The Third Wave Foundation will provide an opportunity for Penn State students to learn that feminism still exists today, and not just in the media-driven ideal of being successful, sassy and sexy.

Third Wave, which has been in operation since 1997, is one of a handful of national activist organizations for women between the ages of 15 and 30. This philanthropic association aspires to contest inequalities that result from differences in age, race, sexual orientation, economic status and level of education.

Two of the Foundation's prominent leaders, Amy Richards and Mia Herndon, will be presenting a lecture Tuesday at Penn State entitled "Barbies and Boycotts: Third Wave Feminism?"

Through grant making, public education campaigns and networking, Third Wave supports young feminists and feminist groups throughout the country. It spreads its message to inspire future activists in the feminist movement and in the Third Wave Foundation.

"Third Wave Foundation tries to connect to young women and motivate them as political actors," said Laura Lomas, an assistant professor of comparative literature and Spanish who is familiar with the Foundation's work.

Third Wave is run by a group of individuals who are as diverse as the Foundation's causes, which include campaigning for a living wage, environmental protections, reproductive rights, combating racism, voting registration and much more.

"Amy Richards was partly inspired by Gloria Steinem but due to her own ingenuity as an activist, she has organized young women across racial and ethnic lines throughout America," Lomas said in regard to Richards' work with the Third Wave Foundation.

Breaking through such racial barriers was a feat that many people feel the second wave feminist movement of the 1960s — famous for The Feminine Mystique, bra-burnings, and protest rallies — failed to propagate or accomplish.

"Second wave tends to come out of a rhetoric and assumptions that were classist and white, and left behind concerns that other social justice movements addressed," said Virginia Smith, a lecturer in the English department and women's studies.

Third wave feminism, that of recent years, is the basis for Third Wave Foundation and critiques prior forms of feminism for perpetuating racism within the movement.

Third wave feminism is "hipper, younger, and cooler," said Smith, who believes that many female college students deny being identified as feminists because it is not considered "chic or stylish."

She thinks that students should learn more about feminism because "many students have the sense that there is no need for feminism, that all the work's been done, and that feminism is boring, strident and un-hip."

Smith believes it is important for Penn State to continue to bring in women speakers, such as Richards and Herndon, so female students can learn that their "concerns with notions of gender, social and justice equality" are based in the feminist movement.

Third wave feminism, though usually effective, is in danger of becoming too associated with pop culture icons like Britney Spears, Ally McBeal and Bridget Jones, and with "girl power" which tends to "stop with the right lip gloss and soccer cleats," Smith said.

Associations like Third Wave Foundation, by attacking issues of social justice, are making sure that feminism doesn't sink to this superficial point.

Amy Richards, a current staff member, is also a co-founder of Third Wave. Richards' work is not limited to the Third Wave Foundation. A contributing editor to Ms. Magazine, she has also worked as a consultant to Gloria Steinem, co-authored Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future, had her writings anthologized in numerous magazines and books, and writes an online advice column for Feminist.com.

Mia Herndon, a recent graduate of Columbia University, is the foundation's outreach coordinator. She conducts research for several organizations and has been involved in working on such issues as prison industrial complex, the drug war and HIV/AIDS education and prevention.

Richards and Herndon will be speaking at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Palmer Museum of Art. The lecture, which is sponsored by the School of Visual Arts and department of women's studies, is free and open to the public.