idea that they could be what they wanted and do what they wanted. Today a woman can be free to do what she want even though she might be a little under paid or end up in a area consisting with mostly men.
In the end Richards and Baumgardner offer the reader the knowledge of the past so that they could use it for the future. Richards and Baumgardner wanted the Third Wave to be understood and accepted but as they said, "After thirty years of feminism, the world we inhabit barely resembles the world we were born into. And there's still a lot left to do. 12" This idea seems to be the thing that drives them forward to keep writing and keep up the fight for feminism. In today's society woman will always struggle be equal even though they themselves are holding them back.
Endnotes
1. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 9.
2. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 82.
3. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 99.
4. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 196.
5. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 295.
6. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 283.
7. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 3.
8. Flanders, Laura. Review 1
9. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 278.
10. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 318.
11. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 91.
12. Baumgardner, Jennifer and Richards, Amy 9.
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