Submit to the Wave!
Changing the world for the better, one story at a time
Why submit to Fourth Wave?
Fourth Wave is here to create a community where we can talk about things of interest to women and other disempowered groups. We particularly like stories about how to make the world a better place, with an eye towards reducing sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, income inequality, environmental destruction, and other blights. We also like reviews, humor, fiction, and poetry on those themes. And we love submissions from authors of minority cultures and people who live outside the U.S.
Have you got a story to tell? Submit to the Wave! If your piece is ready to go, drop a draft link in our SUBMISSION FORM. To learn how to get your story ready to go, watch this instructional video.
Published pieces are also okay if submitted within a day or two of the publication date. If you want to ask a question, send an email to [email protected]. If you want more information, see the Submission Guidelines. And if you want to talk with fellow writers and readers, consider coming to our monthly salon.
Credit to the Artist
Our masthead was created by Leila Register. You can find her on Instagram.
What does the name mean?
Fourth Wave is a feminist term. The banner of our publication is a visual representation of the four waves of the feminist movement.
Suffragettes created the First Wave of feminism which earned American women the right to vote in 1920 and focused on overturning legal barriers to gender inequality.
The Second Wave, represented by Gloria Steinem, came in the 1960s and ’70s and broadened the movement to include issues of sexuality, family, the workplace, and reproductive rights.
The Third Wave appeared in the 1990s, provoked by Anita Hill’s testimony about sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. The term is credited to Rebecca Walker (daughter of Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker) who used it in a piece about the hearings that was published in Steinem’s Ms. Magazine. That’s why both Hill and a portion of Walker’s piece represent the third wave on our banner. The Third Wave sought to redefine the term feminist, arguing for more individuality and diversity. Here’s a quote about it from Wikipedia:
The term third wave is credited to Rebecca Walker, who responded to Thomas’s appointment to the Supreme Court with an article in Ms. magazine, “Becoming the Third Wave” (1992).[9][1][6] She wrote:
So I write this as a plea to all women, especially women of my generation: Let Thomas’ confirmation serve to remind you, as it did me, that the fight is far from over. Let this dismissal of a woman’s experience move you to anger. Turn that outrage into political power. Do not vote for them unless they work for us. Do not have sex with them, do not break bread with them, do not nurture them if they don’t prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives. I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave.[10][1]
The Fourth Wave is the era we are in today. It started around 2012 and focuses on empowering women using Internet tools. But the Fourth Wave isn’t just about gender. It builds on the concept of intersectionality introduced in the Third Wave, and recognizes how interlocking systems of power work together to keep all marginalized groups in check. The woman holding up the sign on our banner was protesting police mistreatment of women in Mexico. Her sign says, “They don’t protect me. They rape me.” These are the kinds of issues we want to discuss in this publication.
Please join us in making the world a better place, one story and one reader at a time. Submit a story and follow Fourth Wave!
