Introduction to Feminist Criticism and Gender Studies

Short Play: “Beauty” by Jane Martin Short-Short Story: “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid Poem: “The English Canon” by Adrienne Su

Gender Studies and Feminist Criticism

• • • Many Gender Critics see a difference between gender (which is socially constructed) and sex (which is biological). This means that ideas about "typically" masculine or feminine traits and behavior are products of culture and social conditioning. Gender Critics are interested in how works of literature either support or undermine the stereotypical "standards" of masculine/feminine behavior and identity held by the culture in which they were produced.

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Feminist and Gender Criticism

Feminist Critics and Gender Critics have many interests in common, but Feminist Critics are more likely to be interested in literary representations of women, and in bringing attention to works by women that have historically been overlooked, while Gender Critics are interested equally in the way that both the male and female genders are presented.

Feminists and Feminist Critics do NOT “hate men” OR think that works written by men or male characters are not worthy of study. – On the contrary, they are addressing a historic imbalance. For hundreds of years, works by women or about women were considered “less than”, or “women’s lit only” and therefore “not as worthy of study. – Feminist Critics seek to balance this by choosing to focus on what was ignored and not taken seriously for so many years.

– “Equality is the goal. Feminism is a method, a means to that end.” feminismisequality.com

Also, feminism and feminist criticism are NOT monolithic. Not all feminist think the same way. There are many schools or types and traditions of feminist thought, some of which are more progressive and some of which are less so. • Vocab Word! Monolithic = when describing a system or organization, this means “powerful and uniform or single-minded. Whole, not divided.”

Feminist and Gender Criticism, continued

• • Feminist Critics work to show people that for much of history, the "literary canon" and the field of literary criticism have both been dominated by (white) men, and the seek to expose the effects of this patriarchal mindset. By looking at the ways that women's concerns and women's writing has been marginalized, they seek to address the imbalance that has traditionally persisted in favor of men's writing and men's concerns.

– They also seek to dismantle the notion that men’s writing and men’s concerns are somehow “universal” and women’s writing and women’s concerns are somehow “specialized”. • This attitude—that men are the “default human” and women are the “other” can also be linked to what Structuralism and Deconstruction discusses when it talks about binaries in our language and the way we think that cause us to dehumanize –in sometimes subtle ways—half of the population.

Questions for "The English Canon"

• • • Refer to the poem you read for today: "The English Canon" by Adrienne Su on p. 474. What is the concern that the speaker of this poem is expressing? Support your ideas with lines from the text. How does this poem speak to some of the ideas in Feminist and Gender Criticism that we have been talking about? What do you think a Feminist or Gender Critic would say about this poem? – Remember, to put it very simply, Gender Critics are interested in culturally produced ideas about what is "masculine" and "feminine." – Feminist Critics are interested in how living in a society and reading a literature dominated by men affects women, and by extension, society as a whole.

Questions for Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”

• • I would love to get a volunteer to do a dramatic reading of this story. Questions: – Who is the speaker/narrator in “Girl”? • • To put this another way, who is talking to whom?

Through the speaker and the spoken to in this story, “Girl” illustrates and important but often ignored point—that women are often the main enforcers of female gender standards on other women. • That women, who are socialized to believe certain things about what a woman is/does/should be then pass on these sometimes oppressive gender notions to their female descendants. • This works to illustrate that there is often no one to “blame” for patriarchal oppression and gender standards—the problem is the system that teaches both men and women that these gender standards are “right” or “natural”. • This is what feminism works to unravel.

In-Class Dramatic Reading of Beauty

• • • At the bottom of p. 765, the two women switch bodies. So, for my two “actresses,” when the switch occurs… The first name is the one you should be looking at to figure out who speaks based on your original roles that you chose. The second is the character you're now playing. – Carla/Bethany = Bethany in Carla’s body (so Carla's actress still speaks, but she is now playing Bethany) – Bethany/Carla = Carla in Bethany’s body (so Bethany’s actress still speaks, but she is now playing Carla)

Questions for Beauty

• • • • • This seems on the surface to be a case of the theme “The grass is always greener on the other side.” But is there anything else going on here? What other issues are being confronted? How does this story unfold differently than it might have in a novel because it's a play? Why is the switch supernatural? Why don't they just talk about their differences?

Which woman is going to be happier with the switch?

In-Class Writing: 10 minutes

• How might the play Beauty have been different if it had involved men instead of women? Point to specific places in the text that might have been different in interesting ways, and speculate on the possible differences. – Don’t forget to put your name and the DATE on your papers before you turn them in.

Preview for Thursday: Gender Studies and Queer Theory

Next Class: Gender Studies and Queer Theory, with a Bonus Mini Peer Review!

• Thursday, May 8 - Topics: Cultural Theory: Queer Theory • Homework Due: – Research Paper Progress Check and Mini Peer Review: Bring rough draft of your research paper (at the least bring an introduction/tentative thesis statement and at least 2 sources.) – Read “Queer Theory” overview p. 1232-1234 • Optional for Further Exploration: • If you are interested in Queer Theory and want to learn more about it, watch the film Fried Green Tomatoes and read the Student Example of a Queer Theory-based Research Paper “Problematic Identities: Lesbian Subtext in Fried Green Tomatoes” (download on blog)