A Critical Analysis of Writers Post Third Wave Feminism

Abstract

Inclusiveness in literature from a feminist perspective has been marred because of the ambivalent representation of women in literary works. The advent of the first wave of feminism during the 19th and early 20th century, paved the way for women to assert their rights to vote. The second wave of feminism (1960s-1980s) broadened to a wider assertion of women rights including demystifying socially constructed gender norms and inclusion of women as equals in construction of society. The third wave of feminism (1990s-2000s) became more inclusive as it included the marginalised section of women (women and girls of colour) who felt the first two waves failed to include them. The third wave significantly manifested the position of women represented in literature and works of literature. Various literary works produced after the third wave of feminism took a paradigm shift; women were no longer represented through the socially constructed gender norms but as having an identity of their own. It focused more on the individual self and the sexual liberation of women vis-à-vis reclamation strategy of finding one’s own way through sexual liberation. The objective of this critical analysis is to show how the feminist movement changed the way women have been represented in literature and literary works post third wave feminism.