I am a sophomore college student in a Communications class this semester. I've been assigned to give a speech on the differences between Radical and Post-Modern feminism, but I really know very little on either subject.... Especially the post-modern. I was wondering if you'd be able to refer me to a place where I might find articles and information for that. I figured, when giving a speech on feminism, feminists are probably the best people to go to. Thank you for your help, Robert

Thanks for your note to Feminist.com. I also vote for plain old "feminism" and feel that any qualifier is only an attempt to divide feminists and feminism than unify it. However, I did consult some dictionaries to help you with your speech:

Postfeminism..."focuses on cultural forms as against structural analysis, especially in the role of Culture and Language...Its use...indicates that feminism has succeeded in shifting the terrain of cultural politics; not necessarily implying that the battle has been won,...but making it necessary to read texts differently..." Those who disagree with the term do so because it implies that feminism has somehow been won, ignoring the political struggles that still lie ahead of us. Post feminism is more of an academic term--and is lite on class analysis. The quoted section comes from the Glossary of Feminist Theory by Sonya Andemahr, Terry Lovell, and Carol Wolkowitz.

Radical Feminism.....was born out of radical/leftist politics--which tended to overlook women's contribution. Many radical feminists see men as the direct oppressors of women--rather than society. Radical Feminism was active during the late 1960s and early 1970s....And much of this was documented in the book Daring to Be Bad. You can also find a good/comprehensive entry in the Readers Companion to U.S. Women's History (available at the Feminist.com Bookstore).

—Amy