Atwood, Neel, And Feminism

The feminist movement lays claim to a history of both victorious struggle and violent controversy. As women fought for equality with men in the early twentieth century, literature was inspired by this movement. Modernist writers used their artform to provide social commentary in similar ways to realistic writers of the nineteenth century. However, modernist thought allows a much more obvious agenda to be presented through literature. Mina Loy, in “Feminist Manifesto,” and Susan Glaspell, in “Trifles,” both used their respective writings to convey personal opinions on the women’s movement and the relationship between men and women. Though this similarity places them in the same category of modernism, the two differ in their writings

The question of “why feminism?” has been presented to a number of female artists who deal with strong constructions of gender in their work. The answer, overwhelmingly, has been the desire to modify stereotypes about women that have prevailed in male-dominated art history. In the 1960’s, women who explored “feminist” issues in their art were criticized, causing mass mobilization and conscious raising as to what, exactly, was the purpose of feminist art (Crowell, 1991). Since that time, women have been trying desperately to overturn the art world and rescind the traditional stereotypes and images that have plagued them. Feminist artists created somewhat of a unified front during that

    I chose to compare and contrast two women authors from different literary time periods.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) as a representative of the Victorian age (1832-1901) and Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) as the spokeswoman for the Modernist (1914-1939) mindset.  Being women in historical time periods that did not embrace the talents and gifts of women; they share many of the same issues and themes throughout their works - however, it is the age in which they wrote that shaped their expressions of these themes.  Although they lived only decades apart their worlds were remarkably different - their voices were muted or amplified according to the beat of society's drum.

Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity was written by Griselda Pollock in 1988, and later published in The Expanding Disclosure in 1992. Griselda Pollock is an art historian, and writes this article for fellow art historians. This is an article written to show the different approaches to femininity in the late 19th century, mainly dealing with the field of art. This article shows how during this time period there were women artists, but due to the gendered ruled ideas attached to art history, these women are largely ignored by art historians. Pollock thought that these women artists are primarily overlooked due to the fact that they are judged by the same standards that are affixed to the work of their male counterparts. But she argues

(Millhouse, 2011) In the 1980’s Pollock’s Feminism “critiqued the essential myths of individualism, the artist, and the social constructions of femininity and masculinity that define bourgeois culture”. While the 70’s feminism movement aim was to stand next to the existing masculine dominated culture. “Feminism's encounter with the canon has been complexed and many-leveled: political ,ideology,mythological,methodological and psycho-symbolic” (Pollock, 1999). The 1970’s movement was followed by the immediate task which was “the need to rectify the gaps in historical knowledge created by the consistent omission of women of all cultures from the history of art” (Pollock, 1999). The only art that was put on display was significantly male dominated work, if you wanted to see work created by women, you would have to view them “in a basement or storeroom of a national gallery” (Pollock, 1999). Female artists are only known in their own category of female artists while male artists don’t require a separate category . Art that is created by females have been historically dismissed from the art historical canon as craft, as opposed to fine art. The evident of

In an essay described about Ellen Terry, the author depicts this widely talented individual by using metaphors, juxtaposition, and rhetorical questions. This author portrays Ellen Terry in a positive light as a writer, author, and actress. Ellen is not only praised for her natural talent, she is also most widely recognized as one of the first to be completely original in her endeavors. The author compares her to famous actors and writers, such as Shakespeare, to help sway her intended audience to grasp the vast range of talent that Ellen embodies. She mentions that Ellen’s talent is so great that she often surpasses the works of these well-known writers due to her ability to set herself apart from all others.

In addition, I will examine the differences between male and female sexuality and how each tended to be perceived and treated by society. Then, I will look at prominent female artists and their personal experiences and beliefs on feminism and the female in their art focusing on how it tended to be received along how male artists responded to it. Mainly, I will be analyzing the clash of sexualized images in art, focusing on the differences not only between male made art versus female art, but the differences in the women’s art community, as well. What are the reasons and goals for women to use a “sexualized image” of women in their art versus

When on the topic of feminist writing, understanding the time period in which the author’s writing takes place persists as vastly important. Historically speaking, western culture follows a model thoroughly dominated by men. That commonality remains

Anne Sexton was born Anne Gray Harvey on November 9, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts. Her parents, Ralph Harvey and his wife, Mary Gray Staples Harvey overlooked their youngest child Anne. According to the Great Lives from History, she grew up lonely and excluded from family activities, because she was never able to reach the standards her father wanted. She felt overlooked and unwanted, and even as a child developed a reputation for doing daring and drastic things just to be noticed. Her early life was marked by episodes of rebelliousness and named by her mother as “boy-crazy” (Johnson, Sheila). After graduation, she enrolled in the Garland School and in 1948, eloped with Alfred Muller Sexton II. It was apparent that Anne suffered from serious emotional troubles when she became depressed after her second child. Although every woman in the 1950’s yearned to become a housewife and mother, Sexton found this experience shocking and devastating. She soon began psychiatric treatment with Martha Brunner-Orne and her son that “recognized Sexton’s creative potential and encouraged her to write” (Johnson, Sheila). It would soon become an outlet for Sexton’s personal problems and opinions.

Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar state in on the Angel and Monster from The Madwoman in the Attic that “a woman writer must examine, assimilate, and transcend the extreme images of “angel” and “monster” which male authors have generated for her” (596). When women write, they must write as subversive to the boxes

An artist often feels odd combinations of emotions ranging from extreme satisfaction to loathing in regards to her creations. The sensations experienced by a creator toward her creation greatly resemble those of a mother to her child. The controlling metaphor in Anne Bradstreet’s “The Author to Her Book” compares a book to a child in order to express the speaker’s internal conflict between feeling both pride and embarrassment for her creation.

Arlene Raven’s approaches to art criticism were feminist. She discussed a diversity of concerns that included spirituality, sexuality, the representation of women in art, women as art-makers, ethnicity, language called post-feminism, and critics of the art world. In her essay

In the early nineteen century, women were not explicitly part of literature. they were used male pseudonym to publish their works. However, later in the century, there was a shift in women’s implication in literature. women began to be publicly recognized as writers, and they were using their writings to advocate for women’s rights and to reject stereotypes that were commonly associated with them. For example, in the early nineteen century, books and novels were mostly describing “piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity” as attributes of a good woman (Fortin). Writings by women were describing women that where rejecting values of the patriarchal society; women that wanted freedom and independence. The writings of Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman exemplify the features of the Feminist phase of female literary tradition. Published respectively in 1892 and 1895, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin are the quintessence of feminist literature. They both used characterization, setting, ad irony to protest a misogynistic society and to request women’s rights and autonomy.

James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man presents an account of the formative years of aspiring author Stephen Dedalus. "The very title of the novel suggests that Joyce's focus throughout will be those aspects of the young man's life that are key to his artistic development" (Drew 276). Each event in Stephen's life -- from the opening story of the moocow to his experiences with religion and the university -- contributes to his growth as an artist. Central to the experiences of Stephen's life are, of course, the people with whom he interacts, and of primary importance among these people are women, who, as his story progresses, prove to be a driving force behind Stephen's art.

Literature, no matter what the topic of form it comes in, has the ability to raise issues, spark thought/imagination, and/or draw out emotions that have been buried deep within us as people. It is expected, from the authors, that readers will form opinions and criticisms for their works. Be it that the readers’ emotions parallel those of the writer or differ; some thoughts and opinions are expected.