a letter from the editor

turning the tide

krista jacob

In this issue of Sexing the Political (STP), the writers have tackled an array of feminist topics: from the deconstruction of sex(uality) in political language to a close-up look at the feng shui of femme fashion to a basic primer on polyamory, number two reveals third wave feminists thinking about a litany of issues, and living sexually diverse lives.

Apparently, the STP writers aren’t the only young feminists thinking about sexuality and feminism. Much to my surprise we received seventy-eight submissions to be considered for this issue. Women sent them to us from seven different countries. Though I couldn’t include all of the submissions we received, I did increase the number of articles, essays, and book reviews included in this issue. I know it is difficult to read each piece, especially in one sitting, so please bookmark this site and visit us as frequently as you like.

Third wave feminists are using different venues to express themselves. While reading the submissions I received, I was struck by the different forums and language third wave feminists are using to analyze and critique our society. For example, in this issue of STP some articles possess an erudite and scholarly tone, while others are satirical and conversational. Each approach is powerful and, I imagine, will speak to its own audience. I think it is important to package feminism in as many different forms as possible so that it can reach the vastly diverse groups of women living in our world.

My generation of feminists is frequently criticized for being apathetic and apolitical. We are accused of being out of touch with feminist/women’s history and for taking our rights (such as legalized abortion) for granted. I don’t believe these falsities and I hope you don’t either. They have been concocted by mainstream media (usually referring to us as generation X) and are used against us when we deviate from the beliefs and practices of the generation(s) before us.

We at STP have great reverence for the second wave of feminism. It is in the spirit of the groundwork they laid for us that that we continue our commitment to feminism. We need to do a better job than they did at including the voices of the most marginalized women. Please see ProBlackGrrrl Revolution, Inc. (http://www.blackgrrrlrevolution.org/) for a brilliant and brave critique of third wave feminism.

I encourage you to read through this issue of STP and send us your own work, artistic or written. Please see "write for STP" for details. We are especially interested in work that deals with the issues of race and class.

Krista Jacob
editor and publisher
Sexing the Political:
A Journal of Third Wave Feminists on Sexuality

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