ADVANCED WORLD LITERARY CRITICISM

HONEY E. BELMONTE

FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM

History of Feminism

Simone de Beauvoir wrote that "the first time we see a woman take up her pen in defense of her
sex" was Christine de Pizan who wrote Epitre au Dieu d'Amour (Epistle to the God of Love) in
the 15th century. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi worked in the 16th
century. Marie Le Jars de Gournay, Anne Bradstreet and Francois Poullain de la Barre wrote
during the 17th.

Feminists and scholars have divided the movement's history into three "waves". The first wave
refers mainly to women's suffrage movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
(mainly concerned with women's right to vote). The second wave refers to the ideas and actions
associated with the women's liberation movement beginning in the 1960s (which campaigned for
legal and social rights for women). The third wave refers to a continuation of, and a reaction to
the perceived failures of, second-wave feminism, beginning in the 1990s.

First wave

First-wave feminism refers to an extended period of feminist activity during the nineteenth
century and early twentieth century in the United Kingdom and the United States. Originally it
focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights for women and the opposition to
chattel marriage and ownership of married women (and their children) by their husbands.
However, by the end of the nineteenth century, activism focused primarily on gaining political
power, particularly the right of women's suffrage. Yet, feminists such as Voltairine de Cleyre and
Margaret Sanger were still active in campaigning for women's sexual, reproductive, and
economic rights at this time. In 1854, Florence Nightingale established female nurses as adjuncts
to the military.

In Britain the Suffragettes and, possibly more effectively, the Suffragists campaigned for the
women's vote. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed granting the vote
to women over the age of 30 who owned houses. In 1928 this was extended to all women over
twenty-one. In the United States, leaders of this movement included Lucretia Mott, Lucy Stone,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, who each campaigned for the abolition of
slavery prior to championing women's right to vote; all were strongly influenced by Quaker
thought. American first-wave feminism involved a wide range of women. Some, such as Frances
Willard, belonged to conservative Christian groups such as the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union. Others, such as Matilda Joslyn Gage, were more radical, and expressed themselves within
the National Woman Suffrage Association or individually. American first-wave feminism is
considered to have ended with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution (1919), granting women the right to vote in all states.

The term first wave was coined retrospectively after the term second-wave feminism began to be
used to describe a newer feminist movement that focused as much on fighting social and cultural
inequalities as political inequalities.

Second wave

Second-wave feminism refers to the period of activity in the early 1960s and lasting through the
late 1980s. The scholar Imelda Whelehan suggests that the second wave was a continuation of
the earlier phase of feminism involving the suffragettes in the UK and USA. Second-wave
feminism has continued to exist since that time and coexists with what is termed third-wave
feminism. The scholar Estelle Freedman compares first and second-wave feminism saying that
the first wave focused on rights such as suffrage, whereas the second wave was largely
concerned with other issues of equality, such as ending discrimination.
The feminist activist and author Carol Hanisch coined the slogan "The Personal is Political"
which became synonymous with the second wave. Second-wave feminists saw women's cultural
and political inequalities as inextricably linked and encouraged women to understand aspects of
their personal lives as deeply politicized and as reflecting sexist power structures.

Third wave

Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, arising as a response to perceived failures of the
second wave and also as a response to the backlash against initiatives and movements created by
the second wave. Third-wave feminism seeks to challenge or avoid what it deems the second
wave's essentialist definitions of femininity, which (according to them) over-emphasize the
experiences of upper middle-class white women.

A post-structuralist interpretation of gender and sexuality is central to much of the third wave's
ideology. Third-wave feminists often focus on "micro-politics" and challenge the second wave's
paradigm as to what is, or is not, good for females. The third wave has its origins in the mid-
1980s. Feminist leaders rooted in the second wave like Gloria Anzaldua, bell hooks, Chela
Sandoval, Cherrie Moraga, Audre Lorde, Maxine Hong Kingston, and many other black
feminists, sought to negotiate a space within feminist thought for consideration of race-related
subjectivities.

Third-wave feminism also contains internal debates between difference feminists such as the
psychologist Carol Gilligan (who believes that there are important differences between the sexes)
and those who believe that there are no inherent differences between the sexes and contend that
gender roles are due to social conditioning.

TYPES OF FEMINISM

Marxist/socialist feminism: Attributes women’s oppression to a capitalist economy and the

private property system (blames classism for women’s oppression rather than sexism). Argues
that capitalism must be overthrown if the oppression of women is to end. Draws parallels
between women and “workers” and emphasizes collective change rather than individual change.
Alienation happens because women are segregated in the home and men have more opportunity
and experience, which breeds unhappiness in women.

Radical feminism: Cutting-edge branch of feminism focused on sweeping social reforms, social
change, and revolution. Argues against institutions like patriarchy, heterosexism, and racism and
instead emphasizes gender as a social construction, denouncing biological roots of gender
difference. Often paves the way for other branches of feminism.
They emphasize the patriarchal roots between men and women and the social dominance of men.
They view patriarchy as dividing rights, privileges and power primarily by gender and, as a
result, women are oppressed and men are privileged.

They imply that the institutions of male rule are privilege depend on the subordination of
women. Men control property and families, oppressing women. They want a major reform in
society so that gender roles and patriarchy do not exist.

Liberal feminism: Focuses on working within institutions to gain equality for women (e.g., the
vote, equal protection under the law) but does not focus on changing the entire institution (e.g.,
doing away with government). They primarily focus on women’s ability to show and maintain
their equality through their own actions and choices and they are often at odds with radical
feminism.
Feminist Criticism: Feminist literary criticism helps us look at literature in a different light. It
applies the philosophies and perspectives of feminism to the literature we read. There are many
different kinds of feminist literary theory. Some theorists examine the language and symbols that
are used and how that language and use of symbols is “gendered.” Others remind us that men
and women write differently and analyze at how the gender of the author affects how literature is
written. Many feminist critics look at how the characters, especially the female characters, are
portrayed and ask us to consider how the portrayal of female characters “reinforces or
undermines sexual stereotypes” (Lynn). Feminist literary theory also suggests that the gender of
the reader often affects our response to a text. For example, feminist critics may claim that
certain male writers address their readers as if they were all men and exclude the female reader.
Like feminism itself, feminist literary theory asks us to consider the relationships between men
and women and their relative roles in society. Much feminist literary theory reminds us that the
relationship between men and women in society is often unequal and reflects a particular
patriarchal ideology. Those unequal relationships may appear in a variety of ways in the
production of literature and within literary texts. Feminist theorists invite us to pay particular
attention to the patterns of thought, behavior, values, and power in those relationships. Feminist
literary critics remind us that literary values, conventions, and even the production of literature,
have themselves been historically shaped by men. They invite us to consider writings by women,
both new and forgotten, and also ask us to consider viewing familiar literature through a feminist
perspective. We apply it by closely examining the portrayal of the characters, both female and
male, the language of the text, the attitude of the author, and the relationship between the
characters. We also consider the comments the author seems to be making about society as a
whole.

“. . . feminist criticism is a heterogeneous grouping of scholars, writers, linguistics, philosophers,

scientists, anthropologists, psychologists, educators, and peoples from all professions and walks
of life who believe that women and men are equal. As a social movement, feminist criticism
highlights the various ways women, in particular, have been oppressed, suppressed, and
repressed. It asks new questions of old texts. It develops and uncovers a female tradition in
writing. It analyzes women writers and their works from female perspectives” (Copeland 184-
186).

PHASES OF FEMINIST CRITICISM

1. The Feminine,

2. The Feminist, and,

3. The Female Phase

1) The first phase, the feminine phase dates from about 1840-1880. During that period
women wrote in an effort to equal the intellectual achievements of the male culture. The
distinguishing sign of this period is the male pseudonym. This trend was introduced in England
in the 1840’s. It became a national characteristic of English women writers. During this phase
the feminist content of feminine art is typically oblique, because of the inferiority complex
experienced by female writers.

2) The feminist phase lasted about 38 years; from 1882 to 1920. The New Women movement
gained strength—women won the right to vote. Women writers began to use literature to
dramatize the ordeals of wrong womanhood.

3) The latest phase or the third phase is called the female phase ongoing since 1920. Here we
find women rejecting both imitation and protest. Showalter considers that both are signs of
dependency. Women show more independent attitudes. They realize the place of female
experience in the process of art and literature. She considers that there is what she calls
autonomous art that can come from women because their experiences are typical and
individualistic. Women began to concentrate on the forms and techniques of art and literature.
The representatives of the female phase such as Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf even
began to think of male and female sentences. They wrote about masculine journalism and
feminine fiction. They redefined and sexualized external and internal experience.

Ways to criticize literature in the Feminist Approach

1. How are women characters portrayed in literature?

2. What opportunities are available to them compared with men?

3. What values are gendered? Or, What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
4. What is reinforced or challenged on the status quo?

5. How are gender relationship portrayed?

6. Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so?

7. Does this change others’ reactions to them?

8. What does the work reveal about the operations of a patriarchy?

9. What does the work say about women’s creativity?