Intro+to+Feminism+Theory

=__ **Intro to Feminism Literary Theory** __ =

**__What is a Feminist Approach to a Text?__** ===Feminist literary theory advocates for the same rights and beliefs that those of the feminist movement in politics and society fight. The theory focuses on the emphasis of equal rights for all women in every aspect of life whether it is professionally, socially, aesthetically, politically, and economically. Feminist literary critics focus vehemently on the speculation of the **patriarchy** imbedded in a text. They posit that this patriarchal system repeatedly used throughout literature's history has only worked to disparage and undermine the potential of women in all aspects of life. One of the progressive feminist literary critics, Annette Kolodny, states the branch of criticism as an “acute and impassioned attentiveness to the ways in which primarily male structures of power are inscribed within our literary inheritance [and] the consequences of that encoding for women--- as characters, as readers, and as writers” (144). Feminist theorists use their particular literary theory and analysis to wrestle with the dominance that patriarchy and phallocentrism has had in the influential world of literature. As stated by prominent Feminist theorist Judith Fetterley, the initial goal of a feminist critic is “to become a resisting rather than an assenting reader and by this refusal to assent, to begin the process of exorcizing the male mind that has been implanted in [women]” (144). I**t must be understood that Feminist Literary Theory has many approaches to it depending on which particular criticism the critic espouses,however there exists certain assumptions that lay in their common ground. Feminist theory seeks to give importance to the individual rather than the group in a process of giving a voice to all peoples. A main goal of all feminist theory critics is to reach self-discovery in order to understand themselves as individuals which will permit them to play the roles they desire in all aspects of society. It is a goal to give importance to all peoples, including all cultures and subcultures, in a way that validates the contributions all are able to give to society. Feminists endeavor to understand the roles of women in society and to analyze all aspects of a male dominated world that affect women. In order to elaborate even further, it can be concluded that all feminists theorists endeavor to eradicate the ideology of the woman representing the "Other" or the "non-male" in society. By the woman being the "Other" her existence is being defined and determined by the male and she is being placed in an inferior position to the male. Consequently, the fundamental and primary goal of a feminist theorist is to undo this way of societal thinking in order for the woman to have the opportunity to define herself as an autonomous being without the confinement of male domination.**===

__** Geographical Approaches to Literary Criticism: These remain important historical markers in feminism's development **__ **American feminism** centralizes their thought and ideals on the reinstatement and addition of the writings and pieces of female creative minds to the literary canon that has been focused on the male figure (154). American feminists use history and psychoanalytic theories to declare that the nation’s colonists “attributed to the land feminine characteristics to soften and allay their fears concerning the land’s unknown but potential terrors” (154). The feminist thinkers from America also believe that women can be demonstrated in two images in literature as stereotypical figures; they either appear as the “angel in the house” and “the madwoman in the attic”, with specific characteristics in each role. The proverbial angel is dedicated to her husband and obeys him. The woman finds satisfaction in serving her husband and tending to her children. If the feminine writer and “angel” reject that role, men will christen her the “madwoman in the attic” who is usually “sexually fallen” (155). American feminist thinkers assert that these roles and images place women in a small canon that either makes the woman a slave or a demon, both controlled by the male world. These feminist thinkers seek to discover and examine these images to see if “women are to achieve literary autonomy” (155).

**British feminism** focuses on keeping all aspects of art, life and literature together and viewed “reading, writing, and publishing as facets of material reality” (155). In this material reality, literature serves as one of many parts of an entire piece, and it affects all of the other parts, which means if a female is depicted as an obedient and dull wife and mother in a novel, than that will affect how that woman is treated in reality. British feminist thinkers also believed in confronting the “economic and social status of women, both in society and as depicted in the arts, especially in texts” (155). British feminists were activists as opposed to American feminist thinkers who took a more passive and critical route.

**French feminist theory** is reliant upon psychoanalytic criticism and beliefs of those psychoanalytical thinkers such as Jacques Lacan and Sigmund Freud. Although Freud thought that the phallic symbol served as a powerful object and believes that women suffered from **penis envy,** the French critics thought that “Lacan [rescued] psychoanalysis from Freud’s misogynistic theories” (155). Jacques Lacan disputes that the language is the definition of our conscious and unconscious thoughts, which further shapes our identity, not Freud’s phallus. Lacan believes that language is a “psychological, not a biological, construct, he believes that women can learn the dominant discourse…and become tools of social, political, and personal change,” thus he becomes somewhat of an advocate for the advancement of women’s education (156). French feminist thinkers also focus on elimination of certain words from the language such as “feminine”, “masculine”, “man” and even “woman” because of the context they have served to in the past and the affect they have on the discourse (157). French feminist critic Helene Cixous believes that “feminine discourse, when fully exposed, will transform the social and cultural structures within the literature by freeing both women and men from phallocentrism” (157).

__**Basic Questions Used in Feminist Analysis:**__

[[image:eng3014-feminism/e-book-magnifying-glass.jpg width="408" height="288" align="right"]]

 * =====**Is the author male or female?**=====
 * =====**Is the text narrated by a male or female?**=====
 * =====**What types of roles do women have in the text?**=====
 * =====**Are the female characters protagonists or secondary and minor characters?**=====
 * =====**Do any stereotypical characterizations of woman appear?**=====
 * =====**What are the attitudes toward woman held by the male characters?**=====
 * =====**What is the author's attitude toward woman in society?**=====
 * =====**How does the author's culture influence her or his attitude?**=====
 * =====**Is feminine imagery used? If so, what is the significance of such imagery?**=====
 * =====**Do the female characters speak differently than do the male characters?**=====

__Important Words to know:__

 * **__ Gynocritcism- __ Elaine Showalter's process of, "Constructing a female framework for analysis of women's literature to develop new models based on the study of female experience, rather than to adapt to male models and theories." This process consists of the following four models: **
 * 1) =**__ Biological model- __ emphasizes the ways the female body and form makes its mark on a text by supplying a variety of literary ideals and images, along with a personal tone **=
 * 2) =**__ Cultural model- __ investigates how civilization creates women’s ideals, reactions, and opinions **=
 * 3) =**__ Psychoanalytic model- __ one of the four models under gynocriticism; evaluates the female mind and reveals how such an examination affects the creative process, highlighting the flux and fluidity of female writing in opposition to the male writing form of stringency and organization. **=
 * 4) =**__ Linguistic model- __ one of the four models under gynocriticism; tackles the necessity for a female dialogue, investigating the idiosyncrasies between the male and female language. **=
 * **__ Gynocritics- __ Showalter’s gynocriticism; provides a structure for thought on women’s literature to create new ideas on how to interpret and infer based on the female understanding **
 * **__ Kristeva’s chora- __ constant flow of changeability or pace that typifies the imaginary order (Lacan) of psychic development **
 * **__ L’`ecriture ____ feminine- __ literally defined as “women’s writing”; fundamentally unique from that of the male’s writing style and form **
 * **__ Lesbianization of language- __ Wittig’s idea to confront male-dominated ideals embedded in the structure of language by testing with and anticipating to eliminate words that reflect their gender **
 * **__ Misogyny- __ loathing or doubt of women **
 * **__ Patriarchal- __ a way to describe a civilization or group governed by men **
 * **__ Patriarchy- __ a collective in which men hold a inconsistent amount of power and reign; men define what is right and morally acceptable as a human, including what it means to be a female **
 * **__ Phallocentrism- __ belief that the phallus is the foundation of authority in society and literature; this is usually escorted with male-centered and patriarchal suppositions **
 * **__ Sexual politics- __ introduced by Millett in //Sexual Politics// during the second wave; affirms the financial inequality and ideological programming of women as the principal causes of female oppression; puts patriarchy at the center of the feminism **

== Below is a link to timeline of feminism and the women’s movement from the eighteenth century to present day to provide a clear outline of what feminism has done for women around the world: == = = ==[|http://www.legacy98.org/timeline.html]==

**Please Take A Look at Our Power Point of Prominent Feminists!**