Feminism in Literature

Feminism in Literature
Overview
Feminism has gradually become more far-ranging and subtle in its attacks on male-dominated society. Many injustices still need to be corrected, but equally necessary is a more down-to-earth, tolerant and compassionate view of fellow human beings.
Introduction
Many feminists dislike theory. Sharp intellectual categories, argumentation, seeming objectivity, and the whole tradition they grow out of are just what feminists are seeking to escape. And if their reasoning seems unsystematic they can draw support from the psychoanalysis of Lacan and Julia Kristeva, fromDerrida's deconstruction, and from Rorty's view that philosophy should model itself on an edifying conversation seeking rapprochement rather than no-holds-barred gladiatorial combat.
Androgynist Poetics
Critics, being generally male, had not generally concerned themselves with gender issues. Most of the world's great literature had been written by men. Sappho, Austen, the Brontes and Emily Dickinson apart, it was difficult to think women really had it in them to write at the highest level. Literature was literature, and critics saw no need to distinguish a specifically feminine way of writing or responding to a text.
Virginia Woolf was herself a refutation of that thesis, though her mental breakdown was perhaps brought on by the strain of balancing male self-realization with female abnegation. But in her essay Professions for Women, Woolf complained only that women's social obligations hindered a writing career. Their lives gave them a different perspective, but women were not fundamentally different from men in their psychological needs and outlooks.
Gynocriticism
The gathering feminist movement very much disagreed, and argued that women's writing expressed a distinctive female consciousness, which was more discursive and conjunctive than its male counterpart. Such consciousness was radically different, and had been adversely treated. Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex documented the ways "Legislators, priests, philosophers, writers and scientists have striven to show that the subordinate position of women is willed in heaven and advantageous on earth." Women had been made to feel that they were inferior by nature and, though men paid lip-service to equality, they would resist its implementation. Some men might be sympathetic to women's issues, but only women themselves knew what they felt and wanted.
And perhaps they always knew. The essays collected in Susan Cornillon's 1972 anthology Images of Women in Fiction all suggested that nineteenth and twentieth century fiction was simply untrue to women's experience. Rather than search for the essentially feminine, critics now turned to the social context of women's writing, to the ways a male-orientated society had formed or deformed individual novels, plays and poems written by women. Adventure and romance, whoever written for, seemed to stress the male competitive element, and even the submissive partner of gay literature only imitated the female stereotype.
Not all agreed, of course. Norman Mailer's The Prisoner of Sex: disliked the blanket criticism of Kate Millet's Sexual Politics, arguing its examples were too selective chosen.
Gynesis
Nonetheless, by the early eighties, feminists had advanced to a much more confrontational attack on male hegemony, advocating a complete overthrow of the biased (male) canon of literature. French feminists argued that women should write with a greater consciousness of their bodies, which would create a more honest and appropriate style of openness, fragmentation and non-linearity. Parallel studies in the visual arts stressed a feminine sensibility of soft fluid colours, an emphasis on the personal and decorative, and on forms that evoked the female genitalia.
And the problem lay deeper still, in the language itself. Words had been coined to express a male point of view, and that was indeed misogynist. Some 220 words exist in English for the sexually promiscuous woman, but only 22 for promiscuous men. And in the sexual matters that really concerned them, the vocabulary was hopelessly restricted. Discourse was power, said Foucault, and psychoanalysts likeLacan and Kristeva stressed the liberating role that literature should play, particularly to allow the semiotic flux of the unconscious in early childhood, i.e. before the symbolic world of public discourse imposed its male-favouring rules. Poets worked on the boundaries of the two realms, and Kristeva urged them to engender political and feminist revolutions by dissolving the conventions of normal discourse.
Gender Theory
Five years later the debate had moved on, from exclusively feminine concerns to the wider issues of gender in social and cultural contexts. Patriarchy and capitalism should be examined more closely, perhaps as Althusser had attempted, and sophisticated models built to integrate the larger web of economics, education, division of labour, biological constraints and cultural assumptions.
Michele Barrett demanded facts, research. How does gender stereotyping arise in various social contexts? How are the canons of literary excellence actually established? What is the practical effect on literature? Shouldn't we remember that attitudes are struck within a fictional framework, and can't be simply pulled out and convicted by a kangaroo court of feminist morals?
Critique
Literature will often reflect the cultural assumptions and attitudes of its period, and that of course includes attitudes towards women: their status, their roles, their expectations. But a literature doctored of male-orientated views would be failing in its first requirement, to present a realistic or convincing picture of the world. Moralizing, which includes political correctness, has its dangers.
Feminists have argued for positive discrimination as the only way to correct centuries of bias. Nonetheless, the consensus emerging among black Americans is that positive discrimination is counter-productive. Disadvantaged minorities desperately need the odds levelled, but not patronizingly tilted in their favour.
Psychoanalysis has little scientific standing, and Lacanian theory is further disputed within the psychoanalytical community itself. Feminism does itself few favours by relying on these supports.
A more damaging criticism is the concept of the feminine itself. Does it really exist? There are very real differences in the psychological make-up between the sexes, but testing also indicates what anthropologists have long accepted: the expression of those differences is more determined by cultural factors than sexuality per se. Feminists who argue for a more understanding, fluid, and delicate attitude are not so much advocating qualities native to women but for attitudes still repressed by society. That in turn suggests society itself needs exploring rather than sex differences per se, which is indeed a view more recognized in contemporary feminist studies.
Feminist Literature
Feminist literature, as the name suggests, is based on the principles of feminism, and refers to any literary work that centers around the struggle of a woman for equality, and to be accepted as a human being, before being cast into a gender stereotype. Not all these works follow a direct approach towards this goal of equality. It is only through such media that women believed a change was possible in the way they were perceived in society. Not all feminist literature has been written by women, but also by men who understood women beyond the roles they were expected to fit into, and delved into their psyche to understand their needs and desires. Some works may be fictional, while others may be non fictional. Here, we take a look into the characteristics of feminist literature, and give you a list of some of the many works of feminist literature, that make for a good read if you truly desire to learn extensively about this form of writing and what it stood for.
Characteristics of Feminist Literature
Feminist literature is identified by the many characteristics of the feminist movement. This will help you understand exactly what is feminist literature. Authors of feminist literature are known to understand and explain the difference between sex and gender. They believe that though a person's sex is predetermined and natural, it is the gender that has been created by society, along with a particular perception about gender roles. Gender roles, they believe, can be altered over time. The predominance of one gender over the other, is a common concept across almost all societies, and the fact that it is not in favor of women is an underlying, yet blatant, characteristic of feminist or women's literature. Here, it is argued that any society that does not provide channels of learning and knowledge to both genders equally is not a complete and impartial society.
Critics argue that there wasn't much difference between male and female authors, and that there was no need to identify a separate class of literature termed as feminist or look for traces of feminism in literature. However, if you read any such work, you will realize how such writers criticized society's andocentric (male-centered) approach, and tried to understand the beliefs and needs of the opposite sex with a subjective, and not an objective, approach. Take for example Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett was a woman of her mind. Despite the societal pressure (put on her by her mother) to choose a partner, and to lead a life that was decided for all women, she decided to choose her own path towards what she wanted. And none of this was blatantly approached. She did not put an outward fight, in order to choose her life course. The entire piece of work is subtle, and the only clear characteristic of the protagonist you will notice is her assertiveness. And that is one clear characteristic of the feminist approach toward literature.
Women in literature of the feminist nature are always featured as the protagonist, who, more often than not, do not readily accept the traditional role of women as decided by society. They are ready to make their own decisions, to express this choice of personal decision-making, and are ready to deal with the consequences of these choices, actions, and decisions. Though a daughter, a mother, a sister, or a wife, any piece of feminist literature first deals with a woman as a woman. It is not these relationships, roles, or stereotypes that give these female characters in literature their identity. Their identity is defined by their choices and their beliefs which are then associated with these roles. It is important to note, that, not all works of feminist literature have happy endings, both for the character, and for the author of the work. Women have been ostracized by society for openly demanding equality, and have had to face several negative consequences of their decision to go against the waves.
Not only feminist literature, women have been treated as important subjects even in many literary works by men. For instance, Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian author and playwright, often focused on women, women's issues, their troubles faced by society, and the decisions they made based on their personal values and beliefs. If you take a look at the play called 'A Doll's House', by this very same author, you will clearly notice the strength and character of the protagonist.
Not all, but some pieces of feminist literature (particularly non-fiction) showcase and stress on women's suffrage and a demand for equality in society, for political, social, and economic rights. In modern feminist literature, the attack on a male-dominated society became more forthright and straightforward, where women demanded a closer look into the patriarchal and capitalistic approach towards feminism.
Feminist Literature Reading List
With some clarity on the nature of feminist literature, you can understand any piece of work of this nature in a better and more clear manner. Here is a list of famous feminist literature, after reading which, you will be able to identify with the aforementioned characteristics of this type of writing. Before we take a look at some good books and novels that showcase feminist literature, let's take a look at writers who strove to make this movement felt through their works. These wrote fictional works that had an underlying feminist principle.
Virginia Woolf, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen, Audre Lorde, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Jeannette Winterson, Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guin, Angela Carter, Grace Paley, Aimee Bender, Edwidge Danticat, Suzan Lori-Parks
Wendy Wasserstein
Some famous works of feminist literature, that include both non-fiction and fiction writing have been enlisted here. o Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics - Bell Hooks o A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf o The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood o The Feminine Mystique - Betty Friedan o Women Without Superstition: No Gods, No Masters - Annie Laurie Gaylor o Feminist Fairy Tales - Barbara G. Walker o Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism - Bell Hooks o The Adventure of the Black Lady - Aphra Behn o Woman in the Nineteenth Century - Margaret Fuller o Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Harriet Jacobs o The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman o The Second Sex - Simone de Beauvoir o This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color - Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua o Makaan - Paigham Afaqui o Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body - Susan Bordo o A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen o Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie o Like One of the Family - Alice Childress o Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi o When Everything Changed - Gail Collins o The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Though a lot has changed in today's time, there is still an underlying feminist movement that is being carried out by women all over the world. While in the urban setting, women have almost been given their dues, in the rural setting, women are still expected to live by the stereotypes cast by society. Even in the urban setting, though women have achieved a lot more than society has given them credit for, they are still expected to fulfill certain roles and stereotypes that have been the norm for centuries. Feminist literature of different periods will depict different desires and different wants under the purview of feminism. The roles of daughters, wives, and mothers in literature will keep changing, and so will their requirements and beliefs. The concept of gender equality that focuses primarily on women's rights has come a long way, and feminist literature has been a great medium to bring about any visible changes in the attitude towards women. Yet, it is a long battle that is being fought, and it will be a while before gender equality and the role of women in society will be clear in the ideal sense.
The Novels of the Bronte Sisters – Feminism in Victorian Literature
The Bronte sisters were the daughters of a clergyman, Patrick Bronte who lived in Haworth, Yorkshire, England in the first half of the 19th century.
These three talented sisters created several novels, written, at first, in secret, and published under fictitious names. Each sister chose the name of a man and passed themselves off as brothers when they offered their books up to book publishers.
In Victorian times, female writers were seen as less competent than male writers. The Bronte sisters also hoped to preserve their privacy by using pen names.
Charlotte wrote under the name, Currer Bell. Emily wrote using the name Ellis Bell. The youngest sister, Anne, was Acton Bell.
Their first foray into the world of publishing was a slim volume of poetry. They had hoped to establish their own school at Haworth, but when their plan failed, turned to writing as a means of earning an income. When Charlotte read some of Emily's poems, she saw great literary merit but not enough poems to fill a volume. So, Charlotte and Anne included their own poems when they approached a publisher.
The book of poetry did not earn the sisters the money they had desired, so they attempted to create novels, even then, a more lucrative endeavor.
Publishers accepted three novels by the Bronte sisters. Charlotte's novel, The Professor was published but was not a success. Publication of the novels by Emily and Anne were put on the back burner. But, the publishers, Smith and Elder wrote Charlotte encouraging letters who then wrote Jane Eyrewhich appeared and was well received by critics and the reading public.
The success of Jane Eyre encouraged the publication of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte. Neither of these books met with the same success as Jane Eyre.
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights offended reviewers who described it as an unnatural tale. One reviewer wondered how a person could have written such a disturbing story without committing suicide. It was not until years after her death at the age of thirty, that Emily Bronte's novel was seen as an important novel that would ultimately become a classic of English literature.
The novels of the Bronte sisters center on the difficulties faced by women due to the social expectations and mores of Victorian England. Women of that time had few employment opportunities and were dependent on the men in their families or the men who employed them. Most of these novels can be seen as early expressions of early feminism where the protagonists struggle to gain independence and self-reliance. The characters who are unable to stand up for themselves, or to gain some modicum of strength suffer greatly and are held up as models of failure and depicted with pity.
While Emily's sole novel was Wuthering Heights, Charlotte and Anne published several others. Following is a list of the books by the Bronte sisters:
Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte is a complex and disturbing tale of desire, vengeance, and dysfunctional family relationships set in the English moors.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is an orphan's struggle to gain economic stability and respect in a time when personal freedom and self-reliance was difficult for women. Jane becomes a governess for the intelligent and troubled Mr. Rochester with whom she falls in love.
The Professor, by Charlotte Bronte was republished in 1857 after her death. The story centers on the orphaned William Crimsmith and his struggle to free himself from the clutches of his abusive brother. He hopes to leave the trades and enter a life of academia.
Shirley by Charlotte Bronte (1849) is set during a time of industrial unrest in England. Shirley is an independent woman of means in search of some significance in her life. Charlotte based the main character on her sister Emily.
Villette, by Charlotte Bronte (1853) was Charlotte's last novel, the tale of Lucy Snow, an independent minded young woman who takes a job at a girls' school in a foreign country.
Ages Grey by Anne Bronte (1847) centers around the dreary life of a governess in Victorian England and the problems faced by young women in need of earning a respectable living.
The Tennant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (1848) was better received than Agnes Grey. The protagonist, Helen, flies in the face of convention when she stands up to her abusive husband and speak up with a frankness unusual in a time when meekness was the mode for a respectable woman.