Finish the following sentences with endings of your own:

1. When a teacher begins class…

2. Before a judge can give a final ruling…

3. Once a secretary makes coffee…

4. Even though the coach was respected…

5. After the professor’s book was published…

 

What you may have already grasped from completing this exercise is that people tend to use a gender specific pronoun when completing this sentence as the jobs listed stereotyped  a  male or female career. Feminism, is often seen as a stereotype in itself - the birkenstock, hibby, burn her bra woman who believes that women are actually BETTER than men. Yet this is NOT what true feminism is about.

• Feminism is Based on the assumption that Western culture is fundamentally patriarchal, an imbalance of power is created that marginalizes women and their work

• Feminism Points out that attitudes and traditions reinforcing systematic masculine dominance are inscribed in the literary canon

• Your sex relates to your physical parts or anatomy while you're gender is are traits that constitute either the female or male characteristics. The notion here is that sexual categories are products of culture, thereby creating a social reality rather than reflecting it.

 

So, how does this relate to literature?

• Feminism Claims that patriarchal ideology pervades the canon of great literature – literature for men, by men.  The most highly regarded works focus on male protagonists.  Female characters, when they play a role, are marginal and subordinate and are represented either as complementary to or in opposition to masculine desires and enterprises.

 

Let's look at a familiar story or subset of stories - fairytales. You have classic archetypes that repeat over and over again - the damsel in distress, princess charming, the ugly step sister and the evil step mother. Typically fairytales have been written from a patriarchal perspective. Think through one of your favourite fairytales and look at it from a feminist perspective.

 

Here are a few questions to ask:

• Why is the damsel in distressed always helpless?

• What do typical princesses look like? and why is this problematic?

• What role has the stepmother played through out fairytales?

• How have modern fairytales tried to change these patriarchal views and are they successful? A great movie to look at is TANGLED as an example of this

 

 

 An aspect of Feminism is Gynocriticism - it Focuses on writings by women and examining the female literary tradition to find out how women writers across the ages have perceived themselves and imagined reality.  Its purpose is to

• Define the female experience

• Expose patriarchy

• Save women from being defined as “the other”

• To expand the literary canon to include female writers

• To correct inaccurate descriptions of women in the works of male writers

 

There are some arguments to Feminism is that Many modern critics argue that men and women are different in the way they use language, view reality, solve problems, and make judgments

They also suggest that men and women have different conceptions of self and different modes of interaction with others

 

You'll need to decide for yourself what you think!

As you read, ask these questions: how are women represented? What is the male character's attitude towards women? What gaps exist in the female character's story? How do women exercise their power? Or do they even have any?

Let's quickly look at the story of Hansel and Gretel. The evil stepmother is the one who convinces their father that he must get rid of the children in order for them to eat since they are so poor. Hansel is the one who takes the lead of the two children and Gretel follows. The woman in the candy house lures the children in and wants to eat them! Think about what all this means from a feminist perspective.