Liberal Irony, Rhetoric, and Feminist Thought: A Unifying Third Wave Feminist Theory

Valerie R. Renegar, San Diego State University
Stacey K. Sowards, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Third wave feminism highlights the tensions of its predecessor feminisms while offering the hope of a more unified, yet diverse, movement. We argue that third wave feminism needs an overarching and coherent philosophical theory. Richard Rorty’s liberal ironism (the recognition that our language practices are contingent and that pain and humiliation are the worst aspects of human nature) is a mechanism that new feminisms may utilize to create solidarity through rhetorical construction and linguistic redescription.