Final Exam bonus question #13

The first wave of feminism fights for basic rights, such as simple and human rights for women. It argues that society should allow women to have equal rights, in other words, it argues for the quantitative. The second wave of feminism fights against sexual harassment, and for equal recognition, arguing for the qualitative rather than the quantitative. For example the second wave fights for equal pay in the job and to break “the glass ceiling”. The second wave fights for roles as opposed to rights. The third wave of feminism re-claims power that the second wave takes away by appropriating signifiers of the dominant. For example the second wave says that being a housewife is demeaning, however a third wave feminist would take being a housewife and give it a sense of empowerment. An image of Hooters girls can explain all three waves. The first wave can argue that the girls have freedom of expression, therefore dressing this way expresses this right. The second wave would argue against this image because the girls are being exposed and sexualized, therefore degrading themselves. The third wave would argue that although the women are being exploited and sexualized, they made the decision to dress this way, therefore they are empowering themselves.