Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism

 Definition of Feminism 

        1.The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
        2.Organised activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests

When we think of feminism often we consider the latter of these definitions in regards to modern feminist marches, protests and radical speakers. Some of you may even hear feminism and link it to twitter warriors that have turned the movement into what we now know as the derogatory term for a radical feminist, a feminazi. But prior to all this, feminism had very strong roots in literature and is now considered one of the most well known and most discussed literary criticisms. 

Very early on in feminism, literature was recognised as one of the key elements in female socialisation and oppression, “The representation of women in literature, then, was felt to be one of the most important forms of ‘socialisation’, since it provided the role models which indicated to women, and men, what constituted acceptable versions of the ‘feminine’ and legitimate feminine goals and aspirations.” (Barry, Page 124) Over time, any form of repeated imagery becomes a specific view, so when this is applied to half of society that is recurrently presented with specific imagery showing roles, positions and attitudes, it becomes a form of indoctrination that constitutes a ‘normal’ expected standard. Literature always has a base of realism. Even the most fantastical of fiction has elements that we recognise as a reader which is part of what makes us comfortable when reading (this is relative to the idea of the uncanny in Gothic Fiction). Because portrayals of women in literature have a sense of realism to them (women are real and not imaginary), the ideals and attributes that we are presented with through them slowly makes its way into culture and society as a whole. This is what feminism initially wanted to combat. Change the image and you change the reality. This is why “Within feminism there is a strong emphasis on the ‘constructedness’ of femininity, that is, on such matters as conditioning and socialisation, and the influence of images and representations of femininity in literature and culture. All these formulations are ways of avoiding ‘essentialism’, which is the contrary view that there is some natural, given essence of the feminine that is universal and unchangeable.” (Barry, Pages 134-135)

What feminism also considers is the language we use to describe women, and how it links to their portrayals in literature. “The concern with ‘conditioning’ and ‘socialisation’ [is that it] underpins a crucial set of distinctions - that exist between the terms ‘feminist’, ‘female’, and ‘feminine’. As Toril Moi explains, the first is ‘a political position’, the second ‘a matter of biology’[we must also consider that inclusion of transwomen here], and the third ‘a set of culturally defined characteristics’.” (Barry, Page 124) These distinctions come in handy when we use feminist theory to critic a piece of literature, and we’ll see how and why later in the post. 

But before we do so, let's consider the history of feminism. After all, we need to know where we have come from to understand where we are going...

The first wave of feminism existed from the late 19th century to the early 20th and focused on political issues impacting women. In these Uk, this wave is commonly associated with the Suffragettes and Suffragists, as the focus was on a woman’s right to vote (law first passed in 1918 and made fully equivalent to the male vote in 1928), child custody (infants rights act passed in 1839) and property rights (married women’s property act was passed in 1858), the women’s working rights and opening discussions on female bodily autonomy and sexuality to allow women to be viewed beyond their capability to have children. 

Second Wave feminism then came into play post World War Two, as a result of attempts to ‘re-domesticate’ women. Their focus was that on the political and ideological concerns women faced after the war, associated with female contraception, legalisation of abortion, sexual liberation, condemnation of sexual violence, equal pay and equal opportunities in work and education, and essentially to be regarded equally in the world of work after the men returned from War. Women were pushed out of the jobs and positions they had occupied across the 6 year period and suddenly were regarded as ‘incapable’ again despite holding up the country's industry during the war. Some famous associates of the second wave: Gloria Steinham, Simone De Beauvoir and Elaine Showalter. 

Simone De Beauvoir even gives us some beautiful quotes that encapsulate the ideology of feminism versus how a ‘woman’ is made not naturally but as a result of the oppression faced by society, “One is not born a woman, rather, one becomes a woman.” (De Beauvoir, Page 16), “Humanity is male, and man defines woman, not in herself, but as relative to him: she is not regarded as an autonomous being… He is the Subject, he is the absolute - she is the Other.” (De Beauvoir, Page 16) and “The fact that we are all human beings is infinitely more important than all the peculiarities that distinguish human beings from one another.” (De Beauvoir, Simone, Page 737).  

Similarly, Elaine Showalter’s ideology is leading in the feminist world. Showalter is responsible for a section of feminism called Gynocriticism and Gynocentrism, which is the reworking of tradition literary criticisms - that was previously misogynistic and more beneficial to male writers allowing them to gain a higher status than women in the industry (the literary canon as an example) - to allow women to have the same praise for their texts. The idea was to ““To construct a female framework for the analysis of women’s literature, to develop new models based on the study of female experience, rather than to adopt male models and theories... [and] stop trying to fit women between the lines of male tradition, and focus instead on the newly visible world of female culture.”(Showalter)

  

Elaine Showalter also coined the idea of the phrases of women’s writing throughout literary history, which is a model used by feminist critics today. 

The Feminine* Stage (1840-1880)

In an effort to equalise the intellectual achievements between men and women in a male culture, female writers imitated typical male writings to demonstrate their own capabilities and show internalised assumptions about female nature. Many female writers during this period published with male names as a result. 

The Feminist* Stage (1880-1920)

Women’s writing began to take a turn and instead became about protesting against male standards and values of life and women. Women’s rights were strongly advocated including a demand for autonomy in many texts. Women began to take ownership of their own values and ‘womanhood’ as a separate entity from men.  

The Female* Stage (1920-Present Day)

Female writers began to reject both imitation and protests to instead turn to writing about personal female experiences. This is credited to being the stage where women accepted their womanhood and brought real situations that accurately portrayed their lives into the literary world. It entended the feminist analysis of culture into the forms and techniques of literature. 

*Do you recognise these titles?

  

Starting in the 1990’s, Third Wave Feminism began to reject the ideas of essentialism present within the second wave and instead focused on the inclusivity of feminism that had previously been neglected. Feminist Gloria Jean Watkins (known also as Bell Hook) identified the lack of diversity within popular feminism and paved the way for inclusivity and intersectionality (ie, the theory of how interesting social identities (minorities) relate to systems and structures of oppression, domination and/ or discrimination). 

And as of approximately 2010, we are within a Fourth Wave of feminism that is highly centered on inclusivity and modern issues facing women - such as those within business, politics, pay, sexual assault, FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), slut-shaming, sex work, period poverty, everyday sexism, and more. Current feminism is heavy on the influence of technology, that has resulted in movements such as: the Women’s Marches in 2017, #MeToo, and the Everyday Sexism Project.  

So now that we know the basis of feminism, let's look at how we can use these ideas to criticise a text. 

When conducting a feminist reading it is important to consider the overall portrayal of both female, and male, characters. Are they realistic? Are they based on traditional gendered stereotypes? We may consider the language used, whether traditionally reductive or ‘pretty’ descriptions are used for a female character versus the male. 

An example of particular portrayals of feminist criticisms in modern literary cultural is how we can read into typical romance texts and films, where should they have a female lead, their entire world is based and controlled by the devastating decision of which man they have to marry! And each man has their positives and negatives. One of them is popular, which will boost the social status of the female. The other is a traditional bad boy, who will ‘drag her down’ as her parents say. 

This is a very well known version of events that we see even today on broadcasting services such as Netflix and books like the Twilight Series. Now of course they are enjoyable stories as the arch is traditional and something that we are used to. But this is exactly the problem and feminist criticisms show that. 

Not only is the female reduced to nothing more than an object set for marriage, “the focus of interest is on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner, which will decide her ultimate social position and exclusively determine her happiness and fulfilment in life, or her lack of these.” (Barry, Page 124), but the men are reduced to what they can offer the female socially and are portrayed as stereotypes to reflect their social status. Feminism argues these are damaging portrayals as they are then imitated within our society. Women are valued through the men in their lives. Whereas men are valued on their position and what they can provide. This links back nicely to some of the criticisms of De Beauvoir, “He is the Subject [of society], he is the absolute [provider and position] - she is the Other [without value alone].” 

Hopefully, this has been helpful to your understanding of feminism and feminist literary theory. I intended to use this in various book analyses in the future and would highly recommend next time you read to see how the characters are presented with respect to whether they are male or female. 

There is so much more to feminism that I have managed to cover today. So please, if this interests you, take the time to research yourself.

Otherwise, we’ll talk again very soon.

  

Bibliography

•  Barry Peter, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, “Feminist criticism”, 4th edition, 2017, Manchester University Press, 1824, Page 124 - 135

• De Beauvoir, Simone. Part Two, The Second Sex (1949), London, Vintage Classics, 1997, Page 16 and Page 737.

• Showalter, Elaine. 1941, Toward a Feminist Poetics, 1979.