Analysis Of Joyce Carol Oates's 'Foxfire'

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Joyce Carol Oates wrote Foxfire, a book taking place in 1953, in 1993 and its major themes are still relevant in 2015. In Foxfire, a girl gang (FOXFIRE) takes on social injustices they see in the world, namely fighting against Capitalism and for women’s rights. They get money through their jobs, “hooking” and by other indescribable ways and use this money to contribute not only to FOXFIRE FINANCES but also to other women who have helped them or are in need of help themselves, comparable to a 1950’s feminist Robin Hood. FOXFIRE’s main goal is to help women in need and to “fight the patriarchy”. They shelter women of sexual and physical abuse and get revenge on the men that performed these actions. While nowadays the fight for feminism is …show more content…

Their methods of gang violence and defacing property may seem wholly unconventional now, but in the 1950’s, gangs and their respective acts were common. Not only were these acts common, but they were arguably necessary to make a difference due to the social inequality women faced and the sexual rape culture women were (and to some extent still are) subjected to. When Rita O’Hagan, an original member of FOXFIRE, was raped by the Viscounts, a male gang, at only twelve years of age, instead of protecting and helping her, Rita’s “mother screamed at her and slapped her and did not then, or subsequently, inquire of her what had happened that afternoon- whether anything had happened at all” (25) because the family would be shamed because Rita put herself in that situation. This rape culture perpetuated by Rita’s family and society made it so that FOXFIRE could not be effective by making political statements and protesting as feminists do now; for FOXFIRE to genuinely make a difference, they needed to do something big. FOXFIRE fought against sexual crimes committed against women of their own group by figuratively killing the perpetrators. In the case of Rita’s teacher who would consistently call her out in front of the class, hold her after for discipline and touch her, FOXFIRE spray painted on his car “I AM N****R LIPS BUTTINGER I AM A DIRTY OLD MAN MMMMMM GIRLS!!! I TEACH MATH AND TICKLE TITS IM BUTTINGER I EAT P***Y” (48) which subsequently got him fired and driven out of town effectively ruining his life. If they had instead staged a protest, they would not have been listened to and would be castigated by their parents, the school and the community for talking about such shameful issues and not doing what they are told. As girls in the 1950’s there were severe limits to what they could do and do effectively. The more

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