Explaining the generation debate: envy, history or feminism's victories?

Abstract

The generation debate between baby-boomer feminists and their putative daughters, or 'baby busters', has been described as 'the most pressing task for the feminisms of our time, both inside and outside academe'. (2) This paper commences with a brief exploration of the generational debate in its historical and social context, primarily in Australia, to question why it entered the popular imagination in the 1990s. Following this review, the article analyses young Australian women's attitudes to feminism and the women's movement. The results come from an Australian Research Council-funded project conducted between 2000 and 2004. While young women are more positive about feminism than some of their older critics would suggest, there is a tendency to believe that feminism is no longer relevant or useful. To some extent, this can be explained by the younger generation's more sanguine conviction that men and women have achieved equal opportunities in contemporary Australia.