Post-feminism & Media.

As defined in our textbook, post-feminism refers to the shift within the understanding of feminist culture. Post-feminism basically focuses on "the evolution in emphasis from the oppression of all women to the empowerment of individual women." Over the years this term has expanded in the focus on the status of women. Historically, the development began in the nineteenth and early twentieth century with the even of the First Wave. This event was worldwide but was most carried out particularly in the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States of America. The First Wave focused on inequalities, primarily on giving women the right to vote. As everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard as all contribute to the condition of society, women fought extensively for this right. Furthermore, the Second Wave occurring during the 1970's and the 1980's focusing on the right to have both workplace and reproductive rights in society. The Third Wave occurred more close to present day, in the 1990's and beyond.

In summary, the three waves of post-feminism were characterized by:

a. sexual agency, reproductive & voting rights

b. personal choice

c. individual empowerment

Although its difficult to pin point what exact post-feminism is, it has been broken down into four basic factors: melding of female sexuality in response to sexualized culture, dominance of individual choice and responsibility in associated with self discipline, supporting theories that address sexual difference between men and women and lastly, a reliance on irony in cultural messages. In all, women’s rights have grown and also progressed in due timing significantly in the last two decades. However the larger challenges at hand remain in order to end global gender discrimination.