Feminism In Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard

For hundreds of years, women are fighting a war of inequality in the male dominated society. “Feminism” is a moment started by women to end inequality in all fields of society. To fight this problem, and to find a possible way to end it, many great writers wrote very influential poems and stories. A very few writers who chose to write about feminism in the society were, Marge Piercy, “The Secretary Chant” and “Barbie Doll”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The yellow Wallpaper”, and Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”. These writings shared the common idea of feminism and how male dominated society treated women, forced them to be just “Women” with boundaries.

Marge Piercy wrote about women being forced to live under others rules, play
with toys made for girls, i.e. Barbie Doll and GE stove, wear something that they don’t like and take orders from men in their workplace. “Barbie Doll” was a poem written by Piercy during the feminist movement in United States to redefine the true meaning and responsibilities of “Women”. “The girl child was born as usual and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.”(1023) Marge Piercy believed women had better future if they were not forced to play with Barbie doll and GE Stoves. The “Girl child” should focus on their intelligence and health. During the past time women were bounded with boundaries made by men in the society. This would not force them to live with boundaries. Marge Piercy influenced many young women to come forward and address the issue. Carmen Cramer, who also supported the idea of women being neglected in the American Society, wrote secondary Source “Marge Piercy’s Fight in Woman on the Edge of Time”. “She was never alone, not even in toilets without doors, never away from surveillance.”(Carmen Cramer) Her essay was based on a girl named “Connie” who came to United States from Mexico. After coming to United States she faced lot of problems and was forced to live under the rule of others. She was under surveillance all the time. After facing this kind of ill treatment, she decided to fight back, and it became one of the best moment to fight for women’s right. Thus, Marge Piercy and Carmen Cramer both had same ideologies about feminism and they both fought for women rights. According to them, girls would have more opportunities if they start speaking for them and they would have better life.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote a story about women in male first society. These women couldn’t make their own decisions and the males overlooked them. “The Yellow Wallpaper” was a story about a lady who was forced to live by other decisions and rule of her husband. “My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.” (376) Jane’s husband and her brother never took her ideas very seriously, and laughed on her feelings and ideas. She always felt suffocated in room with yellow wallpapers because no one appreciated her ideas which forced her to become useless and imprisoned in her own home. Heather Savigny wrote “Feminisms In News”, the article presented similar ideas as in Gilman’s story. “As with other political movements it has its detractors, and feminism is often blamed for much that is wrong with our society.” (Heather Savigny) Among all other things, feminism is also important in society but women get blamed for everything wrong. Now-a-days women take same jobs as men but they don’t get the respect they deserve. The article presented a very clear idea of how Thus, Gilman and Savigny both shared the idea of how women were being ignored and forced to live under the male rule.

Flanner O’Connor wrote a story about a grandmother who had an attitude of upper class southern women and who cared about her look and dress, which was not a case in history before.
“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is a story about an unnamed grandmother who cared about her and very frequently judged others about their decisions. “Her collars and cuffs were white organdies trimmed with lace and at her neckline, she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In the case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady.” (364) Grandmother always wanted to look good; even when she died she wanted to be known as “a lady”. The Grandmother’s character was a good example of women trying to protect themselves and their image in the society, which was never considered in the past. To explain the O’Connor story in more detail, Nancy L Nester wrote “O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find” which explained the main idea of story in short. It also reflected Grandmother’s character. “ Bailey's tolerance bespeaks patience and long-suffering. Such traits are evident when he yields to her nagging, agreeing to find the plantation of her reveries.”(4) Grandmother and her grandchild Bailey never agreed with each other. Bailey always listened to his wife first and ignored his grandmother. Grandmother was a wise lady and she always cared about her look, but her grandchild ignored her and never took her ideas seriously. Though the condition of women is improving but still they don’t get their ideas heard by
others.

Finally Marge Piercy, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Flannery O’ Connor started writing about feminism in their readings and poems. Marge Piercy was a writer and a very big social activist for women rights and self-respect. Her poems “Barbie Doll” and “The Secretary” are some great examples of her writings on feminism. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Flannery O’ Connor were an important voice in American literature. They also protested in favor of feminism in the society. Very influential and brave people stepped up and explained their feelings in the form of writings. People still read their writings because they are filled with knowledge and history of the past and lessons for future.