A free and autonomous being like all
human creatures (a woman) nevertheless finds herself living in a world where
man compel her to assume the status of the other. *1
Feminism is the belief in social,
political and economic equality of the sexes and a
movement organised around the belief *2 that gender should not be
the predeterminant factor shaping a person's social identity or
sociopolitical or economic rights. Feminist literary criticism affiliates women
with two things - one is the representation of women in literature and another
is to change the condition of women through making them free from the
repressive hindrances. It has great connection with the fundamental attachments
of modern literary theory. So, Feminist criticism is a part of the greater
movement for women's equality in society.
Feminist theory aims to understand
the nature of gender inequality. In examines women's social roles and lived experience
and feminist politics in variety of fields."3
Feminism became an organized movement
in the 19th century as people increasingly came to believe that women were
being treated unfairly. Charles Fourier coined the word féminisme in
1837. He had argued that the extension of women's rights was the general
principle of all social progress. At first the
feminist movement concentrated on gaining legal equality especially the right
to vote, called suffrage. Women in the United States and many
European nations finally obtained the vote during the early 1900's. The
Feminist movement nearly disappeared after women received the right to vote.
During the mid 1900's however increasing the numbers of women entered
the labour force. They found them. A new concern with economic and
social equality helped to create a revival of the feminist movement in the
1960's. The national list fought to end education and job discrimination
against women.
Feminist criticism can be divided
into two distinct varieties- (1) the first type is concerned with woman as
reader with woman as the consumer of male produced literature and with the ways
in which the hypothesis of a female reader changes our apprehension of a given
text awakening up to the significance of its sexual codes. (2) the second
type is concerned with woman as writer with woman as the produces of textual
meaning, with the history, themes, genres and structures of literature by
women.
Many feminist thinkers raised their
pen againist oppression, suppression and inequality of women. One of
them is Wollstonecraft. In her book "A vindication of the Rights
of Women," (1792). She describes the state of ignorance in which
society kept women. Sarah M. Gimke in her pamphlet "Letters
on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman
(1838)" placed a powerful argument against the religious leaders.
The Feminist literary criticism of
today is the direct product of the "women's movement" of the
1968's. The concern with conditioning and socialization underpins a crucial set
of distinctions that between the terms feminist, female and
feminine. As Toril Moi explains "a matter of
biology' and the third "a set of culturally defined
characteristics." *04
Feminism is not a single ideology.
Over-time several sub-types of feminist ideology have developed. . Early
feminists and primary feminist movements are often called the first-wave
feminists, and feminists after about 1960 the second-wave feminists. More
recently, a new generation of feminists have started third-wave
feminism.
Feminist criticism since
the 1970's has been remarkable for the wide range of positions that
exist within it debates and disagreements have centered on three particular
areas, there being -
1. The role of theory
2. The nature of language and
3. The value or otherwise of
psychoanalysis.
Feminist criticism and the role of
theory:
The Anglo-Americans maintain a major
interest in traditional critical concepts like themes, movie and
characterization.
English feminist criticism is, after
all, often distinctly different from Americans.
Feminist Criticism and Language:
Virginia Woolf in her essay
is gendered so that when a woman turns to novel writing, she finds that there
is no common sentence ready for her use she quotes am example and says that is
a man's sentence : this has been " subsemstently developed and
theorized by feminist critics such as Dale Spenser is "man made
language" 1980.
English-speaking feminists are often
proponents of using non-sexist language, using "Ms." to refer
to both married and unmarried women, for example, or the ironic use
of the term "herstory" instead of "history". Feminists are
also often proponents of using gender-inclusive language, such as "humanity"
instead of "mankind", or "he or she" in place of
"he" where the gender is unknown.
Feminist criticism and
Psychoanalysis:
The
story, feminisms's relationship with psychoanalysis, can be said to
begin, like so much else, with Kate Millett's "sexual
politics" in 1969 which condemns Freud as a prime source of the
patriarchal attitudes againist which feminist must fight.
Postcolonial feminist criticizes
certain ideas of western forms of feminism, notably radical feminism and its
most basic assumption, universalization of the female experience.
They argue that this assumption can not so easily be applied to women for whim
gender oppression comes second to, for example racial or class oppression.
Relationship to other movements:
Most feminists take a holistic
approach to politics, believing the saying of Martin Luther King
Jr., "A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere".*5 In that belief, some feminists usually support other
movements such as the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement and, more
recently fathers' rights.
Criticism of Feminist Criticism:
Feminism has attracted attention due
to the social changes it has effected in Western society.
Some critics (both male and female)
find that some feminists are effectively preaching hate against males or
claiming male inferiority, citing that if the words "male" and
"female" were replaced by "black" and "white"
respectively in some feminist writings, the texts could be viewed as racist
propaganda. While some feminists generally disagree with the view that men are
equally oppressed under patriarchy, other feminists, especially third-wave
feminists agree that men are similarly oppressed and that gender equality means
oppression of neither gender.
Some argue that because of feminism,
males are beginning to be oppressed. Those who make this claim often note that
males die from suicide 4 times more frequently than females attempting suicide
in the USA. *6
Many people object to the feminist
movement as trying to destroy traditional gender roles. They say that men and
women have many natural differences and that everyone benefits from recognizing
those differences.
Conclusion: Throughout
history, women have usually had fewer rights and lower social status than men.
Feminist movement has enabled large groups of women to question and determine
their rights and responsibilities.…
Reference:
01.Simone De Beauvoir, The
Second Sex, 1959.
02. The American Heritage® Dictionary
of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
04. Peter Barry,
Literary Criticism, 2002, Page 122.
05. Martin Luther King
Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
06. http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/374.pdf
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