Postmodern virtualities and the fourth wave of feminism

          In Poster’s article, written in 1995, he proposes that virtual reality and the “information superhighway” has the potential to construct a new postmodern subject. In contrast to the first media age, this rising form of electronic communication “permits the beginning of a line of thought that confronts the possibility of a new age, avoiding the continued, limiting, exclusive repetition of the logics of modernity” (Poster 1995, 447). This summoned to mind a conversation I once had in a women’s studies class regarding the fourth wave of feminism. To provide some context for those who may not be familiar with the waves of feminism that are universally agreed upon, there are three: the first wave focused on women's suffrage in the 19^th and early 20^th century, the second wave was concerned with cultural and political inequalities from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, and the third wave (starting in the 1990s) arose as a criticism of definitions of femininity that generalize the experiences of upper-middle-class white women.

            This last wave, however, is somewhat of a contested issue. Although many feminists argue that it’s still in effect today, there is discussion of acknowledging the existence of a potential fourth wave. While the third wave arose largely from subculture and minority movements, and the current feminism reflects these intersectional origins, the fourth wave would be one that was born specifically from the Internet and in virtual communities. Because postmodernism is an essential framework for contemporary intersectional feminism, I think Poster supports this theory of a new feminism that operates largely through online communities. He rejects antiquated concepts of modernism in his discussion of online communications – he asserts that it is too simplistic to see the “success of ‘virtual’ communities as an indication that ‘real’ communities are in decline” (Poster 1995, 447).

Rather, he sees the Internet as home to a new type of community, one without boundaries or presupposed categorizations of identity; for this very reason, the Internet provides the perfect foundation for deconstructing binary thinking and allowing people to redefine themselves outside of modern constrictions. “The notion of a real community… presupposes the fixed, stable identities of its members, the exact assumption that Internet communities put into question” (Poster 1995, 447). The belief in fixed, stable identities is an antiquated notion, and it's true that feminism has been deconstructing identities for decades. However, the Internet has made this deconstruction broadly accessible, and has provided a platform for new ideas to emerge and for people to find safe spaces. The fact that these spaces are not physical does not render them invalid or insignificant. The Internet has redefined the concept of community, further deconstructed fixed notions of identity, expanded conversation around these issues, and reconstructed concepts of global feminism. For this reason, I believe that the postmodern virtualities of which Poster speaks can act as a strong argument for acknowledging the existence of a fourth wave of feminism.