The Second Wave
The Second Wave of feminist theory was very much influenced by the various liberationist movements, especially in America, in the 1960s. Its central concern was sexual difference. The theorists of this second wave criticised especially the argument that women were made 'inferior' by virtues of their biological difference to men. Some feminist critics, on the other hand, celebrated the biological difference and considered it a source of positive values which women could nurture, both in their everyday lives and in works of art and literature. Another area of debate has been the question of whether white women and men perceive the world in the same ways, and differently to black women. Another much disputed question has been whether there exists a specifically female language. This has arisen from the sense that one reason for the oppression of women has been the male dominance of language itself. Some feminists have decided nit to challenge dominance directly but rather to celebrate all that has been traditionally identified as the polar opposite of maleness. All that is disruptive, chaotic and subversive is seen as female, in a positive, creative sense, in contrast to the restrictive, ordering and defining obsessions of maleness.
1. KATE MILLET (1934-)
Kate Millet's book Sexual Politics (1969) was probably the most influential feminist work of its period. Her central argument is that the main cause of the oppression of women is ideology. Patriarchy is all-pervasive and treats females universally as inferior. In both public and private life the female is subordinate. Millet also distinguishes very clearly between 'sex' (biological characteristics) and 'gender' (culturally acquired identity). The interaction of domination and subordination in all relations between men and women is what she calls 'Sexual Politics'. Millet also reveals a special in literature, arguing that the very structure of narrative has been shaped by male ideology. Male purposiveness and goal-seeking dominate the structure of most literature. To show up the extent to which the perspectives in most works are those of the men, she deliberately provides readings of famous works of literature from a woman's perspective. However, she reveals a misconceived vies of homosexuality in literature (especially in the works of Jean Genet), which she could only comprehend as a kind of metaphor for subjection of the female.
2. SANDRA GILBERT (1936-) AND
SUSAN GUBER (1944-)
Gilbert and Guber's The Madwoman in the Attic (1979) is famous for its exploration of certain female stereotypes in literature, especially those of the 'angel' and 'monster'. The title refers to the mad wife whom Rochester has locked in the attic in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. They have been criticised for identifying many examples of patriarchal dominance without providing a through criticism of it.
3. ELAINE SHOWALTER (1941-)
One of the most influential books of The Second Wave is Elaine Showalter's A Literature of their Own (1977), which provides a literary history of women writers. It outlines a feminist critique of literature for women readers as well as identifying crucial women writers. She coined the term 'gynocriticism' for her mode of analysing the works of women writers. She also argues for a profound difference between the writing of women and that of men and delineates a whole tradition of women's writing neglected by male critics. She divided this tradition into three phases.
The fisrt Phase was from abouyt 1840 tol 1880, and she refers to it as the 'feminine' phase. It includes writers such as George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell. Female writers in this phase internalised and respected the dominant male perspective, which required that woman authors remained strictly in their socially acceptable place. From this perspective , it is significant that Mary Anne Evans found it necessary to adopt the male pen name of 'George Eliot'. The Second Phase, the 'feminist' phase, froml 1880 to 1920 included radical feminist writers who protested against male values, such as Olive Schreiner and Eliuzabeth Robins. The Third Phase, which she describes as the 'female' phase, developed the notion ofl specifically female writing. Rebecca West and Katherine Mansfield exemplify this phase.
4. JULIA KRISTEVA (1941-)
The central ideas of Julia Kristeva have already been outlined in relation to the influence of Lacanian psychoanlaysis on her work. She considered Lacan's 'symbolic' stage in a child's development to be the main krootll of male dominance. When a child learns language, it also recognises principles of order, law and rationality associated with a patriarchal society. Lacan's pre- Oedipal 'imaginary' stage is reffered tio by Kristeva as 'semiotic' , and literature, especially lpoetry,l can tapl the rhythms and drives of lthis stage. The pre-Oedpial stage is also associated very closely with the body of the mother. When the male child oenters the 'symbolic' order, however, the child indentifies with the father. The female child is identified with pre-Oedipal, pre-discursive incoherence, and is seen as a threat ot the rational order. As has been already explained, Kristeva advocates a kind of anarchic liberation, in which 'poetic'and 'political' become interchangeable.
5. HELEN CIXOUS (1937-)
Helen Cixous' essay, The Laugh of the Medusa (1976), argues for a positive representation of femininity in women's writing. Hler mode of writing is often poetic rather than rational: 'Write yourself. Your body must be heard.' There is a paradox at the heart of Cixous' theory in that she rejects theory itself:'...this practice can never be theorized, enclosed, encoded - which doesn't mean that it doesn't exist'. Her notion of a specific ecriture feminine is intended to subvert the symbolic rational 'masculine' language. Like Julia Kristeva, she also links ecriture feminine to Lacan's pre-Oedipal 'imaginary' phase. She advocates also what lshe refers to las 'the other bisexuality' which actively encourages and relishes sexual differences. It ,ust be said that her wiriting is full of contradactions: rejecting a biological account ofl the femeale
6. LUCE IRIGARAY (1932-)
Luce Irigaray is ecpecially critical kof Freud's view of women. In Speculum de l'autre femme (1974) she argues that Freud's 'penis envy' envisages women as not really existing at all independently but only as negative mirror images of men. Male perception is clearly associated with sight (observation, analysis, aesthetics etc), but women gain pleasure from plhysical contact. The eroticism ofwomen is fundamentally different to that of ;lmen. For Irigaray, all this implies that women sould celebrate thier completely different nature to men, ltheir otherness. Onlyk in this way can they overcome the traditional male-dominated perception of ;women.
7. RUTH ROBBINS
The general concern of Marxist Feminism isk to reveal the double oppression of women, both by the capitalist system and by sexuality within the home, and to explain the relationships between the two. The ideas of Ruth Robbins provide a good example of the combination of feminist concerns and Marxist principles. In Literary Feminisms (2000), she advocates a Marxist feminism which explains 'the material conditions of real people's lives, how conditions such as poverty and undereducation produce different signifying systems than works produced in conditions of privilege and educational plenty'.
BALA SIVANETHRI.G
The Second Wave of feminist theory was very much influenced by the various liberationist movements, especially in America, in the 1960s. Its central concern was sexual difference. The theorists of this second wave criticised especially the argument that women were made 'inferior' by virtues of their biological difference to men. Some feminist critics, on the other hand, celebrated the biological difference and considered it a source of positive values which women could nurture, both in their everyday lives and in works of art and literature. Another area of debate has been the question of whether white women and men perceive the world in the same ways, and differently to black women. Another much disputed question has been whether there exists a specifically female language. This has arisen from the sense that one reason for the oppression of women has been the male dominance of language itself. Some feminists have decided nit to challenge dominance directly but rather to celebrate all that has been traditionally identified as the polar opposite of maleness. All that is disruptive, chaotic and subversive is seen as female, in a positive, creative sense, in contrast to the restrictive, ordering and defining obsessions of maleness.
1. KATE MILLET (1934-)
Kate Millet's book Sexual Politics (1969) was probably the most influential feminist work of its period. Her central argument is that the main cause of the oppression of women is ideology. Patriarchy is all-pervasive and treats females universally as inferior. In both public and private life the female is subordinate. Millet also distinguishes very clearly between 'sex' (biological characteristics) and 'gender' (culturally acquired identity). The interaction of domination and subordination in all relations between men and women is what she calls 'Sexual Politics'. Millet also reveals a special in literature, arguing that the very structure of narrative has been shaped by male ideology. Male purposiveness and goal-seeking dominate the structure of most literature. To show up the extent to which the perspectives in most works are those of the men, she deliberately provides readings of famous works of literature from a woman's perspective. However, she reveals a misconceived vies of homosexuality in literature (especially in the works of Jean Genet), which she could only comprehend as a kind of metaphor for subjection of the female.
2. SANDRA GILBERT (1936-) AND
SUSAN GUBER (1944-)
Gilbert and Guber's The Madwoman in the Attic (1979) is famous for its exploration of certain female stereotypes in literature, especially those of the 'angel' and 'monster'. The title refers to the mad wife whom Rochester has locked in the attic in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. They have been criticised for identifying many examples of patriarchal dominance without providing a through criticism of it.
3. ELAINE SHOWALTER (1941-)
One of the most influential books of The Second Wave is Elaine Showalter's A Literature of their Own (1977), which provides a literary history of women writers. It outlines a feminist critique of literature for women readers as well as identifying crucial women writers. She coined the term 'gynocriticism' for her mode of analysing the works of women writers. She also argues for a profound difference between the writing of women and that of men and delineates a whole tradition of women's writing neglected by male critics. She divided this tradition into three phases.
The fisrt Phase was from abouyt 1840 tol 1880, and she refers to it as the 'feminine' phase. It includes writers such as George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell. Female writers in this phase internalised and respected the dominant male perspective, which required that woman authors remained strictly in their socially acceptable place. From this perspective , it is significant that Mary Anne Evans found it necessary to adopt the male pen name of 'George Eliot'. The Second Phase, the 'feminist' phase, froml 1880 to 1920 included radical feminist writers who protested against male values, such as Olive Schreiner and Eliuzabeth Robins. The Third Phase, which she describes as the 'female' phase, developed the notion ofl specifically female writing. Rebecca West and Katherine Mansfield exemplify this phase.
4. JULIA KRISTEVA (1941-)
The central ideas of Julia Kristeva have already been outlined in relation to the influence of Lacanian psychoanlaysis on her work. She considered Lacan's 'symbolic' stage in a child's development to be the main krootll of male dominance. When a child learns language, it also recognises principles of order, law and rationality associated with a patriarchal society. Lacan's pre- Oedipal 'imaginary' stage is reffered tio by Kristeva as 'semiotic' , and literature, especially lpoetry,l can tapl the rhythms and drives of lthis stage. The pre-Oedpial stage is also associated very closely with the body of the mother. When the male child oenters the 'symbolic' order, however, the child indentifies with the father. The female child is identified with pre-Oedipal, pre-discursive incoherence, and is seen as a threat ot the rational order. As has been already explained, Kristeva advocates a kind of anarchic liberation, in which 'poetic'and 'political' become interchangeable.
5. HELEN CIXOUS (1937-)
Helen Cixous' essay, The Laugh of the Medusa (1976), argues for a positive representation of femininity in women's writing. Hler mode of writing is often poetic rather than rational: 'Write yourself. Your body must be heard.' There is a paradox at the heart of Cixous' theory in that she rejects theory itself:'...this practice can never be theorized, enclosed, encoded - which doesn't mean that it doesn't exist'. Her notion of a specific ecriture feminine is intended to subvert the symbolic rational 'masculine' language. Like Julia Kristeva, she also links ecriture feminine to Lacan's pre-Oedipal 'imaginary' phase. She advocates also what lshe refers to las 'the other bisexuality' which actively encourages and relishes sexual differences. It ,ust be said that her wiriting is full of contradactions: rejecting a biological account ofl the femeale
6. LUCE IRIGARAY (1932-)
Luce Irigaray is ecpecially critical kof Freud's view of women. In Speculum de l'autre femme (1974) she argues that Freud's 'penis envy' envisages women as not really existing at all independently but only as negative mirror images of men. Male perception is clearly associated with sight (observation, analysis, aesthetics etc), but women gain pleasure from plhysical contact. The eroticism ofwomen is fundamentally different to that of ;lmen. For Irigaray, all this implies that women sould celebrate thier completely different nature to men, ltheir otherness. Onlyk in this way can they overcome the traditional male-dominated perception of ;women.
7. RUTH ROBBINS
The general concern of Marxist Feminism isk to reveal the double oppression of women, both by the capitalist system and by sexuality within the home, and to explain the relationships between the two. The ideas of Ruth Robbins provide a good example of the combination of feminist concerns and Marxist principles. In Literary Feminisms (2000), she advocates a Marxist feminism which explains 'the material conditions of real people's lives, how conditions such as poverty and undereducation produce different signifying systems than works produced in conditions of privilege and educational plenty'.
BALA SIVANETHRI.G
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