Summer Sisters

Blume published Summer Sisters in 1998, just a few years into the third wave of feminism. Much of the novel takes place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, during the second wave of feminism. While the second wave focused heavily on gender parity in the workplace, home, and legal system, women had also made gains in reproductive rights, with widespread availability of the birth control pill starting in the early 1960s, followed by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion an individual’s choice. These factors contributed to a culture in which women were freer to engage in sex, although debates about women’s sexual expression—sometimes dubbed the “sex wars”—continued into the 1980s, as many feminists denounced the objectification of women through pornography, sex work, and other factors. Still, a budding movement of sex-positive feminists argued for a perspective that allowed for women’s pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake. As the third wave took off in the mid-1990s—shortly before Blume wrote Summer Sisters—the focus on women’s sexuality shifted to include discussions of sexuality as power and furthered the focus on sex positivity, aiming to eliminate shame and normalize women’s sexual appetites and consensual sexual exploration (Klein, Jessica.