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Feminism is a word that is stock-full of implications, and has many misconceptions. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti attempts to give a broad overview of what feminism is, and how you should feel about it (hint: it’s positively). The book is directed primarily towards the younger generation, and talks about a variety of issues relevant to the feminist movement today and in history. The weaknesses of the book include the casual writing, the assumptions Valenti makes, and the contradictory statements that are consistently made. The strengths include providing an entertaining, broad overview of feminism, and discussing ways to contribute to gender equality. Overall, the book is more likely to be a positive experience for high-schoolers that identify as women then college-aged individuals looking for a critical analysis of issues society faces in regards to gender inequality. The defining weakness I found throughout the entire book, was Jessica Valenti’s insistence in talking in forced “teen speak” and the abundance of unnecessary profanity. It is hard to focus on important feminist issues when the author is complaining about her childhood enemies and how that one boy did not like her because of her nose. While it may work for some readers, it was so casual that it seemed more like a blog post then an educational book. There are many ways to keep a book fun and informal without losing credibility and failing to make readers think critically. It seemed as though she purposely dumbed-down her language in order to seem more accessible to young feminists, which in turn actually harmed the arguments that she was making. For example, in her most serious chapter, “The Blame (and Shame) Game”, she still uses made-up words like “fuck... ... middle of paper ... ...ortant issues. Admittedly, this writing may engage some readers, but did not do so for me. She also makes many generalizations throughout the book, narrowing her audience substantially, and makes many contradictory statements that take focus away from more important issues. She does, however, have some very good points; they are just obscured with the negatives above. Overall, if you have the exact same opinions as Jessica Valenti and identify as a woman, Full Frontal Feminism could definitely improve your view of feminism, but if not then it may have a negative impact on readers view of feminism. Works Cited Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2007. Print.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Surprisingly, in spite of being a male from the 1970s, Tom Robbins has written a novel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, supporting feminism. This is a term that most of us are familiar with; yet, what is feminism? The Routledge Critical Dictionary of Feminism and Postfeminism defines "feminist purpose" for us as "an active desire to change women's position in society" (Brown, Meginis, and Bardari, 231). In order to discuss feminism in terms of Robbin's novel, we need to know what feminist theory means when applied to literature. According to Jonathon Culler, a professor of English and comparative literature at Cornell University and author of Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, feminist theory is based on "women writers and the representation of women's experience" (124). Naturally, Robbins does not fit the first category of being a woman author since he is male. Nevertheless, his novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues fits within Culler's description of feminist novels that "champion the identity of women [and] demand rights for women" (123-124). Robbins does this through the development of his female characters and the plot.
McCann, C., & Kim, S. (2013). Feminist theory reader, (3d ed.). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Feminism is a political movement that seeks equality between the sexes. Motivated by the search for social justice, feminist analysis provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural, economic, and political ideologies. Important topics for feminist politics and theory include: the body, class and work, family life, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, sex work, human trafficking, and sexuality. From early beginnings, to its current state, feminism has been a pervasive movement that has incited social, political and economic change and advancements. Generationally speaking, over the decades feminism has taken on many different meanings. Feminism has become a spectrum; each generation, or wave,
To understand feminism in the novel, one must first understand the feminist lens itself. OWL Purdue describes the lens as “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (Purdue). Feminism acts as both a commitment and a political movement that wants to end sexism in all forms. Most feminists generally disagree on many topics of the subject, however all have one common goal. These aspects affect The Things They Carry in a plethora of ways, mostly due to the fact that gender roles is a main theme. There are negative and positive aspects of the feminist lens. Positive contains the empowering of women and equality, whereas negative pertains to oppression and unequal rights. Both are covered in The Things They Carried from sex symbols to battle tor...
Feminist critique is a relatively new method. It has its origins in the 1950's and 60's but did not really take shape until the feminist movements of the 70's and 80's. Only in the 90's has it become standard in textbooks. This triumph of feminine thought has come to a head, and many authors seek to use this technique to criticize society. Authors such as Eleanor Wilner, for example, have used their feminist poetry to slander the "male-dominated" society in which humans currently reside.
Throughout the texts we have read in English thus far have been feminist issues. Such issues range from how the author published the book to direct, open statements concerning feminist matters. The different ways to present feminist issues is even directly spoken of in one of the essays we read and discussed. The less obvious of these feminist critiques is found buried within the texts, however, and must be read carefully to understand their full meaning- or to even see them.
Feminism isn’t extinct. It just hasn’t been as popular as it used to be over the past couple decades. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters, written by Jessica Valenti, teaches the younger generation what feminism is and how cool it is to truly be a feminist. Valenti presents the book in a way that doesn’t harp on old ideas and that the younger generation can relate to. This critical analysis will focus on a brief summary, critical thinking and analysis, application of what was read, and questions to the author. Without a doubt, Valenti did an excellent job showing the readers that feminism has evolved and the importance of being a feminist.
Peterson, Linda H. "What Is Feminist Criticism?" Wuthering Heights. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. Boston: Bedford Books, 1992. 330-337.
We live in the modern society where women can vote, work, have access to birth control, freedom of speech, and be independent. However, two articles written by feminist writers Jessica Valenti and bell hooks demonstrate that feminism still exist because of an inevitable inequality that women face in the society. Both writers are convinced that most of the people do not really know what feminism is about or they do not look at it closer in order to be able to understand the purpose of this movement. According to them, feminism is not about being anti-men and spreading hatred towards males as many individuals claim. As bell hooks states in her article “[…] I tend to hear about the evil of feminism […] how ‘they’ hate men […]” (11). Feminism does
Feminism is a perspective that views gender as one of the most important bases of the structure and organization of the social world. Feminists argue that in most known societies this structure has granted women lower status and value, more limited access to valuable resources, and less autonomy and opportunity to make choices over their lives than it has granted men. (Sapiro 441)
Among the many subjects covered in this book are the three classes of oppression: gender, race and class in addition to the ways in which they intersect. As well as the importance of the movement being all-inclusive, advocating the idea that feminism is in fact for everybody. The author also touches upon education, parenting and violence. She begins her book with her key argument, stating that feminist theory and the movement are mainly led by high class white women who disregarded the circumstances of underprivileged non-white women.
Haslanger, Sally, Tuana Nancy and O'Connor, Peg, "Topics in Feminism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Web. 21 Mar. 2014
Feminism has negative connotations in popular culture. When people think about feminism or feminists, they envision angry women who absolutely hate men. This may be true for some feminists, but not all. It may surprise a few people that feminism is integral in all facets of life. Its roots lie in a social and political movement, the women’s liberation movement, aimed at improving conditions for women. Feminism has many definitions, but one common definition features the concept of equality, such as the belief that women and men should have equal opportunities. Feminism also examines women's social roles, experiences, interests, and politics in a variety of fields. Common themes explored in feminist theory are discrimination, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping and so forth. These themes have developed over time and have created feminist theory. This section of paper will describe the three waves of feminism, the feminist rhetorical pioneers and their critics, and will explain how to use feminist criticism.
However, even though a feminist view helps to encourage certain views in the text, it can be restrictive. This is because it does not allow the reader to discover other potential meanings such as a Marxist or a Psychoanalytical perceptive. For instance, in Salome a Marxist critic may be interested in the sexual power that the woman misuses. In addition, a psychoanalytic perspective allows us to see that it is the unconscious mind that is driving Salome to do such acts. This idea is reinforced through the Lois Tysons idea that “we unconsciously behave in ways that allow us to “play out”…our conflicted feelings about the painful experiences we repress”.