Different Wavelengths by Jo Reger

Author:Jo Reger [Reger, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415948791
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 2028159
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2005-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

GENERATIONS WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS

These tensions that young feminists encounter within women’s policy organizations are not always satisfactorily captured by an emphasis on generational differences. By investigating the relationships between young women and other feminists connected to their organizations, the generational model is further interrogated. Bette offered an example of generational tensions not being restricted to interactions between boss and staff, but also affecting interactions with an older woman served by her organization. She said:

I was talking with an older woman our organization serves the other day just about trends in the nation, changes in foreign policy, and you know the whole John Ashcroft thing. She said, “When this happened to my generation, we were out in the streets, and I would just hope that your generation will also take up the charge if you need to.” We had a pleasant conversation, but afterwards I thought, well, you know, “Screw you.” We were out in the streets a year ago. I looked around and there were so many young people… When I go out to the [pro] choice rallies I see young girls and young women out there. We aren’t really different than previous generations. I think it takes a galvanizing event—like a preemptive war against Iraq, like the legitimate threat that the court might take away Roe vs. Wade—to get people energized.

Bette’s is a classic example of generational tensions in feminism from the perspective of a younger woman: an older woman she respects, using a yardstick of the 1960s and explicit generational language, dismisses or ignores the activism of today’s youth and holds an individual young feminist accountable for the actions (or lack thereof) of her generation. It was exactly these tensions that Laura feared when she started her job in an office where the other women were significantly older than her.

I thought I would get a lot of this, “You won’t understand this because you’re like twelve years old.” But that hasn’t happened at all. People have been really welcoming and so happy that someone so young would want to be involved with these issues. So it’s been a very affirming move for me.

Generational tensions, such as those Bette described do exist, as do concerns about disrespect on the basis of age, as Laura illustrated. Emerging from these stories is the realization that there is no single formula for generational divides within women’s organizations. Sometimes they appear where least expected and other times are absent where we might predict they would be most prevalent. Indeed the very concepts of age and generation are problematic. Is the issue that Bette’s generation doesn’t live up to a previous generation’s model of activism or that Laura is too young?

The concepts of age and generation are further complicated by the experiences of Christina, Allison, and Madison. Age is a continuous rather than dichotomous idea, and perceptions of age are influenced by other factors, including position within an organization, as Christina’s experience demonstrates.

Obviously my boss is sort of the most important to prove my worthiness to, because she’s the boss, but I’ve had to do that to the other older people too.

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