There’s something I’ve been sitting with lately.
This quiet, almost uncomfortable question:
What happens when the world tells you things are better… but your life doesn’t feel better?
I’ve been deep in the energy of third-wave feminism recently—not just from a historical lens, but from a human one.
If you want to familiarize yourself on what the 3rd Wave issues were all about, go ahead and watch HERE.
And the more I sit with it, the more I realize…
This wasn’t just a “movement.”
It was a response to a feeling.
Because by the time we reached the 1990s, the narrative was clear:
Women had made it.
We had rights.
We had opportunities.
We had a seat at the table.
And on the surface, that was true.
But underneath?
Something wasn’t landing.
Women were working more than ever before…
but still being paid less.
Still being overlooked.
Still quietly navigating spaces that weren’t built with them in mind.
And I think what really stands out to me is this:
There was this expectation that women should now be able to do everything… without anything actually changing to support that reality.
Work full time.
Raise children.
Manage a home.
Hold it all together.
But there was no real system in place to support that version of life.
No consistent maternity leave.
No reliable childcare.
No meaningful structural shifts from governments or corporations.
Just… expectation.
And then there’s the part that feels even deeper.
The part we don’t always say out loud.
Even within our own homes… things didn’t necessarily balance out.
The responsibilities didn’t magically become shared.
The emotional labor didn’t suddenly redistribute itself.
In many cases, women expanded their roles—
but didn’t receive the same expansion in support.
And at the same time…
There were still threats to things that should have felt secure.
Access to contraception.
Support systems for women experiencing violence.
Funding for shelters and crisis centers being pulled back.
It’s like…
Progress was happening in one direction,
while something else was quietly being taken away in another.
And I keep coming back to this feeling:
No wonder so many women were unhappy.
Not because they were ungrateful.
But because something didn’t match.
The message was:
“You’re equal now.”
But the lived experience was:
“This still feels heavy… and uneven.”
And maybe this is the part that resonates beyond feminism.
Maybe this is something we all experience in different ways.
When growth is acknowledged on the outside…
but not fully supported on the inside.
When expectations evolve…
but the foundation underneath them doesn’t.
I think the third wave of feminism was, in many ways, a reckoning with that gap.
Not a rejection of progress—
but a deeper questioning of it.
A willingness to say:
“Okay… but what about this part?”
The part that’s harder to measure.
The part that doesn’t show up in laws or headlines.
The part that lives in daily life.
And maybe that’s the invitation here.
To notice where things look resolved…
…but don’t feel resolved.
To trust that disconnect, instead of dismissing it.
Because sometimes, that quiet feeling—
that something is still off—
isn’t wrong.
It’s awareness.
I’d love to know what this brings up for you.
Have you ever experienced a moment where everything should feel okay…
but doesn’t?
Go ahead and comment with your answer below. I’d love to hear what you think.
There is this space in between our expectation and reality…
That’s where the deeper truth usually lives.
—Michele