Third Wave Feminism?

I read the article "Mediating Third-Wave Feminism: Appropriation as Postmodern Media Practice," and there were some points that I agreed with and some I did not agree with.

For example, the authors mention how Alanis Morissette is very strong and vocal in her songs. They point out how her lyrics are feminist because the heroes of her songs, all females, are generally confronting a lover who exploited her and she is sick of it. I do not agree with the part about how the media is the one that is making Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill seem like a product of anger. With the information I was given from this article, I believe Morissette and her band are the ones that make the album look like a product of anger, since the band is the one that gets to write the music and the lyrics. If the media is involved with making Morissete's own music seem like that of an angry woman's, I would like to know how, because this point is not clarified in this writing.

I do agree with the writers on how Jagged Little Pill is a perfect example on how third wave feminists tend to contradict themselves. Some of the songs are about a woman who is confronting her antagonistic lover, suggesting that the woman is very strong and powerful. However, there is another song involving a situation with a woman who is worn down and feeling hopeless, indicating a weak side to a woman. And yet, there is another song where a woman expresses gratitude to her lover, the man is not even antagonistic. Even though these songs contradict each other, there can still be arguments to justify these contradictions. For example, the songs where she confronts the antagonistic lover could simply be about her ex-lover, while the song about devotion to her lover could be a current boyfriend who treats her a lot better than the last one did.

I noticed that these songs are in first-person, indicating that she could be talking about herself. The song about the beaten-down woman is titled a feminine name that is not Morissette's: "Mary Jane." This song is also in second-person, which could mean that she is talking to and, in the audience's case, about someone else who is in a situation very similar to her own but is handling it differently, in a not-so-feminist way.

This article had a few other examples of feminism, but I believe Morissette was the best example because she is such a strong character. She knows how to express her strentgh within her music and gives the message that she will not tolerate being put down by a man.

Shugart, Helene A., Catherine Egley Waggoner, and D. Lynn O'Brien Hallstein. "Mediating Third-Wave Feminism: Appropriation as Postmodern Media Practice." p.194-210.