While feminism has been an ongoing movement since 1895, the ways it has been practiced has changed and reformed various times throughout the years. These changes in how feminism is practiced in our society occur accordingly with changes in goals, as well as technology development within our society. The term “wave” is used to describe and assign a timeline for feminism by breaking it up according to drastic changes within the movement such as war and tragedy. Currently, there are three verified waves of feminism, the third being the most modern. Beginning in the early 1990’s, third wave feminism is largely shaped by the rise of social media, which began in the late 1990’s. While social media creates both positives and negatives for feminism, it is considered more beneficial than harmful because of the great increase in communication and participation within third wave feminism. But before one can consider how social media has affected feminism, it is important to not only have a basic understanding of what feminism means, but also it is crucial to examine how the three “waves” compare and contrast with each other.

  A set definition for feminism is often up for debate between different people in our society. This is because there are many parts that make up feminism, such as women’s reproductive rights or legal rights, which means there are some feminists who focus on one particular branch of feminism while others may focus on another. These branches are often broken into five different categories: Liberal feminism, radical feminism, socialist feminism, cultural feminism, and ecofeminism. Despite the controversy, many scholars have agreed upon a “broad definition” that deals with “issues of equality, valuing what is female, political inclusion, and freedom of choice” (Jackson, 687-688). While that is the broad definition for feminism in today’s society, it is still necessary to keep in mind the first and second waves of feminism because they are the backbone of what feminism means today. Each wave of feminism had a different interpretation of feminism, which went on to transform as achievements and developments increased in the feminist movement throughout the years.

First wave feminism began in the 1830’s, with the main goal of women gaining political power. Hewitt agrees when she says women’s suffrage is considered first wave feminism’s “primary (sometimes its sole) focus” (Hewitt, 662). What is meant by this is that the one most important goal during this period was for women to gain the right to vote. While this stays true, it has been documented that other legal rights, such as education and property ownership, were also a concern for first wave feminists, but they were just not as publicized. Compared to to the other waves of feminism, the first wave feminists were not as radical, but more conservative. First wave feminism stemmed from Christian ideals, and because slavery was still occurring during this time, it often tended to the needs of white women. This resulted in a large population of women being left out of the political movement, meaning that “black women’s  independent suffrage organization were barely acknowledged” (Hewitt, 662). The two most widely known advocates during the first wave feminism were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, both of which advocated through autobiographies and speeches. The first wave accomplished many different thing, the most significant being the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention of 1848 and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. 

    In contrast to first wave feminism, second wave feminism was primarily concerned with sexuality, the family dynamic, and women in the workforce, rather than women’s suffrage. This began in the late 1940’s, after World War II, which meant women were having to leave their jobs in order for soldiers to have a career after returning home from war. Many men went on strike, feeling women did not have a place in the work force. Not only did this push women out of the work force, but created a society that was very family oriented and followed a strict family dynamic that gave the husband autonomy. Feminists in the second wave often advocated with campaigns, strikes, and rallies, which are often considered to be “distinctly radical” (Hewitt, 663). By this, it is meant that second wave feminism was very intense and passionate, which had feminists strongly voicing their opinion whether it be through slogans or other types of campaigning. This led to the introduction of the Liberal Feminist Movement and the Radical Feminist movement, both of which deal with society’s gender roles. The most significant accomplishments during this period include the approval of birth control by the FDA and the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevented sexual discrimination in the workplace and gave women more job opportunities. 

  Unlike the first and second waves of feminism, one of the third waves primary goals is to do what the first waved failed to do by including all women of race, religion, sexual orientation, and social standing. Beginning in the 1990’s, third wave feminism started in hope for a new way of feminism was “in line with the political, economic, technological, and cultural circumstances” (Dejmanee, 742). This means that third wave feminism is very focused on social change and the doing away with stereotypes and gender roles. Many take third wave feminism to be the redefining of feminism, as it is looking for a change in certain terms, language to define women, and how women are portrayed through media. The media, more specifically social media networks, is the main campaigning tool for third wave feminists. Along with social media, third wave feminists use prior tactics such as marches and rallies, which are publicized and shared through social media. The added aspect of social media has made women more aware on a global level, as well as hyped up certain movements within feminism, causing more participation within the feminist community. While this is our current wave of feminism, accomplishments have already been made throughout the years. Most significantly, the Violence Against Women Act became a law in the US, along with the Family and Medical Leave Act. In 2004, the March for Women’s Lives was initiated in order to support certain women’s rights such as abortion, birth control, and sexual education. This was highly publicized in 2017 after the inauguration of Donald Trump, resulting in millions of women participating in protest in various different cities nationwide. 

Not only is social media the most used tool in third wave feminism, it is modern feminism’s greatest influence, resulting in both positive and negative effects among the feminist movement. This has caused the ongoing debate among feminists on whether or not social media is a more positive or negative influence. Many feminists feel the bad outweighs the good in terms of the relationship between social media and modern feminism. In her book Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn, Levine agrees with this idea, claiming that “with the expansion of media into digital realms and the ever-further segregation of media users into specialized niches, the early twenty first century has offered up a broad array of popular spaces identified culturally as feminine” (Levine, 1). By this, it is meant that social media only strengthens the stereotypes and gender roles that third wave feminism attempts to break our society out of. There are several ways social media does this, most of which makes feminism and and women the butt of a joke. Levine elaborates on this when she brings up the “dismissive naming” that social media uses such as “ chick flicks, mommy blogs, and lady porn” (1). This not only uses the concept of femininity for comical purposes, but assigns certain stereotypes to women as it attempts to define what femininity “should” look like. A powerful example of this is celebrity activity among social media networks. Due to our society’s pop culture, celebrities, such as the Kardashians, share their lives and appearance through social media networks in order to work on their own publicity, which glorifies emotional and physical stereotypes about women and femininity, as well as defines what should be important in a woman’s life. This in-turn pressures every-day social media users to fit these roles by encouraging them to “have it all”. Levine describe this as the “formulation” that refers to the “successful combination of career, personal and family life, and conventionally attractive physical appearance” (8). This kind of negative affect in feminism not only stems from social media, but can be found in other sources of media such as books, movies, and television advertisements. While this does affect how women are viewed or how they view themselves, Levine offered a positive outlook on it by claiming it allows us to see where our society stand culturally. 

The biggest dilemma that feminism faces when it comes to social media is how the youth of our society will come to understand what feminism means or what it means to be a woman. Social media sexualizes women through products like ads, celebrities, and fashion, and targets young girls to be subject to these things. In a study conducted in 2015, in which 400 profiles on a popular teen social networking site were observed, it was found that 48.7 percent of girls had revealing profile pictures, while only 25.8 percent boys did. It was also found that self-sexualization among young girls is far more common than that of older women. Daniels and Zurbriggen analyze these findings, stating that “together these patterns reveal that young people today regularly see girls/women portrayed in sexualized ways in both traditional and new media they consume on a daily basis” ( Daniels and Zurbriggen, 939). Not only does this teach girls that there is a certain way they should look or act, but causes boys to create certain unfair expectations of girls that includes the way they view sex and the way they should look or feel. The problem that arises is the fact that social media introduces wrong messages to the youth at such an early age, which could mean that third wave feminism could fail in its efforts to break from gender molds if our future generations are being “brainwashed” by the media. 

On the other side of this debate, many feminists consider social media as a “game changer” in the way feminism works towards its efforts. Barry helps explain why this is by stating in her article, Feminism 3.0: Women and Media, that “women working for social change have consistently looked to media as a powerful way to bring female voices and struggles forth” (Barry, 1). The greatest change we see in third wave feminism compared to the first and second waves is the communication and participation. While first and second wave feminism did include campaigns and protests that were shared to the world through news channels and radio, they never had social media, which allows third wave feminists to connect with each other, as well as spread information. Levine found in her analysis that women were more likely to participate in the advocating of women’s rights when done over social media instead of attending protests (Levine, 1). Social media is a much easier, more accessible way for people to join in on a cause. This gives feminism a great opportunity to be publicized, which allows for more inclusion for feminists who are unable to attend protests or organize meetings and rallies whether it be because of their busy schedule, financial position, or location in the world. This gives everyone the opportunity to stay current on the issues of feminism.

Social media also keeps feminism and its cause relevant towards social media users. Messina-Dysert agrees with this idea, stating that social media is feminism’s “best publicity stunt” (Messina-Dysert, 140). By this, she means that because social media is so popular in our culture, the use of it to advocate and participate in feminism means the 1 billion people who use  social media everyday are exposed to feminist topics and concerns more than ever before. The most popular social networking sites, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, allow users to send and share articles, pictures, links, and videos both publically and privately, making it easier than ever to advocate or participate. A great example of this being put to use within feminism is the use of “hashtag campaigns” over the social media site, Twitter. During the 2015 Oscars, the #AskHerMore campaigned for journalists to stop asking actresses questions based on appearances and saving the more intelligent, critical thinking questions for the actors. This not only worked towards gender equality, but was a great way for feminism to be advocated since many loved celebrities joined in on it, which helped influence other women as well as created feminist role models. 

Because social media has caused both positive and negative effects within modern feminism, it is important to analyze and compare the impacts that these effects have created. In order to do this, the three waves must be compared and contrasted. Social media can be considered a large contributor to the development of the “third wave” feminism. From this, it can also be said that social media partly defines what feminism means it today’s world, and is continuing to shape this definition. It has installed the integration and accessibly into feminism, which is something that the first two waves lacked. While social media has also conveyed negatives messages that go against feminist ideals through the use of ads and celebrities, this is a pattern that has been occurring long before the development of social media. Media has always been used to sexualize and generalize the female gender, even during the first and second waves through the use of magazines, radio, ads, and movies. Because of this extensive pattern, it can be settled that this is a problem that goes way past social media, and is an inevitable outcome of how our society works. The argument could be made that perhaps this would still be a problem even without the involvement of social media.  

After that reasoning, it can be concluded that social media has all-in-all worked in favor of feminism and its development. The positive and negative effects bear different impacts, which means one is of more importance than the other. While the sexualization and misrepresentation of girls and women are certainly not good for the cause and motivations of feminism, these are problems that society had faced long before social media was ever introduced and made popular. Overall, feminism has prospered from social media and made possible what was not possible during the first and second waves of feminism, which was accessibility for all women and the publicity and awareness. Not only does this help raise awareness for those who know little about feminism or have incorrect information about it, but connects women who live in areas that do not provide pertinent knowledge or who are in any way unable to participate in protests that they wish to. Despite where people stand on the debate, social media is inherently a very powerful tool which all users should know how to use appropriately. 
