Third-Wave Feminism: Identity, Agency, and the Turn Toward the Individual

Third-wave feminism emerged in the 1990s as both a continuation of and a reaction against the second wave. By this point, many of the second wave’s gains - legal protections against discrimination, expanded access to education and employment, and public conversations about violence and reproduction - were formally in place. But it was increasingly clear that those victories had not translated into liberation for everyone. The dominant feminist narrative is still centered on white, heterosexual, middle-class women and treats race, sexuality, class, disability, and culture as side issues rather than foundational ones.