Kimberly Springer

Third Wave Black Feminism

B lack feminists in the 1970s expended disproportionate amounts of energy attempting to legitimize themselves in the eyes of Black communities—so much so that often their organizing suffered (Springer 2001). It is compelling to note similarities between 1970s Black feminists and those writing in the 1990s. Writings in the 1990s continue to refute the idea that working against gender oppression is somehow counter to antiracist efforts. Both attempt to strike a balance between adequately theorizing race and gender oppression as they intersect in the United States. Black feminists writing then and now struggle with advocating a love for Black men while passionately hating Black sexism. And while older Black feminists are wrestling with past dilemmas and strive to impart knowledge about the struggle for racial and gender justice, younger Black women are also joining the dialogue through their activism, music, and writing. This article evokes three central questions about contemporary young Black women’s views on gender and race: Is there a third wave Black feminist politic? What issues are contemporary young Black feminists prioritizing? How do these young women contextualize their experiences and their politics? The article begins with a discussion of the term third wave and how this model excludes feminists of color. Looking closely at this term is key to positioning young Black women along the continuum of feminist history in the United States, as well as intervening in the exclusion of these voices from contemporary feminist theorizing and organizing. I examine three texts: Lisa Jones’s collection of essays Bulletproof Diva: Tales of Race, Sex, and Hair (1994), Joan Morgan’s essays When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-Hop Feminist (1999; hereafter known

Celebrity Feminists Have Problems, Too! Or, #FirstWorldCelebrityFeministProblems

A t themoment, Lena Dunham is giving me problems. In the overblown hothouse of social media, she has, once again, sparked the ire of the Twitterverse. In her newsletter, Lenny, Dunham projects her own insecurities onto professional football player Odell Beckham Jr. (Schumer and Dunham 2016). When Dunham and Beckham were seated at the same table at the 2016 Met Gala, Dunham perceived Beckham’s lack of interest in her, and deep interest in his mobile phone, as a sexist determination that she was unfuckable and, thus, not worth of chatting with. Later, in an apology via Instagram, she acknowledged her own insecurities and the role they played in her projections onto a stranger in the context of sexualized racism and white privilege—and extremely typical mobile phone addiction. I say that Lena’s giving me problems not because I know her personally— though that stops no one today from having deep, parasocial relationships with celebrity strangers—but because she’s my imagined favorite women’s studies student. She has resources.With feminist knowledge and, to some degree, self-awareness, she’s been set loose on the world to influence popular culture. So when she messes up, I am more than willing to say, “hey, look, white girls got problems, too.” That’s a flip, Twitter-friendly way of saying that, despite our gaffes, we’re all still in this feminist tugboat together. The tugboat might still have seating divided by physical ability, race, class, sexuality, and gender, but it’s the same boat. And it’s less the serial gaffes and attacks on feminism in pop media than the pace of conversations about, and not with, feminism that frustrate me. Bold statements (Beyoncé and Taylor), denials (Shailene and Katy), intimations, and missteps shape yet another very public conversation about feminism and the feminist brand that’s over before I get around to seeing the original posting in context. Andi Zeisler, author of We Were Feminists Once and cofounder of Bitch Media, sees fit to try to steer us through the latest waters of feminist resurgence and opposition. Zeisler does us a service that we need at least once every ten years: a roundup of themajor developments, arguments, and schisms

Book ReviewThe Trouble Between Us: An Uneasy History of White and Black Women in the Feminist Movement. By Winifred Breines. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism. By bell hooks and Amalia Mesa‐Bains. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2006.

indigenous women in Mexican movies, school strikes, adoption and divorce, and gender division of labor in the textile and coffee-packing industries, all within a theoretical analysis of power and the relationship between gender and social and cultural institutions. The articles on political participation of women in Catholic organizations, feminist political activism, and women in rural movements explore the immediate and longterm effects of the revolution on women. A final reflection on gender and authority is a fitting summation of the theoretical and historical aspects considered by the various authors and extends these beyond the Mexican experience. The deficiencies of the bibliography aside, this is a remarkable volume for the scope and depth of its contents and analysis and for its documentation of the challenges by the women of Mexico to the entrenched social order. It represents a remarkable and commendable effort that contributes to our changing view of the Mexican Revolution and its long aftermath. ❙