feministessay.docx
- 文档编号:10891955
- 上传时间:2023-02-23
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:13
- 大小:24.76KB
feministessay.docx
《feministessay.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《feministessay.docx(13页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
feministessay
What’stheDifference?
ThePoliticsofDifferenceinFeministRepresentation
LisaMarieBuccella
Introduction
Thepoliticsofdifferenceinfeministtheoryishardlyanewphenomenon.Feminismhasbeenlargelycenteredontherealitiesthatwomenexperienceasthe“other”gender.Somecriticsarguethatthenotionofdifferencehasbecomethedominantfocusoffeminism,evenreplacingequalityasthecentralconcernoffeministtheory.Traditionalfeminismdividestheworldintotwogroups:
menandwomen.Feministsfurthersubcategorizewiththemostcommonexamplesbeingthepublicversusprivatespheresandnatureversusculture.Motivatedbytheharmcreatedbysocietalpositioning,thefeministmovementhasachievedgreaterpublicrecognitionandincreasedopportunitiesforwomenonmanylevels.
Nonetheless,membersofthefeministmovementareguilty.Thechargeisbasedontheinstanceswhenfeminism“takesforgrantedasharedidentityamongitsmembers[or]someessentialpointofcommonality”(Fuss582).Whilestrivingtoprovideoppressedwomenwithavoicethatspeaksoutagainstinequality,feminismhasachievedanother,notsoattractiveresult:
aninternalpoliticsofdifferencecomprisedofdominantandmarginalfeministvoices.Thesecompetingvoicesreinforcethatthepoliticsofdifferenceinfeministtheoryreachesbeyondthemale–femaledichotomyandappliestothedifferencesandtensionsthatexistwithinfeminism.Thesetensionsarisewhenwhite,middleclass,westernwomenspeakonbehalfoftheexperiencesofnonwhite,nonWesternandlowerclasswomen,inessenceuniversalizingthefemaleexperience.InherfamousessayARoomofOne’sOwn(1924),VirginiaWoolfarguedthatwomen’swritingshouldexplorefemaleexperienceinitsownrightandnotformacomparativeassessmentofwomen’sexperienceinrelationtomen’s.Instead,feministshavetendedtoconsiderthegenderdistinctionpriortoallothernotionsofidentity,attheexpenseofignoringothervariancesthatsignificantlyimpactthefemaleexperience.Duetoitslongerlifespan,thetraditionalconceptofdifferencehasattractedmorediscourse.Lesspopularbutmoredeservingoffeministattentionistheupdatedversionofthepoliticsofdifferenceintermsofthedifferencesamongwomen.Thispaperwillcomparethetwoleadingconceptsofdifferenceinfeministtheorybyassessingtheearlyfeministsofautonomyagainstthefeministtheorybasedonwomen’sexperiences.
FirstWave:
Ready,Set,Woolf!
“FeministTheories”highlightsthecontributionsmadebytheearlyfeministmovementstofeminism’sdevelopment.Seldenetal.identifyaselectionofthecentraldifferencesthatdefinetheearlyfeministperiods.LeadingtheearlyfeministmovementwerethevocalandandrocentricVirginiaWoolffolloweddecadeslaterbythegynocriticElaineShowalter.Asagrassrootsfeminist,VirginiaWoolf’sfirstandfundamentalcontributiontofeministtheorywasheressay,ARoomofOne’sOwn.Thepieceexploredtheimpactofthepoliticsofdifferenceasexperiencedbywomenwriterswhoweredisadvantagedbytheirsocialconstructs.ToillustrateherpointthatmembersoftheoppositesexareaffordedverydifferentopportunitiesWoolfeloquentlynarratedthefictionaltaleofShakespeare’ssister.Although“Judith”mayhavepossessedtalentandacomparableflairforwritingasherbrother,herfutureunraveledmuchdifferentlythanhercelebritysibling.ForinstanceJudithbecameconsciousoftherestrictededucationshehadreceivedhavingbeendeprivedfromlearningGreekunlikeherbrothers.Later,shewasprohibitedfromenteringtheuniversitylibrary,symbolicofthesanctuaryofmalelogo(Showalter458).Decidingtoproceedwithaproactiveapproach,Judithescapedtheconfinesofhomeandpursuedapaththatledtofurthertroublesandultimatelytoherprematuredeath.InthistextWoolf’sprincipleconcernwaswithwomen’smaterialdisadvantagescomparedtomenandinparticular,thehistoricalandsocialcontextofwomen’sliteraryproduction(Seldenetal.’s124).However,Woolfsimultaneouslyarguedthatwomen’swritingshouldexplorethefemaleexperienceinitsownrightandnotformacomparativeassessmentofwomen’sexperienceinrelationtomen’s.Thissecondargumentintroducedfeministstoanotherlevelofthepoliticsofdifference,challengingthemtothinkbeyondthenarrowscopeofthemale-femaledichotomy.Woolf’scontributiontofeminismisaccordedwithherargumentthatgenderisasocialconstruct,susceptibletochallengeandmodification.Woolfidentifiedthepressureshinderingwomenwriterssuchassocialandeconomicobstaclesthattendtohavealimitingeffectontheachievementofliteraryambitions.Women’sachievementsarefurtherhinderedbecauseofthedominantideologiesofwomanhoodandthesocialtabooassociatedwithexpressingtheirexperiences(Seldenetal.’s126)
ManycriticsdescribeWoolf’sfeminismasonethatrejectedthenotionoffeministconsciousness.PerhapsmotivatingthisopinionisthatWoolfstrovetocreateanunconsciousfemininitythatwouldallowanescapefromtheconfinementsandfixednotionscreatedbythefemale/malebinary.However,asWoolf’s“Judith”illustratedbyherleavinghomeinARoomofOne’sOwnwhileitmaybe“unpleasanttobelockedout…itisworse,perhapstobelockedin”(qtd.inShowalter458).
Moreover,Woolf’sfeminismmeantthedesexualizationofthefemaleinanefforttoachievesamenesswithman,otherwisedescribedastheandrogynytheory.Seldenetal.’sexplainthatthedenialofWoolf’sfemalesexualitywasneversubvertedinherownworkorlifeinthatshethoughtwomenwrotedifferentlyfrommen…becausetheirsocialpositioningwasdifferent.TocriticTorilMoi,Woolfdidnotaimtoachieveabalancebetweenmasculineandfemininetypes;rathershewasinterestedina“completedisplacementoffixedgenderidentities”(qtd.inSeldenet.al.’s126).Furthermore,MoinotesthatWoolfdisabledessentialistnotionsofgenderbydispersingfixedpointsofviewinherliterature.ForElaineShowalter,relyingonanandrocentricmodelforfeministprinciplesisnotrevolutionary;rather,feministenergieswouldhavebeenbetterspentengagedindiscourseontheexclusivefemaleexperience(Showalter460).
SecondWave:
ARowdyRoundTwo
Inher1981essay,“FeministCriticismintheWilderness”Showalteremphasizestheimportanceoffeminismdiscoveringits“ownsubject,itsownsystem,itsowntheory,anditownvoice”(461).ForShowaltertheearlyfeministobsessionwithcompeting,correcting,modifying,supplementing,revising,humanizingorevenattackingmalecriticaltheory,onlysucceededatretardingfeministprogressinsolvingtheirownproblems(460).
Whilesecondwavefeminismsharedsomeofthefirstwave’sinterestinachievingwomen’srightsinallareas,themainfocusofthenextmovementwasdirectedmoretowardsissuesofreproductionandthepoliticsofdifferenceintermsofwomen’sexperience,sexualdifferenceandsexuality.Inparticular,fivesubcategoriesofdifferenceconsumedtheconcentrationofsecondwavefeminists:
biology;experience;discourse;theunconscious;andsocialandeconomicconditions.ElaineShowalterisconsideredasecondwaveleaderandauthorityontheissueofsexualdifference.Herempiricalapproachtofeministtheoryemergedduringtheseconderaandhercontributiontofeminismisreflectedinhergynocriticismconcept.Thisconceptfocusesonthreeareasoffeminismrepresentation,namelythedistinctioninwomen’swriting,theimportanceofredevelopingatraditionofwomenauthorsandfinally,assessingwomen’scultureinitsownright.Gynocriticism“centresonthefemaleauthorandcharacter,andonfemaleexperienceasthemarkerofauthenticityandonnotionsof‘reality’(inparticularofacollectiveunderstandingofwhatitmeanstobeawoman)whichcanberepresented,andexperientiallyrelatedto,bywayoftheliterarywork”(Seldenet.al.’s136-7).
ThirdWave:
Gettingdownanddirtywithdifference
Buildingontheintroductionoffeministpoliticsofdifferencefromthefirstandsecondmovements,thefinalandcurrentmovementoffeminismrepresentsthemostintensifiedfocusonthecontroversialnotionofdifference.Newfeminismcelebratesthestatusoffemaledifference,embracesdiversityamongitsmembers,ratherthan“wantinginside”(Arneil187)andconteststraditionalnotionsofsamenessanduniversality.Themorerecentfeministmovementsprefertoadoptarelationalinsteadofabinaryapproach,onethat“basestheanalysisofpoliticsontheexperienceandperspectiveofwomenratherthanmen”(187).ElizabethGroszcommentsonthedifferentfocibetweenthemovements:
Feministsofautonomy,ontheotherhand,undertakesthechallengetothefoundationalrelianceofknowledgeonphallocentricnorms,methodsandparadigms.Inquestioningthe‘content’andunspokenassumptions,thepreferredmethodsandidealsofphallocentricknowledge,thesefeministsarecommittedtothedevelopmentofnewordifferentformsofknowledgeandintellectualinquiry…This,formany,isonlythefirststepinthedevelopmentofentirelynewformsoftheorybasedonwomen’sexperiencesandperceptionsratherthanmen’s(qtd.inArneil187).
Thirdwavefeminismis“washingoverallfeminists”asmembersbecomeincreasinglyconfrontedwiththecentralissueofwomen’sperspectives,positionsandexperiences,anditsimplicationsforpreviousformulationsofpolitics,historyandknowledge(Arneil187).Feministsarebeginningtoabandon,whatFussdescribesas“useless”theoreticalframeworkstowhichtheywerepreviouslyloyal.AccordingtoBarbaraArneil,feministsneedtorethinktheirmarriagetotraditionalpolitical
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- feministessay
![提示](https://static.bdocx.com/images/bang_tan.gif)