Unpopularising Feminism: ‘Blaming Feminism’ in the Generation Debate and the Mother Wars

Abstract

Over the last three decades, ‘blaming feminism’ has been a strong thread in two popular debates concerning the women’s movement. The first is the generation debate, between second-wave baby-boomer feminists and the third wave or generation × feminists. Third-wave feminists blame second-wave feminists for sabotaging women’s potential by taking on the mantle of ‘victim’ feminism; second-wave feminists retort that third wavers embrace an individualistic and consumerist approach. In the second debate, the mother wars (mommy wars in the United States), second-wave feminists are blamed for denigrating full-time mothers and telling young women they can ‘have it all’: they can readily combine career and motherhood. This article reviews the debates, with attention to the media’s role and the larger social context in Australia, Great Britain and the United States.