It’s Time For No-Wave Feminism

[justiceischeap]

I've noticed there are some that criticize others' no matter what she (or he) may say or do. Some people just refuse to give an inch, sticking to their guns no matter what and woe be those that don't agree with folks like that. I should know... my dad is a lot like that and I learned years ago that his attempts to rule over conversations in this manner, mostly out of insecurity, was no longer going to effect me--when I come across people like this, I immediately tune them out, knowing 9 times out of 10 that trying to have a back and forth conversation when they are set in their ways is almost impossible.

This got me to thinking about the infighting that's been going on here, wondering if it was just DU or if it's something that happens frequently within the feminist community (and not so surprisingly, it isn't uncommon--it appears, at times, we are the stereotype that women can't get along). So I searched out articles, wanting something that conveyed how I felt... I found this article interesting in light of everything that's been happening of late and thought we ALL could learn some lessons from it.

If we want to get anywhere, feminists need to quit fighting about waves, generations, and other nonsense. Luckily, we've already started.

<snip>

...We actually can have a productive conversation if we respond to internal criticism openly, honestly, and rigorously, but without vitriol. The personal may be the political, but taking shit personally often gets you politically nowhere, and there's no worse way to answer a critique than to construe it as an attack. Sure, Martin and especially Marcotte get critical right back, but they don't get nasty, and they never call Faludi a Bad Feminist or accuse her of kicking them out of the club.

This is not to say that young feminists are always reasonable, that I've never been nasty to one of my critics, or that Faludi's the bad guy (lady?) here. Rather, I'd like to champion a particular way of talking about feminist issues, one that's less about what kind of feminist you are (Good, Bad, young, old, second-wave, third-wave, post-) and more about how you see yourself, how you see society, and how you can find common ground with others. I disagree with Estep-Armstrong that we need "a new wave, a new school, a new theory" — I think we need a No Wave feminism, one that understands and respects that people and movements are complicated, that we're all going to have different beliefs, and that we can talk about these and even disagree without having an enormous schism. This will take trust, and calm, and a thick skin — the best way to have a productive debate is not to get pissed off in the first place, a lesson I'm still learning. Most of all, it will take an understanding that feminism isn't one ideology or platform or women's studies curriculum — as Martin points out, it's something that millions of women are doing, every single day.

http://jezebel.com/5650177/its-time-for-no+wave-feminism