Feminist Criticism: Literature and Theory

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Feminist criticism is a form of literary criticism that's based on feminist theories. Broadly, it's understood
to be concerned with the politics of feminism, and it uses feminist principles to critique the male-
dominated literature.

Feminist criticism's roots are in women's social, political, economic and psychological oppression. By
seeking to view women in a new perspective and discover women's contributions to literary history,
feminist criticism aims to reinterpret the old texts and establish the importance of women's writing to
save it from being lost or ignored in the male-dominated world. It also seeks to establish female
perspectives as being of equal importance relative to male perspectives.

Feminist criticism's major concerns

At its core, feminist criticism concerns itself with stereotypical representations of genders. Thus,
although there are many ideas that can be considered through a feminist lens, feminist criticism is
primarily concerned with a few ideas and issues that help feminist critics examine gender politics in
works, trace the subtle construction of masculinity and femininity and understand gender politics within
literary works.

Women's oppression by the patriarchy

Feminist critics argue that women's oppression has gone on for ages in patriarchal cultures. In this view,
women's oppression has social, economic, political and psychological aspects and is tied directly to the
traditional system of male dominance at the head of the family. Patriarchal family structures are
represented in nearly all cultures' old literary works.

The view that women are secondary

Women's oppression has historically been rationalized as being due to supposed to differences in male
versus female physical and mental capabilities. In patriarchal cultures, women are often granted few
decision-making powers and are considered as secondary — again, this view is seen in many books and
literature across cultures and societies.

Cultural discrimination against women

When women are considered as the feminine counterpart to male masculinity, some male authors —
especially those who produce religious works — position women as the causes of sin and death. The
story of Adam and Eve, in which Eve causes the first man and woman's expulsion from the Garden of
Eden, is a classic example of this trope.

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Feminist Theory's alignment with the three waves of feminism

Feminist criticism has roughly aligned with the three waves of feminism, so there are three rough
periods of feminist criticism, each with their own defining characteristics, that correspond with each
phase of women's overall political emancipation.

First wave feminism: men's treatment of women (late 1700s-early 1900s)

The first wave of feminists largely focused on inequalities between the sexes. This is also the wave of
feminism that contains the women's suffrage movement, led by Susan B. Anthony and Victoria
Woodhull.

Thus, the first wave of feminist criticism largely focused on how male authors and novelists view and
portray women in their works. Critics in this time considered the ways in which novelists discriminate
against and marginalize women characters.

Some key books from this time are Geoffrey Chaucer's "Wife of Bath," Mary Wollstonecraft's "A
Vindication of the Rights of Women" (1792), Marry Ellman's "Thinking About Women" (1968) and Kate
Millet's "Sexual Politics" (1969). Ellman, Millet and Germaine Greer played an important role in raising
questions about the practice of showing feminism in both contemporary and canon literature.

Second wave feminism: gynocriticism (early 1960s-late 1970s)

The second wave of feminism focused on establishing more equal working conditions, which were
necessary in the U.S. during World War II, and bringing women together for feminist political activism.

The feminist criticism during this wave is also called "gynocriticism," and it involves three major
aspects:

Examination and recognition of female writers' work.

Consideration of the treatment of women in literary works by both male and female authors.

Exploring the canon of literature written by female writers in order to understand female writers'
contributions in the context of female empowerment and criticizing the ways women have been treated
(and mistreated) in various cultures.

During this time, Simone de Beauvoir ("Le Deuxième Sexe", 1949) and Elaine Showalter established the
groundwork for feminist theories and helped them spread more broadly.

In her book "A Literature of Their Own," Showalter proposed three phases of women writing:

Feminine Phase: women writers try to follow the rules made by male writers, try to avoid debating and
questioning women's place in the literature, and try to write as men by using male pseudonyms.

Feminist Phase: women writers begin criticizing women's treatment in society and literature, and the
oppression of women in society is the main theme of gender criticism in their works.
Female Phase: women writers begin moving from merely providing the woman's perspective to having
confidence in their work and assuming that whatever they have written is valid and doesn't need
aggressive arguments and support to prove its authenticity.

Third wave feminism (early 1990s-present)

This wave of feminism seeks to resist the perceived essentialist (overgeneralized, oversimplified)
ideologies and white, heterosexual, middle-class focus of second wave feminism. It borrows from post-
structural and contemporary race and gender theories to expand on marginalized populations'
experiences. Third wave feminists emphasize individual rights, as well as acceptance of diversity.

The third wave's roots are in the "riot grrl" feminist punk subculture that begin in Olympia, Washington
in the early 1990s. That subculture began with the purpose of bringing consciousness and politics
together through punk style.

In this time, writers such as Alice Walker work to reconcile feminism with their own minority
communities' concerns. Some key works to understand this wave's feminist criticisms are Deborah
McDowell's "New Directions for Black Feminist Criticism" (1980), Alice Walker's "In Search of Our
Mother's Gardens" (1983), Lillian S. Robinson's "Treason out Text: Feminist Challenges to the Literary
Canon" (1983), and Camille Paglia's "Sexual Personae: The Androgyne in Literature and Art" (1990). Riot
grrls and Sarah Dyer's Action Girl Newsletter also played important roles in creating the iconography and
style for the zine movement for women in this era.

Changed views towards feminism in the third wave

Third wave feminists, authors and critics argue that feminism's meaning has changed considerably, and
needs to now be viewed with a different perspective. They believe that women need to rise above
concerns about equality merely in jobs, education or family settings. Instead, third wave feminists argue,
women need to raise their voices and fight for their rights.

Chief Justice Clarence Thomas' appointment to the Supreme Court despite sexual harassment allegations
against him by Anita Hill was a major tipping point for this movement. For women in the third wave,
Thomas' appointment illustrated the need for more work for feminism.

Key words in feminist criticism

There are a few key words in feminist criticism that one must to understand in order to follow many
works.

Patriarchy: traditional male-dominated society.

Marginalization: the process or state of being forced to the edges of social and political significance.

The practice of feminist criticism.

Feminist criticism is applied to literature by examining the characters' portrayals, the text's language, the
author's attitude, and the inter-character relationships. Feminist critics also consider the author's
apparent commentary about society as a whole.

Some questions that feminist critics may ask include:

How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?

What are the power relationships between men and women?

How are male and female roles defined?

What constitutes masculinity and femininity?

What does the work reveal about the operations (economic, political, social, or psychological) of
patriarchy?

What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?

What does the work say about women's creativity?

What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation
of patriarchy?

Feminist criticism's goals

Ultimately, feminist criticism, like the broader feminist movement itself, asks us to consider the
relationships between men and women and their relative roles in society. Much of feminist criticism
reminds us that men and women's roles in society are often unequal and reflective of a particular
patriarchal ideology, and these realities are often represented in both the production of literature and
literary texts themselves.

Deborah Appleman, a Professor of Education Studies at Carleton College, says, "Feminist theorists ask
readers to pay particular attention to the patterns of thought, behavior, values, and power in [male-
female] 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."

By considering literature and the world around us from a feminist perspective, feminist critics seek to
make us more aware of our societies' attitudes towards women, especially in cases where current
attitudes harm or otherwise marginalize women.

By recognizing women's value and their contributions to literature and society, feminist criticism seeks to
elevate women to their rightful place in society as contributors to and important elements of literary
works and society writ large.

Feminist Literary Criticism

Feminist literary criticism (also known as feminist criticism) is the literary analysis that arises from the
viewpoint of feminism, feminist theory, and/or feminist politics.

Critical Methodology

A feminist literary critic resists traditional assumptions while reading a text. In addition to challenging
assumptions which were thought to be universal, feminist literary criticism actively supports including
women's knowledge in literature and valuing women's experiences. The basic methods of feminist
literary criticism include:

Identifying with female characters: By examining the way female characters are defined, critics challenge
the male-centered outlook of authors. Feminist literary criticism suggests that women in literature have
been historically presented as objects seen from a male perspective.

Reevaluating literature and the world in which literature is read: By revisiting the classic literature, the
critic can question whether society has predominantly valued male authors and their literary works
because it has valued males more than females.

Embodying or Undercutting Stereotypes

Feminist literary criticism recognizes that literature both reflects and shapes stereotypes and other
cultural assumptions. Thus, feminist literary criticism examines how works of literature embody
patriarchal attitudes or undercut them, sometimes both happening within the same work.

Feminist theory and various forms of feminist critique began long before the formal naming of the school
of literary criticism. In so-called first-wave feminism, the "Woman's Bible," written in the late 19th
century by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, is an example of a work of criticism firmly in this school, looking
beyond the more obvious male-centered outlook and interpretation.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

During the period of second-wave feminism, academic circles increasingly challenged the male literary
canon. Feminist literary criticism has since intertwined with postmodernism and increasingly complex
questions of gender and societal roles.

Tools of the Feminist Literary Critic

Feminist literary criticism may bring in tools from other critical disciplines, such as historical analysis,
psychology, linguistics, sociological analysis, and economic analysis. Feminist criticism may also look at
intersectionality, looking at how factors including race, sexuality, physical ability, and class are also
involved.

Feminist literary criticism may use any of the following methods:

Deconstructing the way that women characters are described in novels, stories, plays, biographies, and
histories, especially if the author is male
Deconstructing how one's own gender influences how one reads and interprets a text, and which
characters and how the reader identifies depending on the reader's gender

Deconstructing how women autobiographers and biographers of women treat their subjects, and how
biographers treat women who are secondary to the main subject

Describing relationships between the literary text and ideas about power and sexuality and gender

Critique of patriarchal or woman-marginalizing language, such as a "universal" use of the masculine

pronouns "he" and "him"

Noticing and unpacking differences in how men and women write: a style, for instance, where women
use more reflexive language and men use more direct language (example: "she let herself in" versus "he
opened the door")

Reclaiming women writers who are little known or have been marginalized or undervalued, sometimes
referred to as expanding or criticizing the canon—the usual list of "important" authors and works
(Examples include raising up the contributions of early playwright Aphra Behn and showing how she was
treated differently than male writers from her own time forward, and the retrieval of Zora Neale
Hurston's writing by Alice Walker.)

Reclaiming the "female voice" as a valuable contribution to literature, even if formerly marginalized or
ignored

Analyzing multiple works in a genre as an overview of a feminist approach to that genre: for example,
science fiction or detective fiction

Analyzing multiple works by a single author (often female)

Examining how relationships between men and women and those assuming male and female roles are
depicted in the text, including power relations

Examining the text to find ways in which patriarchy is resisted or could have been resisted

Feminist literary criticism is distinguished from gynocriticism because feminist literary criticism may also
analyze and deconstruct literary works of men.

Gynocriticism

Gynocriticism, or gynocritics, refers to the literary study of women as writers. It is a critical practice
exploring and recording female creativity. Gynocriticism attempts to understand women’s writing as a
fundamental part of female reality. Some critics now use “gynocriticism” to refer to the practice and
“gynocritics” to refer to the practitioners.

American literary critic Elaine Showalter coined the term "gynocritics" in her 1979 essay “Towards a
Feminist Poetics.” Unlike feminist literary criticism, which might analyze works by male authors from a
feminist perspective, gynocriticism wanted to establish a literary tradition of women without
incorporating male authors. Showalter felt that feminist criticism still worked within male assumptions,
while gynocriticism would begin a new phase of women’s self-discovery.