Postmodern Feminism

In Tong's book, "Feminist Thought", I found the chapter on postmodern feminism and third-wave feminism to be very interesting.  Postmodern feminists, according to Tong, reject any mode of feminist thought that aims to provide a single explanation as to why women are oppressed.  I agreed more with postmodern feminism in the sense that it is accepting of diversity and change.  Postmodern feminists are eager to understand the ways in which gender oppression and other kinds of human oppression co-create and mix together. For example a black woman faces not only oppression because she is female, but also due to the color of her skin.  Diversity is accepted with this new idea of feminism and therefore women of any ethnicity can speak on the behalf of their oppression.  Unlike the first establishment of feminism there is no single formula for being a "good feminist".  Both for postmodern and third wave feminism, a woman is able to wear makeup and dresses and still be considered a feminist; which goes against what most people in society believe to be a feminist.  Tong reviewed a piece by Judith Butler in which Butler believed that sex is constructed from the very beginning.  For example she stated "when the doctor or nurse declares 'It's a girl/boy', they are not simply reporting what they see....they are actually assigning a sex and a gender to a body that can have no existence outside discourse" (Tong, p. 282).  There isn't even a possibility that baby could become a lesbian or be a transsexual.  I agree with Butler's statement because as babies our parents told us what sex we were going to grow up to be.  Many individuals who do not feel like their natural-born sex have difficulty telling their parents if they decide to switch sexes.  This is due to our parents' expectations and them setting the stage for us to be who they want us to be, and who we are "born to be".  I find myself more agreeing with this notion of feminism because it is so accepting and inviting for every woman to be the kind of feminist she wants to be.