What is the meaning of “Feminism”?
Third wave feminism: “is a feminist movement that began in the early 1990s. While second-wave
feminism largely
focused on the inclusion of women in traditionally male-dominated areas, third-wave feminism seeks to challenge and expand
common definitions of gender and sexuality.” (4)
“Traits of third-wave
feminism include queer theory, women-of-color
consciousness, post-colonialism, critical theory, transnationalism, and new feminist theory. In particular, a post-structuralist interpretation of gender and
sexuality is often, though not always, central to third-wave feminism. Other
consequences include a decreased emphasis upon addressing and overthrowing a
perceived oppression by patriarchy and instead focuses on equality
between the sexes”(4)
Feminist Literary Criticism: Some Definitions.
“Generally, feminist
literary criticism exists to counter, resist, and eventually eliminate the
traditions and conventions of patriarchy the ideology or belief
system which sees as "natural" the dominance and superiority of men
over women in both private and public contexts--as it exists in literary,
historical, and critical contexts.” (5)
“Écriture
féminine, literally
women's writing, is a philosophy that promotes women's experiences and feelings
to the point that it strengtheness the work.
Écriture
féminine places experience before language, and privileges the anti-linear,
cyclical writing so often frowned upon by patriarchal society. For Cixous, though, ecriture feminine
is not only a possibility for female writers, rather, she believes it can also
be employed by men. Just as women often lapse into masculine writing, Cixous
believes that men can also tap into feminine writing.” (7)
Goals of Feminist Literary Criticism
“Lisa
Tuttle has defined feminist theory as asking "new questions of old
texts." [citation needed] She cites the goals of feminist criticism as:
1) To develop and uncover a female tradition of writing; 2) to interpret
symbolism of women's writing so that it will not be lost or ignored by the male
point of view; 3) to rediscover old texts; 4) to analyze women writers and
their writings from a female perspective; 5) to resist sexism in literature;
and 6) to increase awareness of the sexual politics of language and style.”
(8).
What did the women’s writers say?
“Helene
Cixous states that l'ecriture feminine seeks a way of writing that
literally embodies the female, thereby fighting the "subordinating, linear
style of classification or distinction." While men have a penis, she
states, women, too, possess something of their own: All women write in a little
of that good mother's milk.” (9)
Some of the
women’s writers of the 19th century adopted male names,
pseudonims,as for example George Eliot:
“George
Eliot (Mary Ann Evans): She used a male pen name, she said, to ensure that her
works were taken seriously. Female authors published freely under their own names,
but Eliot wanted to ensure that she was not seen as merely a writer of
romances.” (10)
“Adrienne
Rich: Feminism means finally that we renounce our obedience to the fathers and
recognize that he world they have described is not the whole world re-vision--the
act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes of entering an old text from a
new critical direction--is for us more than a chapter in cultural history,it is
an act of survival.” (9)
4_ “ Third- wave feminism”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 11 May 2006, 02:23 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 May 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third-wave_feminism&oldid=52597511
5_http://www.neiu.edu/~edepartm/dep/profs/scherm/html/feminism.htm
6_
“Feminist Literary Criticism”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 May 2006,
00:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 May 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feminist_literary_criticism&oldid=54809691
7_ “Écriture Feminine”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 April 2006, 16:00 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 May 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%C3%89criture_f%C3%A9minine&oldid=49301247
8_
“Feminist Literary Criticism”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 May 2006,
00:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 May 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feminist_literary_criticism&oldid=54809691
. Links
update in July 2003 By James Romesburg. Last time viewed: 25 May 2006.