Feminism And Feminist Feminism

When one closes their eyes and hears the word feminist, one can imagine seeing a mob full of women marching down the street burning their brassieres while chanting anti-male chants, while holding signs that sheds light on the unfair treatment women were exposed to for several decades. On the other hand, if one closes their eyes, and hears the word feminine, one can imagine seeing either a dainty female looking sweet and innocent, something like a princess, or a lady with “tasteful” sex appeal. These images along with other images associated with femininity and feminist comes from how the media, new papers, and stories portray them. Looking on the surface, they seem quite the opposite in nature. In Claire Miye Stanford’s essay “You’ve Got the Wrong Song: Nashville and Country Music Feminism” Stanford poses a question, “Can a show that is so ostensibly interested in the ‘feminine’…also be feminist?” (Stanford 277). At first glance, one would disagree, but more TV shows are portraying their leading women as a feminine feminist. Shows like Nashville, Insecure, and Orange is the New Black are breaking the boundaries and changing the views on what the new feminine feminist looks like.

O Pioneers by Willa Cather sets itself apart from other novels of its time because of what its stands for, feminism. It exemplifies women’s equality, represented by the main character, Alexandra, by showing her survival in a male dominated society. She succeeded in building her female identity and achieved a sense of female attainment by revolutionizing the wild land and struggling for her equal rights with all that surrounded her. This paper focuses on the feminist thoughts and the positive attitude of the image of the strong character Alexandra, who was independent, brave, and optimistic. A spirit like hers, of strength and courage, insisted that she would never be defeated by man or nature.

Feminism is the advocacy of women 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. This theme can be prominently found in the Romantic period in Anna Letitia Barbauld’s “ The Rights of Woman” and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of Woman’s Rights. Anna Letitia Barbauld came from a background of dissenters, which made her face many challenges by being religiously oppressed; nevertheless, that never interfered with her writing as she was the voice for the voiceless. Even though Mary Wollstonecraft was brought up with a harsh upbringing because of the decline in her family’s fortunes, she happened to be a woman with many significant roles such as a single parent, writer, and teacher. Barbauld’s “ The Rights of

Willa Cather, a nineteenth century American female writer, used her childhood experiences growing up on the great plains of Nebraska to write about a woman named Alexandra Bergson and her struggles on her family’s farm on the Nebraskan frontier in the book, O Pioneers! (“Willa Sibert Cather”). The narrator follows Alexandra throughout her life, and shows how she became successful while overcoming the patriarchy. Conversely, Cather also wrote about a young, confused girl named Marie Tovesky, who found herself in a crumbling relationship, not sure if she loved the man she married, or Alexandra’s sibling Emil. Her story both regales the reader with a tragedy, but also shows how others treated and oppressed women during that time. Cather’s O Pioneers! tells the tales of two women who find themselves on varying levels of society, and uses their stories to address feminism.

Towards the end of the 1800s and into the beginning of the 1900s, the roles of women in society and in the family began to change drastically compared to what it had been in the past. Women were now allowed to own land, vote, and do more than cook and clean. Willa Cather and William Faulkner portray the roles of women in the early 1900s in their short stories, “Neighbor Rosicky” and “A Rose for Emily.” These short stories were both published around the year 1930. Because of what was happening in the US at the time, these stories are very good examples of the ways women were treated at this time.

Early feminism was typically focused only on white women, likely because racism was still extremely prominent at the time feminism began emerging. It was not until Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in 1989 that feminism started to look at oppressed group’s needs (Nash, 2008, 2). Intersectionality is a way of thinking that acknowledges that when a person has identities that belong to more than one oppressed group, it impacts their quality of life more negatively. In this paper, I will argue that intersectionality is important in the discussion of feminist theories and activism because it ensures that feminism is for all women, not just a select group of them. Intersectionality has changed the way the feminist movement handles the overlapping of different identities, which has helped feminist theorists understand the experiences of women of colour much more clearly. While intersectionality has a very important role in the conversation and practice of feminism, there are certainly critiques of the concept that should be brought up. These critiques, however, can offer a way to improve the study of intersectionality.

Whilst many disagreements have arisen in feminist discourse over the years, none has been quite as prevalent or divisive as the issue of the commodification of sexuality. There are two central groups in feminist ideology that are divided on this issue, liberal feminism and radical feminism. Liberal feminism is influenced by the ideas and values of liberalism. Thus, these feminists share a contractarian view which places an emphasis on a woman’s ability to make choices for herself and that the selling of one’s sexuality is merely an expression of that choice. Paradoxically, radical feminists believe that because women live in a patriarchal society, the commodification of sexuality can never be a choice or a form of expression. Rather, forms of sexual commodification such as pornography and prostitution just enforce male oppression. This essay will explore these two ideological positions in regard to their divergent definitions of human nature and freedom which has created a division within feminism about the commodification of sexuality.

Although Alexandra was depicted as a “tall, strong girl,” (p.10) which is typically viewed as characteristics of a male, she was indeed a feminist in Willa Cather’s novel O Pioneers! In the introduction of the novel, an argument arises due to the differences of O Pioneers! in contrast to some of Cather’s other pieces as well as several other novels of that time period. Marilee Lindemann references that “law and custom in most (if not all) Western countries severely limited what are girl might ‘do’, in life as well as in literature (…) thus, in comparison to their male

“A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is human.”(Nazarian, 7) Women portrayed a prominent role in history. In the early 1920s women's roles where to stay at home to cook, clean, and take care of the children. However during World War 1 women were to go to work and produce war time essentials. They where also given the chance to vote, and this is when women began to be seen as equals. Women wanted to stand on equal ground with men. In the 1920s women started a new generation by the way they dressed, and acted in society. Women fought for individuality and wanted to be seen more as humans. In the 1920s women’s roles changed society, such that women now have a more prominent, unordinary role then before; which created a different view on women. The rules that women fought against changed society’s views on them forever.

Considering I am one of the only two males in the Intro to Women’s Literature class, I felt moved to touch on Willa Cather’s flipping of the gender roles in the book O Pioneers! I will be using my own opinion in this essay, along with textual evidence to back up my claims. I will also be establishing connections between Cather’s portrayals of herself within the themes and characters in the book.

Throughout the nineteenth century men and women roles were characterized by a division of activity into two domains for men and women. While women may have been seen as powerful in the home because they were responsible for the upkeep, that power was limited because the man was known as the head of the home. Unlike women in the same time period as Alexandra, she does not rely on a man or brothers for her success. Alexandra takes over the family land at a young age and was able to successfully transform the struggling farm into a thriving business. Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!

Inequality has been an issue throughout history and has affected minorities; as a consequence, there are multiple ideologies and groups that pursue equality. Feminism is a movement that seeks equality between the sexes in all areas (Issit & Flynn). Women have come together to fight for their rights and obtain privileges that were granted only to men. Feminism, according to Quidlen, has worked as a vehicle for change to improve women`s lives. Moreover, it has raised awareness of the issues women face and offered solutions. In spite of all of these improvements and its long history since its inception, feminism still exists and has the same relevance as in the past. However, as with any ideology, people have different perspectives about feminism; just as there are supporters, there are also opponents. Interestingly, while both sides have different perspectives of what equality means, there are ideas and values upon which both groups unintentionally agree. This common ground creates a third perspective; presenting feminism as a more inclusive movement by changing certain aspects of it such as the label “feminism”, in order to show the evolution of this movement. As discussed in the following paragraphs, both pro and anti feminism perspectives have valid arguments that must be explored to reach a solution that satisfies both sides.

A common theme has emerged from the past readings. Feminist theory and intersectionality. I have taken some Women’s studies courses before so I am familiar with feminist theory. Intersectionality is trickier for me as I am a white, female, privilege Canadian woman who has not faced any oppressions for what I look like. The only oppressions I face are for being a woman and there is no intersectionality with having only one oppression. I will explore both feminist theory and intersectionality and finish off with battered women's syndrome in this paper as well as talk about my own personal experiences and how they relate to the course.

In her essay, “We Should All Be Feminists” Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie declares the necessity to reevaluate our current Global ideas about gender equality and calls attention to the weighty impact feminism has on both sexes:

Feminism is a fight against oppression, but white supremacy exists within feminist movements, which is an obvious contradiction of the theory. “The feminist movement has centered on the experiences of White women and dismissed the experiences of Women of Color” (Feenstra, 2017, p. 67). In an article titled, From White Feminism to Intersectional Advocacy: The Development of a White Antiracist Identity, Abby Elizabeth Feenstra, a feminist illuminates her journey to becoming conscious of her white privilege.