Feminist criticism analyzes literature through a feminist lens by examining how women are portrayed and the role of patriarchal social structures. It believes that Western civilization is rooted in patriarchal ideology that oppresses and marginalizes women. Feminist criticism aims to promote gender equality by challenging traditional views of women and expanding the literary canon to include more women authors. Common approaches include investigating gender roles and relationships, as well as how literature reinforces or contests social expectations of men and women.

1. Feminist Criticism
Melissa Mae V. Valeza
MA-English
Catanduanes State University

2. Why Feminism?
Most feminists believe that we live in a complex social structure guided by
patriarchy. They believe this patriarchal system must change, and that criticism
may be used as a tool to help foster change.

3. A concern with:
• Women’s role in society as portrayed
through texts.
• Woman as a construct through
literature.

4. Though a number of different approaches exist in feminist criticism, there exist some
areas of commonality. (Tyson)
1.Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially and
psychologically.
2. In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is other: she is marginalized, defined
only by her difference from male norms and values.
3. All of Western (Anglo-European) civilization is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideology,
for example, in the biblical portrayal of Eve as the origin of sin and death in the world.
4. While biology determines our sex (male or female), culture determines our gender
(masculine or feminine).
5. All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary criticism, has its ultimate goal
to change the world by prompting gender equality

5. ROOTS OF FEMINISM

6. Men have oppressed
women
Devised, devalued, and
trivialized the women
Nonsignificant “ other”

7. “The man is by nature superior,
and the female inferior; and the
one rules and the other is ruled”.-
--Aristotle

8. Religious leaders: Thomas Aquinas and
St. Augustine
 Women were merely imperfect men.
 Spiritually weak creatures.
 Possessed a sensual nature that
lures men away from spiritual truths,
thereby preventing males from
attaining their spiritual protection.

9. OPPOSITION

10. Mary Wollstonecraft
“ A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
> women must stand up for their rights and not
allow their male dominated society to define what it
means to be a woman.
> called the right for women to have an equal
education and to be treated as equal partners not as
ornamental wives.

11. 1900’s
 Women gained the right to vote.
 Became prominent activists in the social issues of the day such as
health care, education, politics, and literature,

12. Virginia Woolf
 “ A Room of One’s Own” (1929)
 Gender prevents her from having a room of
her own.
 “A woman must have money and a room of
her own if she is to write fiction>”
 “It would have been impossible, completely
and entirely, for any woman to have written
the plays of Shakespeare in the age of
Shakespeare.”

13. Simone de Beauvoir
 “The Second Sex” (1949)
 Declares that French society (and Western
societies in general) are patriarchal, controlled
by males.
 Like Woolf, believed that the male defines what
it means to be human.

14. Kate Millet
“Sexual Politics” (1970)
Women and men (consciously and unconsciously)
conform to the cultural ideas established for the by
society.
Cultural norms and expectations are transmitted
through media, television, movies, songs and
literature.

15. CRITICISM OF 1980’S
 ELAINE SHOWALTER
 “A Literature of their Own” (1977)
 Chronicles 3 historical/ evolutionary phases of female writing.
 1. Feminine Stage (1840-1880)--- imitation of the prevailing modes of
domination
 2. Feminist Stage (1880-1920) --- protest against the prevailing standard
 3. Female Stage (1920- 2000) --- phase of self discovery, a turning
inwards freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a search for
identity.

16. Novelists recognized as major figures:
 Jane Austen
 The Bronte's
 George Eliot
 Virginia Woolf
*What is needed is a “ feminist criticism” that is
genuinely women- centered.

17. Coined the term “gynocritic/ gynocriticism.
---- the process of constructing a female framework for analysis of
women’s literature to develop new models based on the study of female
experience, rather than to adapt to male models and theories.
Subject it deals with: History, Style, Themes, Genres and Structures.

18. Gynocriticism has provided critics with 4 models that address the nature of women writing:
1. The Biological --- how the female body marks itself upon the
text.
2. The Linguistic --- concerns itself with the need for a female
discourse.
3. The Psychoanalytic --- based on an analysis of the female
psyche and how such an analysis affects the writing process.
4. The Cultural --- investigates how the society in which female
authors work and functions shapes women’s goals, responses
and points of view.

19. AIMS of a Feminist Critic
Attempts to show the ignorance of women in the
traditional literature
Stimulates the creation of a critical environment.
Expansion of the literary canon of women writers
Urges language transformation.

20. Read through the Feminist Lens

21.  What is Homer’s view of women, and how is it presented in the text?
 Roles— What does it mean to be a woman in Ancient Greece? What different
roles do women play in The Odyssey? Are they all traditionally feminine
roles?
 Power and Influence— How are women denied power and influence in the
epic? In what ways are women able to exert their power and influence? How
do women both aid and hinder Odysseus and other men during their
journeys?
 Relationships— How do men and women relate with one another in the
epic? What are their relationships like? How do Odysseus and other male
characters view women? Is this the same way Homer views women?
The Odyssey

22.  Traditional Lens:
 Monument honoring America’s
founding presidents.
 Feminist Lens:
 History glorifies men; women have
no impact in America’s history.
 Till this day, there hasn’t been a
female president in the U.S.
 Politics is a “masculine” career
path.
Feminist Lens: Mount Rushmore

23. Feminist Lens: Barbie Doll
 Traditional Lens:
 The Barbie doll is a popular girl’s toy.
 Feminist Lens:
 Barbie reinforces traditional female roles
(mother, nurse, teacher). The doll tells
girls that these are the “ideal” career
paths.
 Depicts fashion and materialism as
“feminine”
 Promotes an unrealistic body image

24. Feminist Lens: “Love Story” by Taylor Swift
Traditional Lens:
Daydreaming of marriage
Idealization of the tragedy of Romeo and
Juliet

25. • Feminist Lens:
Women are incomplete without a man
Men are in control (“Romeo save me,” “I’ll be waiting,”
“you were everything to me,” “I was begging you,” “I
talked to your dad”)
Switching of “gender roles” from Shakespeare’s
original text

26. GUIDE QUESTIONS

27. 1. How are women’s lives are portrayed in the work?
2. Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s gender?
3. How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these
relationships sources of conflicts? Are these conflicts resolved?
4. Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?
5. How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social forces
that have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with men?
6. What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do
these expectations have?

28. 7. What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do
these expectations have?
8. If a female character were male, how would the story be different (and vice
versa)?
9. How does the marital status of the character affect her decisions or
happiness?
10. Does the literature include stereotypes as it relates to women?
11. How does the use of pronouns represent masculine ideology? (ex. He, in
place of she)
12. Can the gender of the author be determined simply through the text?
13. Does the text seem to favor one gender over the other?

29. Advantages of Feminist Criticism
 Women have been somewhat underrepresented in the traditional
cannon, and a feminist approach to literature redresses this problem.

30. Disadvantages of Feminist Criticism
 Turns literary criticism into a political battle field.
 It ignores other merits of the works they considered “patriarchal”
 They relegate women literature to a particular class thus removing it from the
main stream.

31. REMEMBER THAT:
You don’t have to be a woman to be a feminist
and to look at things at the feminist
perspective. It’s an interesting theory no
matter who you are.