Representing the Third Wave: Mainstream Print Media Framing of a New Feminist Movement

Abstract

This study analyzes the framing of third wave feminism to determine whether journalists are recycling stock frames commonly used to portray the women's movement of the 1970s. Using textual and content analyses, the author draws from more than ten years' worth of news stories to identify current framing patterns. The findings reveal that journalists have jettisoned some of the more negative frames, but still tend to depict third wave feminism in ways that distort its identity and purpose. The study reveals that the third wave is defined against the second wave in ways that disparage second wave actors and accomplishments, ultimately weakening feminism overall.