The term ‘Ecriture Feminine’, literally meaning ‘feminine writing’, was coined by Helene Cixous. To understand the idea of Ecriture feminine, it is necessary to understand Lacan’s idea of the Symbolic: according to Lacan, a child’s entry into the Symbolic is an entry into the system of language, which always precedes the individual and is centered on the phallus. Cixous built upon the idea that the woman is excluded from Lacan’s Symbolic and she never enters it, therefore a woman’s lived experience
A Feminist Reading of Their Eyes Were Watching God In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the reader is treated to an enthralling story of a woman’s lifelong quest for happiness and love. Although this novel may be analyzed according to several critical lenses, I believe the perspectives afforded by French feminists Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray have been most useful in informing my interpretation of Hurston’s book. In “The Laugh of the Medusa,” Cixous discusses a phenomenon
the traditional Anglo-Saxon views of women by praising Wealhtheow, condemning Grendel's mother, and showing the need to suppress feminine forces like Wyrd; however, he does offer some criticism of these views by creating sympathy for Grendel's mother, allowing Wealhtheow to assert herself in the interest of her husband and children, and revealing masculine fear of feminine power. The author creates Wealhtheow to embody the role of a traditional Anglo-Saxon woman, and he presents this role as the
The Problem That Has No Name The Feminine Mystique written by Betty Friedan was one of the first books that targeted the idealized image of an American woman at the time. The ideal image of an American woman, during the civil rights era, was a middle-class, college-educated housewife. Who's sole purpose was to happily take care of the home while the men focus their time on more pressing issues, such as the fast-paced world of business or the politics of the Russian conflict. These issues were simply
represented women's primary opportunity for achievement and respect within previous societies, second-wave feminism critically explored the lived reality of women as mothers within our middle-class American society. Betty Friedan's influential The Feminine Mystique, published in 1965, indicted the deadly boredom of the suburban home, while later works such as Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born, articulated with devastating incisiveness the oppressive qualities of the contemporary institution of motherhood
he did, and just got frustrated because they didn't understand themselves. He usually walked with his hands in his pockets, looking either up at the trees or down at the ground, but never focused at eye level. Somewhere in the process I adopted a feminine perspective on my character, very much a tomboy but also very much a woman. At two points in the show I took on other roles. . . in Act Two I played the minister at the wedding, which was a background character and not very distinct. Then, with
"Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other deity. She was the ultimate judge of morality and conduct" (Achebe 36). This quote may be surprising to the reader at first that men might worship a female goddess, but it fits with feminine roles in the Ibo society. Women are often entrusted with instilling morality in their children and governing their conduct. A female goddess will remind men to uphold their morals and mind their conduct, much the way a mother would her child. Again
The “Yellow Wall-Paper” is a reflection of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal situations, regarding the protection of the rights of woman. She provides a critique on traditional feminine roles, and women’s desperation to get out of them. In the short story, the author depicts the idea that women conforming to the norms of society can be driven to destruction. Her criticism of gender conflicts is portrayed through the journal entries of the narrator. In order to illustrate her feminist concerns
“The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own”. Betty Friedan, feminist author and icon who’s most famous work came to be known as The Feminine Mystique (1963), was not always aware of the impact she would have on the feminist cause, but after requesting a maternity leave to raise her three children, she was terminated from her job and replaced by a man. This event made Friedan conscientious of the fact that women struggled
Feminine Sexuality and Passion in Kate Chopin's The Storm In Kate Chopin's short story The Storm, the narrative surrounds the brief extramarital affair of two individuals, Calixta and Alcée. Many critics do not see the story as a condemnation of infidelity, but rather as an affirmation of human sexuality. This essay argues that "The Storm" may be interpreted as an affirmation of feminine sexuality and passion as well as a condemnation of its repression by the constraints of society.
Following the Cold War, women began to fight for their own equality, however, by doing so they retained the inequalities of others. The Feminine Mystique was released in 1963. The Author, Betty Friedan, lays out for her readers this problem that has no name. The problem is described as, “a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggles with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped
Symbols of Feminine Power in Their Eyes Were Watching God Much evidence supports Saturday Review writer Doris Grumbach's opinion that Their Eyes Were Watching God is "the finest black novel of its time" and "one of the finest of all time" (Washington, 4). Zora Neale Hurston's text is highly regarded because of the meaning and purpose it conveys using poetic language and folkloric imagery. It is the heroic story of Janie Crawford's search for individuality, self-realization, and independence
Zora Neale Hurston - Celebrating the Culture of Black Americans In her life and in her writings, Zora Neale Hurston, with the South and its traditions as her backdrop, celebrated the culture of black Americans, Negro love and pride with a feminine perspective that was uncommon and untapped in her time. While Hurston can be considered one of the greats of African-American literature, it’s only recently that interest in her has been revived after decades of neglect (Peacock 335). Sadly, Hurston’s
Postwar Effects on Women The "feminine mystique" that American culture promotes is entirely dependent upon its ideas, beliefs, and needs of the time. American culture has always tended to influence women into doing what the day and age required. After men went to war there was a gap in the work force that needed to be filled. During World War II women were the most available to join the work force. Due to the discouragement to raise families during the Great Depression and the fact that most
Black is Beautiful in Shakespeare's Sonnets and Sidney's Astrophil and Stella Germinating in anonymous Middle English lyrics, the subversion of the classical poetic representation of feminine beauty as fair-haired and blue-eyed took on new meaning in the age of exploration under sonneteers Sidney and Shakespeare. No longer did the brown hair of "Alison" only serve to distinguish her from the pack; the features of the new "Dark Lady" became more pronounced and sullied, and her eroticized associations
Throughout history when a girl is born, it wasn’t received as a blessing. Many cultures see this as a curse. A girl’s anatomy seemed to be her destiny as Freud once said. A girl is born with the burden of being simply a woman. Betty Friedan experienced being a woman in the middle class suburbs of America. And although it did not discuss the struggles of all women, it did give us a glimpse of a particular group of women and their struggles as housewives and mothers. In the book, Friedan describes
Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and Sue Kaufman's Diary of a Mad Housewife Bettina Balser, the narrator of Sue Kaufman’s Diary of a Mad Housewife, is an attractive, intelligent woman living in an affluent community of New York City with her successful husband and her two charming children. She is also on the verge of insanity. Her various mental disorders, her wavering physical health, and her sexual promiscuity permeate her diary entries, and are interwoven among descriptions of the
Anna Livia Plurabelle: The Lost Truth of Feminine Subjectivity The oppressed, repressed, and impressed subjectivity of feminism finds a new opportunity to assert its true self against the stultifying atmosphere of modernism and identity-oriented crisis of postmodern ambience by appealing to the unique characterization of Anna Livia Plurabelle which frequently oscillates phallocentrism and proves the me'connaissance of male selfism and female-otherness to establish a new doctrine based on the
Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique In Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan wrote about women's inequality from men to women's equality to men. She also wrote about women accepting the inequality to women fighting for equality. Friedan comes across to me as a woman with strong beliefs who puts a lot of effort and information in her book. I wasn't aware that this book would give such an extreme amount of information. Her writing style proves that she has been in a feminist movement. Her writing style shows
White is used as a demonstration of gender roles in a post modernistic work. Works Cited Barthelme, Donald. Snow White. New York: Atheneum, 1967. Print. "The Good Wife's Guide." Good Housekeeping 13 May 1955: n. pag. Print. Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: Norton, 1983. Print. ---. It Changed My Life: Writings on the Women's Movement. New York: Random House, 1976. Print. ---. The Second Stage. New York: Summit, 1981. Print