Angela Carter - Women's Sexuality and Violence Linked Through Feminism Writing Skills - Research Paper Example

Angela Carter: Womens Sexuality and Violence linked through Feminism Writing Skills Angela Carter is one of the most creative, radical and sophisticated English fiction authors of the 20th century. For several decades, she enchanted her readers with her witty and cheerful novels, essays and short stories. The purpose of this research paper is to explore “how Angela Carter uses the feminism writing skills to underscore the connection between womens sexuality and the violence they experience”. The paper relies on the thesis that female sexuality is strongly associated with their experience of violence. The main objective of this paper is to conduct a research study of the alternate feminist treatments of traditional, patriarchal Western fairy tales and popular myths in the works of Angela Carter, with a special reference to her revolutionary work- The Bloody Chamber (1979), which is a collection of re-told fairy tales. The work captures the author’s powerful and passionate delineation of the links between myth, sexuality and violence in constructing female subjectivity. The Bloody Chamber revels in the power of female aspiration to re-imagine and reconstruct the world. The history of violence against women is tough to track, yet it is claimed that violence against women has been accepted, excused and legally sanctioned until the late 19th-century. The practice of violence against women was tangled to the notion of women being viewed as property and the historically unequal power relations between men and women. (UN, 1993) Even today, violence against women is an existing reality and "there is no region of the world, no country and no culture in which women’s freedom from violence has been secured." (UN, 2013) Specific forms of violence are more prevalent in specific parts of the world. For example, incidents of dowry violence, acid throwing and bride burning are common in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Nepal; honour killings in the Middle East and South Asia; trafficking and forced marriage in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. (UN, 2013) It is unfortunate that women are targets of unwanted sexual attention even in the modern era of violence-prevention. Women nowadays face sexual harassment on a daily basis even in schools, colleges and workplaces, and this takes a toll on their health, work and studies. Morgan and Gruber provide an extensive coverage on the current state of prevention methods and research studies on violence against women in their book “Sexual Harassment: Violence against women at work and in schools” The authors Morgan and Gruber have summarised the results of research that say schools where sexual harassment is usually considered as rare occurrence are in reality the ones where girls face high rates of severe harassment. It also reveals the astonishing fact that the men whom women love and trust the most are the ones who violate the very essence of womanhood. (Morgan & Gruber, 2011) Women often succumb to poor health and non-fatal injuries subsequent to incidents of sexual violence. What is even more shocking is that most of these women lack access to treatment, owing to various social and cultural factors. Men are usually reluctant to acquire help from social service organizations, but usually permit women and children to seek medical or psychological help. Hence the need of the hour is that the health care practitioners should focus more and more on the victimised women, in order to increase access to treatment. Susan Staggs and Stephanie Riger, in their journal article “Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Low-Income Women’s Health and Employment”, summarise the results of a survey conducted on women of the low-income group, which shows that intimate partner violence and low health is high among these women. (Staggs & Riger, 2005) Research has suggested various theories on why men exert violence on women and has identified the associated risk factors of men. Many thinkers believe that relational factors often give rise to a dearth of valuable inter-gender discourses. Men are reluctant to discuss this problem due to the mixed feelings of guilt, fear and defensiveness. Women, on the other hand, fear to discuss this issue due to apprehensions about how men would react. Such negative interpersonal dynamics between men and women is one of the elemental causes of violence against women. Joseph R. Biden, in his foreword to the book “What causes men’s violence against women?” has exclusively stated that it is the attitude of silence and denial that encourages the proliferation of violence against women. (Harway & O’Neil, 1999) However, there has also been a history of identifying the harmful effects of violence against women and taking appropriate actions to prevent or minimise it. In the 1870s, the United States did away with the common norm that a husband had the right to physically punish his wife. In the UK also the parallel convention was removed in 1891. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen a huge upsurge in research and awareness activities for the prevention of violence against women, both on the national and international fronts. (UN, 2013) But of late, such activities are experiencing a slowdown. This can be accounted to the grim reality that in the current phase of global recession has compelled the governments to cut down on resources needed for prevention methods. This transition from unparalleled economic expansion to unexpected economic recession has affected the stringency and integrity of the once-efficient lawmakers. The degree of action taken against violence and the seriousness of the officials in dealing with such cases often depends on the cultural status, race, ethnicity and physical ability of the victim. But the paradox is that better prevention policies for violence against women can be beneficial for state and federal governments in the form of lower public assistance costs. The sphere of literature has also not remained untouched by the influence of the evil of violence against women. Various authors, over the decades, have presented their ideas regarding this issue in their literary works. Angela Carter is one such phenomenal writer, who through her writings pointed out the myriad aspects of a womans sexuality and the diverse forms of violence that women fall prey to in the modern society. Strongly influenced by the wave of sexual libertarianism, she unravelled the myths that featured in the social and sexual relationships of the contemporary western society. She was critical of the conventional idea of femininity that allowed male desire to dominate the standard imagination of the society, where female desire usually took a backseat. Through her literary works, she poignantly ridiculed the societal and literary clichés which helped in perpetrating this power imbalance. In The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter employs an absolutely feminist viewpoint to re-tell popular myths and stories. In the stories, Carter reinstates the original elements of the tales—such as the explicit sexuality and the resourceful, strong-minded heroine—but adds a pinch of feminist angle. She stays true to the eternal, ominous foreshadowing of the original, even while modernising it by playing with language and imagination. The Bloody Chamber should be treated as a greater narrative that deals with issues of feminism and transfiguration instead of merely a set of individual tales. The author reinvents the archaic fairy tales and modifies the stereotypes of women through her sexually liberated female characters that are set against the traditional framework of the fairy tale. Her stories revolve around themes of womens sexuality, female identity and balance of power within marriage and relationships. The Bloody Chamber has frequently received substantial commendation and attention from many critics over the years. Renowned literary critic, Michele Grossman’s essay “Born to Bleed” addresses and critiques Carter’s subjective and cultural construction of womanhood in The Bloody Chamber. Grossman provides a vivid interpretation of Carter’s stories in The Bloody Chamber and its themes of sexual violence, pornography and feminism, with reference to the contemporary views and academic studies on sex, violence, fantasy, myth and history. She perceives that the crux of the problem of sexual violence lies in the lack of understanding of the female desire itself, which gives rise to misjudgements, stereotypes and faulty assumptions. Apart from these, another prominent aspect highlighted by Grossman is the political implication of such forbidden desires and the dangers they pose to social and cultural standards. (Grossman, 1988) Some critics, however, have attempted to address the controversial position of Angela Carter’s texts, particularly The Bloody Chamber, against the background of established culture, pornography and conventional feminist philosophies. R.A Sheets, for instance, explores the pornographic representation of sexuality and violence in The Bloody Chamber in one of his journal articles. In his article, he blatantly censures the expression of sadomasochism and explicit sexual practices in Carter’s writings, by denouncing Carter’s use of recurrent images of sexual violence and masculine aggression throughout the stories. His study and analysis of these intricate and layered stories is pitted against the predominant feminist ideas arising out of the second-wave feminist movement across the 1970s. (Sheets, 1991) Kathleen Manley’s book “The Woman in the Process” defends the controversy by providing an authoritative critical insight into Angela Carter’s works and an interesting analysis of The Bloody Chamber. She offers an explanation of the issue of feminine sexuality and subjectivity explored in the text along with an inspection of the feminist narrative strategies used by Carter in The Bloody Chamber. According to Manley, the most notable feature of Carter’s work is the relentless link between the violence of desire and the sexual expectations of the woman during the process of creating her own subjectivity. (Manley, 1998) Helen Simpson, in one of her notable articles “Femme Fatale”, presents a wonderful review of The Bloody Chamber. Her review seeks to counter the prevalent criticism of the book as a collection of modernized, sexed up and violent versions of beloved children’s stories. Simpson rather underscores Carter’s accomplishment in discovering the realm of the unconscious through a deeply eroticized study and adaptation of popular myths and stories. She compliments the fact that Carter’s skilfully created new tales using the substance of popular fairy tales, instead of merely adding feminist shades to the already existing versions. She observes that most of Carter’s writing is artistically inclined towards a restructured and modernized gothic style, which is intricately woven into the structure of a Western fairy tale narrative. Simpson feels that the unconventionality, featuring in the content as well as the style, makes The Bloody Chamber radiate an air of novelty and a remarkable ingenuity in its rich exploration of female desire and sexuality. (Simpson, 2006) Paul Bailey, in his BBC interview with Angela Carter, provides us a very useful insight into Carter’s authorial prowess and innovativeness with special mention to her collection The Bloody Chamber. In the interview, Carter mainly talks about her complex views on sexuality, politics, violence and feminism. She explains how these ideas influenced her creative and personal growth as a writer and how these are relevant to a comprehensive evaluation of her works. She elaborates her realistic depictions of fictional characters, her lively approach to composition and her intention to create a sense of urgency and vividness in her work. Thus a study of the interview brings us at par with the author’s ideologies and fidelities, which is indispensable to a complete understanding of her art, especially a controversial one like The Bloody Chamber. (BBC, 1991) All Carter’s critics have eventually agreed upon the author’s artistic and innovative use of fantasy in order to reflect upon certain crucial socio-cultural ideas about female desire and violence. Her admirers believe that reading Carter offers men a great opportunity to explore the secret corners of womens minds. In view of the current scenario of violence against women in the world, this ground-breaking book by Angela Carter can serve as a guide for the menfolk to understand and accept the value of women in their lives and in the society at large. Literature can then truly live up to its claim of being not only the mirror but also the teacher of society. REFERENCES Carter, Angela. “The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories”. Random House, 2012. Simpson, Helen. “Femme Fatale”. The Guardian. 2006. Web. 24 June. 2006. Manley, Kathleen E.B., “The Woman in the Process”. Angela Carter and the Fairy Tale. Ed. Danielle Marie Roemer, Cristina Bachhilega. Michigan: Wayne State University Press. 1998. p. 83-92. Print. Sheets, Robin A., ‘Pornography, Fairy Tales, and Feminism: Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber”’. Journal of the History of Sexuality. 1.4(1991):633-657. Grossman, Michele. "Born To Bleed": Myth, Pornography and Romance in Angela Carters" The Bloody Chamber." Minnesota Review 30.1 (1988): 148-160. Carter, Angela. “Third Ear”. BBC Archives. Interview Paul Bailey. 25 June 1991. Radio broadcast. Morgan, Phoebe & James E. Gruber. “Sexual Harassment: Violence against women at work and in schools.” 75-94. In Sourcebook on Violence against women, eds. Renzetti, Claire M., Edleson, Jeffrey L. & Raquel Kennedy Bergen. California: SAGE Publications, 2011 Harway, Michele & James M. O’Neil. “What causes men’s violence against women?” California: SAGE Publications, 1999 Staggs, Susan L. & Stephanie Riger “Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Low-Income Women’s Health and Employment”, American Journal of Community Psychology, 36.1/2 (2005) 133-145 UN General Assembly. "In-depth study on all forms of violence against women: Report of the Secretary-General". United Nations. Retrieved on 13 December 2013 from: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/61/122/Add.1 UN General Assembly. “Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women”. United Nations. 1993. Retrieved on 13 December 2013 from: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm Read More