Turbo Chicks

Feminist thought, action and practice are always dynamic, in a state of change. Theories and ideas from second-wave feminism are now shaping the theories and ideas of a third wave. Younger women coming to the women's movement today have a lot to say about feminism. And they want to say it in their own way. Turbo Chicks is an energetic collection of prose, poetry, theoretical explorations, zines and photo essays. The contributors come from all walks of life, different ages and experiences, sexual orientations, social and cultural backgrounds. Together their pieces build a conversation that is vital to hear. They present issues that feminists struggle with everywhere: how to put convictions into practice, how to talk about race, class, education, ability, sexuality and the privileging of voice. Each contributor identifies ten people who have influenced her and provides her own definition of feminism that broadens the dialogue.

Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminisms — Given the gag-worthy title, and the fact that this hefty collection of essays was edited by three York University Women's Studies graduate students, you'd think this would be an unreadable swamp of academic jargon hacked out by a sort of intolerably precious undergrad that I blush to admit I once was. But it's not! Sure, there's a bit of the aren't-women-incredible-thank-you-ani-for-deconstrucing-my-discourse thing happening, but it's safely contained and labeled the Academic Feminism section. On the whole, the editors have done a great job of gathering essays from all over the feminist spectrum (there are even a couple of not-so-young feminists represented!). There's dissent, there's debate, there's information, there's a cool photo-essay on gender-bending, there's good and bad poetry, there are even some articles that aren't explicitly feminist, but just talk about experiences associated with being a particular sort of woman in a particular sort of society. It paints an encouraging picture of the future of feminism as a way for a diverse and vigorous collection of persons to look at the world.
Highly recommended.

There seems to be no clear definition of exactly what constitutes third-wave feminism and, thankfully, Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminisms makes no attempt at coming up with a singular explanation. This book succeeds in offering up some important contributions to our understanding of how third-wave or young feminism is making an impact on feminist theorizing and practice. Editors Allyson Mitchell, Lisa Bryn Rundle and Lara Karaian are three young feminists who spent time as graduate students in the Women's Studies department at York University. With Turbo Chicks, they help to create a collection that not only gives a glimpse into the world young feminists live in, but they do so through a variety of mediums, including poetry and prose, photos and sophisticated feminist theorizing. What results is a wonderfully engaging and thoroughly readable collection that is funny, sad, angry, articulate and, for the most part, incredibly smart.

Several feminists over the past few years have been both publicly and privately heaping scorn onto third-wave feminism, accusing it (and presumably young feminists) of being more concerned with fashion, music, sex and aesthetics than with more traditional and explicitly political feminist goals. Third-wave feminism has in some spaces been equated with Spice Girl "girl power," and some in the mainstream media have also jumped into misreading what feminism means to younger women by declaring the death of feminism. Turbo Chicks is an excellent antidote for the misconception that young feminists are not thoughtful, critical, or political, and helps to demonstrate how central feminist issues are to young women.

Part of what makes Turbo Chicks such a thoughtful and engaging collection is the refusal to rely on one or two forms of writing. This collection is diverse — theorizing takes place along with photos and poems. The introduction consists of a conversation between the three editors. Their discussion helps situate the book within feminism more broadly, and younger feminism, specifically.

Turbo Chicks pays homage to the rich history of feminism. Each contributor is asked to provide their own definition of feminism and to supply a top-ten list of feminist influences. These lists help to personalize each contributor's relationship to feminism, and to create the sense that these women are looking to the past and engaging with the origins of feminism, while pushing it in new directions.

Turbo Chicks is divided into four sections that progress quite nicely. The first section, entitled "My First Feminism" engages with the often asked question "Why am I a feminist?" For the most part, the pieces are interesting, thought-provoking, and very accessible. From intergenerational relationships to challenging the limits of feminist theory for understanding present conditions, almost every piece engages with feminism in a critical way. Many of the pieces are very personal and reflect on how cultural differences, differences in sexual orientation, appearance and class mediate our relationships to feminism.

The second section, entitled "What's Big and Hairy: Expanding Identity," looks at bodies, sexuality, emotions and relationships. The pieces also consider the limitations of focusing too heavily on sex and culture. From poetry to a transcription between Maren Hancunt and the "original riot grrrl," Lydia Lunch, this section explores some of the contradictions young women face when exploring feminism. In a very moving piece, Cat Pyne poses the question: "Is feminism dynamic enough to respond to the tranny movement?" Through photos and text, Pyne explores whether or not feminism can see more than two genders. It demonstrates that young feminism is pushing feminism into new directions, and shows that focusing on bodies and sexuality is not a distraction from politics, but is politics.

The third section, called "Schooling Feminisms: Big Brained Girls Crack the Codes with Chainsaws," proves that third-wave feminists can and do engage with theory. In "Betty Friedan's Granddaughters," Jennifer Harris demonstrates that it is possible to engage with literary theory, poststructuralism and cultural studies in accessible and interesting ways. Her piece helps to make the book an excellent academic contribution, without narrowing the audience. Other contributions deal with negotiating race, class and sexual orientation, Diaspora and post-colonial feminisms, feminist graffiti and feminist pedagogy.

To end the book, "Fun Feminist Activities: Activism Explored" explores the numerous ways that young women are intervening in politics and claiming public space as their own -- through 'zine production, culture jamming and writing about revolution. There are contributions about women and the labour movement, menstruation, e-zines and punk music. Together, these contributions suggest that the focus on style and sexuality that gets dismissed in the media, and by some feminists, is only an aspect of a very wide-ranging and diverse, young feminist movement. Turbo Chicks is an excellent collection because it shows how multi-layered young feminism is. Though it is not an encapsulation of all that third-wave feminism has to offer, this collection does indicate some of the future directions for feminism in Canada. The road ahead looks exciting!