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akademiskacademic quarterkvarterTeaching against the TideCamille Alexanderformant. Because Steinem is no longer as well-known as she oncewas, she must be introduced to a new audience of readers. Therefore,assigning her essay leads to historical and social examinationsof the roles of gender and feminism in current American society incomparison to the American society of Steinem’s (1979) essay.Teaching has expanded my knowledge of student populationsand their heterogeneity. As a result, I no longer assume that studentsare familiar with Steinem, the 1960s, or with second wavefeminism and usually begin the discussion with a brief history ofall three. Students bring their prior experiences to this discussion,often sharing a considerable amount of misinformation about feminism.However, Steinem’s essay is a good selection because it raisesquestions. Students want to know why the feminist movementwas important and if it is still relevant. I can only answer the firstof those questions from a historical perspective, and I encouragestudents to debate the second.Steinem’s (1979) essay provides an excellent introduction to feminismand the feminist movement, but it can be accused of lackinguniversal appeal. Steinem’s (1979) audience is White, middle class,and in college, which is one of the major criticisms of second wavefeminism: that it is largely a tool of a privileged, Western few to theexclusion of the Other. As a result, students are exposed to one interpretationof feminism from Steinem that is exclusive of their selfidentities.To counter Steinem, I assign texts by third wave feministsoffering a different perspective on or a variation of feminism. SoniaShah’s (1995) “Tight Jeans and Chania Chorris” is an excellent counterto Steinem’s (1979) brand of feminism because Shah is a thirdwave feminist, an American born to Indian immigrants, and someonewho spent her childhood traveling between the U.S. and India.As the child of physicians Shah is privileged, but she is also Otheredas the daughter of immigrants and a woman of color. Shah’sparents also maintained close ties to their home country, India, andIndian culture. As a result, Shah has an Indian, international, andAmerican worldview.Shah’s essay addresses the complexities of being a feminist andliving between two cultures that are often at odds, which is a situationthat many of my students personally experience. Shah (1995)describes the differences between her conceptualization of feminismand her parents’, noting that their opposing views often leadVolume03 73