With the institutionalization of women's studies has come the emergence of a group of young women who call themselves "the third wave" of feminism. Although third wave feminists thus fair have failed to cohesively identify and agree upon what they call third-wave feminism, what they do share is a commitment to the use of personal experience in the production of feminist theory. This project stems from a concern that in spite of the apparent commitment of third wave theorists to what I call "personal theorizing", this rhetorical strategy is approached with a dangerous lack of specificity of intent. I propose an approach to personal theorizing that takes into account the potential negative effects of the use of the personal within the production of feminist theory, and instead offer a strategic way to engage the personal within feminist theorizing that takes third wave feminist theory a step further. Once approached from the perspective in which the personal is seen as a rhetorical tool that is only effective when used skillfully and precisely, I argue that personal theorizing offers a necessary and unique rhetorical strategy in order to fulfil specific third wave feminist objectives. Indeed, personal theorizing offers a strategy that fulfills three primary objectives of third wave feminism more efficiently that any other mode of theoretical production.
A large part of this project includes defining both "third wave feminism" and "personal theorizing". The definition that I propose for third wave feminism is grounded largely in the anthologies previously mentioned and offers a specific and politically viable explication of the third wave. Defined in direct opposition to the mainstream media's embrace of a "postfeminist era", I argue that the third wave is a stance of necessary political resistance to cries that "feminism is dead."
The analytical framework I use in my analysis of third wave theory is one of my own design. Drawing on various critics who discuss the use of the personal within the production of the theoretical, I argue for a rhetorical approach that is explicitly intended for the women who are in the process of forming what is and will be third wave theory. My hope is that a more specific articulation of the third wave, coupled with a more strategic engagement with the personal, can lead to a more useful and politically viable body of third wave feminist thought and practice.