Feminist Theory Class, the Social Relation of the Sexes - Essay Example

Annotated Bibliography for Feminist Theory Class This text will consider the works of ten texts by writers Monique Witting; June Jordan ; Joan Kelly Galdol; Mary Wollstonecraft ; Luce Irigaray; Bell Hook; June Jordan; Sandra Glibret & Susan Gubar; Heidi Hartman and Simone de Beauvoir, giving an annotated bibliography . Monique Witting,1979 ‘One is not born woman.’ Witting is concerned with gender issues. She discusses the idea that gender is not necessarily fixed biologically, economically or psychologically and that women are not ‘a racial group of a special kind.’ She draws on ideas put forward by Simone de Beauvoir. She discusses the historical reasons behind what is often seen as a natural division of labour created by society, and is strongly linked to the ability to give birth. She question s the place of lesbians in this, people who may be physiologically capable of giving birth, but whose sexual tendencies make this unlikely without linking with men in some way. She says that the refusal of people to remain or to become heterosexual meant that those concerned were refusing the label of being men or women, a questionable statement. She moves on to discuss the word ‘feminist’ and how this has a number of different definitions and connotations. Mention is made of Dworkin and the move from an ideology that has enslaved women into a much more positive ‘dynamic, religious, psychologically compelling celebration of female biological potential.’ June Jordan, 2003, Report from the Bahamas Jordan, a black American, is concerned with class differences, especially she observed on a visit to the Bahamas where she noticed black people in servile roles, but also as visitors and users of services, but noticed too the black women offering their services for sex, presumably as a way of making ends meet, rather than because they want this kind of work. There were other women making gifts for tourists to buy and felt that society was forcing her into a position on one side of possible transactions which would enable these women and their families to receive money for their work. Jordan speaks of ‘freedom’, ‘rights’ and ‘desire’ and her realisation that these were first world concepts , and would not be completely understood by women such as the older lady who cleaned her room. Jordon goes on to point out that she too has to work for a living, whether or not she wants too. But she also comes from a West Indian background as does Olive, the cleaning women, but Jordan comes to the realization that such commonalities and connections do not necessarily mean that both come with the same point of view. She gives the example of how Olive’s opinion would not be sought by those coming up with reading lists for women’s studies, and sees that all oppressed people have more in common with each other than she, a relatively well-off black American woman , has with the black people of the Bahamas. Joan Kelly-Gadol, 1976, The Social Relation of the Sexes Kellly-Gadol is concerned with two aspects of history: “To restore women in history and to restore our history to women.’( page 809). This would alter the implications of history. She points out how history has in the main excluded women as unimportant, and she is concerned for the status of women. This means looking at how history has resulted in the subjugation of women, or put them in a more positive situation. Once women are seen as having their proper status this puts the whole of history in a new light. Feminism she feels must upset conventional views. What was seen as the norm wasn’t always right. History, properly looked at, must relate women’s history to that of men. We can read about the crusades for instance, but what about the women who were left at home to cope. Their stories must be seen as valuable too. She sees that women do make up a particular social group, but that this group has been all but invisible in history, not worthy of consideration. What was seen as a natural situation was merely created by a male led society. This led to such things as unfair property laws which favored men, and even to women becoming property – either of fathers, or other male relatives, or of their husbands. She points out that these conventions have at times been blurred, as when a few women in the Middle Ages, had great power, but these were the exceptions which proved the rule. Kelly-Gadol concludes by saying that this opening up of history would show women as being active agents in society, rather than just acted upon, and would also show the very real importance of the family unit. Mary Wollstonecraft , 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects Chapter 2, The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character Discussed. Wollstonecraft is often considered to be the first feminist writer. She both honoured the talents that women could have, which are stifled by the way in which lack of education prevents them to use them properly. At the same time, she admits that they are different from their male counterparts and therefore cannot be measured by the same standards. She describes how society, in particular mothers, encourage this by teaching girls how to obtain protection from some male. This she sees as insulting and inconsistent. In Wollstonecraft’s day some girls would receive private education, often poor and scrappy, but she urged an education which like that of boys, took them out into society. The best education she felt leads to independence, just as it does for men. This was in complete opposition to writers such as Rousseau and the prevailing beliefs and custom that women are only in the world to serve men. She does not want to reverse the situation, but rather to put the matter right. Luce Irigaray 1977, "This Sex Which is not One" page 23 Irigaray is a Belgian born, French speaking feminist philosopher. This text is part of a much longer piece by this author. She opens her chapter by describing how the sexuality of females is conceptualised in male rather than feminine terms. This includes such things as the way in which the clitoris is seen as a very poor second best to the equivalent male organ, the powerful penis. This is seen as something she lacks , a missing part, which makes her into a second best person . Irigaray is writing about lesbianism and the reasons women choose this. This she feels is linked to poor relationships with fathers, and the women trying to emulate parental masculinity. Others however might argue that the women concerned have little choice about their personal sexuality but it is part of their innate being (Quora, undated) Mention is made of Freud’s ideas of penis envy. By choosing a female as the object of her love and sexual activity woman takes on a masculine role. How does this fit though with the fact that there are two females in these relationships? Irigaray says that this attempt at taking on a male role cannot be fully resolved. Bell Hooks, 1990, Postmodern Blackness, Hooks describes how much postmodernist writing is concerned with ‘otherness’ and the differences in society, but are also exclusionary. She is concerned with the way a common idea is that can be meaningful connection between critical thinking and black experience in American society. This is, she feels , particularly so with reference to women writers. She cites a list of important writers on post modernism which does not include any black women. This she feels means that society think black women have nothing useful to say on the subject, yet to give a proper picture of post modern thinking , it should incorporate “the voices of displaced, marginalized, exploited, and oppressed black people.” if it is to have any transformative effect. She mention political white supremacy, despite the changes which took place in the 1960s, and probably could not have imagined having a black President and First Lady as role models. She is concerned with ideas about identity. Where do black American women fit into modern American society? She sees many of them as belonging to a colored underclass and indicates a sense of hopeless ness. Hooks sees that the postmodernist culture can often be a dividing force, but asks that instead it be a way of creating new bonds in artistic expression and in other ways. Sandra Glibret & Susan Gubar. Part 1. Chapter 2: "Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship" from "The madwoman in the Attic" pages 45-93. These authors are concerned with the situation of women writers in a patriarchal world, where literary authority is seen as male. They describe as ‘the tensions and anxieties, hostilities and inadequacies ‘ ( page 46) felt as these women writers deal with the history and achievements of others, in most cases writers who were male and patriarchal. This is described as the psychology of literary history. However women see these writers as being very different from themselves, and often find themselves stereotyped by images which are not how she feels herself to be. They speak of women feeling inadequate as a result, feeling that being a woman makes them less able. The authors see this female anxiety as being destructive. They admit though that modern day women writers are less likely to be ‘infected’ in this way than those from the female authors of earlier times. Heidi Hartman, 1979, The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism Hartman argues for the unevenness of the relationship between Marxism and feminism, with the latter invariably coming off worse when there is any critical analysis of capitalist societies. The author challenges both Marxist and radical feminist writings when discussing the ‘women question’. She feels that the two ideologies cannot be integrated, because this then just makes feminism a small part of a greater struggle for change. Hartman includes Marxist arguments based upon the idea that feminism is divisive , and that, besides this, feminist rights are of far less importance than the class struggle. The author claims that Marxism is sex blind, so a uniquely feminine analytical view is needed. Yet she adds that feminist analysis has often failed to properly take into account history and materialism. She feels that feminist definitions of patriarchy fail because they don’t take full account social and economic societal structures. Patriarchy must be studied in order to understand how and why women from many different ages and situations are controlled and subjected (page 15). This text raises a number of questions. Such male oppression is too often seen as the case of one woman and her individual man, rather than a wider feature of society. One has to ask is this really true? She discusses how having women in the labor market was often seen as a negative keeping wages down, but how does that fit in with a gender wage gap? Hartman states that Marxists thought that patriarchy would disappear in the 20th century, but this did not happen. Perhaps 35 years after she wrote this later it can be said that some small inroads have been made. Hartman was writing in a post Second World War world , a time when some women were able to do so many more things than their sisters in previous generations, such as attending University or enter previously closed professions. She sees patriarchy as being in direct opposition to women’s rights, while at the same time supporting capitalist values. If she were writing today it would be interesting to see if her opinions had changed, or if she would be just as frustrated. Alice Walker 1972, In Search of our Mothers Gardens, Walker describes how Toomer found black women with a spiritual richness they themselves were unaware of. She describes them as being less than whole people, so degraded was their position. They were repressed and they waiting for something they had never experienced - their liberty. Walker points out how, in earlier times, it was even forbidden for black people to learn to read and write. According to the western world view God was in control,; then came angels, and then white people and finally animals. Black people were seen as slitting in, just above the beasts, and in order to keep them there they had to be deliberately suppressed. Yet they survived, despite all the efforts of their oppressors “We black women of America are.”( page 404). She gives the great example of Phyllis Wheatley, a slave and yet an author, but surmises, as Virginia Woolf did, that there must have been so many more women, although unknown to history and to their descendants. Simone de Beauvoir, 1949, The Second Sex Background De Beauvoir had a huge intellect, and felt she had met her equal in Satre, whom she met in 1929. Appignanesi ( 2005) describes her and Satre as being equals. She therefore knew what men and women were capable of, sexually and intellectually. After the Second World War, Simone became very interested in social problems. In ‘The Second Sex’, perhaps one of the most well-known texts from this prolific writer, Simone tried to consider history from a feminine perspective. Her view was that men saw women as being ‘other’, non-men, and as a result oppressed them because they were seen as opponents to be overcome. It is as if she is seen as an incomplete person. De Beauvoir felt that it was natural for people to see themselves as being in opposition to others, but when becomes applied to the genders men were denying woman’s full humanity. The book is an attempt to see how the women’s position of social inferiority came to occur historically. She begins by asking ‘What is a Woman? (Introduction) ‘ One answer is of course ‘Woman is a womb’, but de Beauvoir sees her as so much more. She famously separates sex from gender saying that ‘One is not born , but rather becomes a woman.’ The book can be said to be an exploration of that point, physiologically, psychologically and. She describes in her introduction how , in modern day science, any characteristic is seen as a reaction which depends , at least in part upon a given situation. In the case of women it is their place in a patriarchal society which defines them and gives them their characteristics. She quotes (Introduction), Dorothy Parker , despite the fact that she found Parker’s writing irritating. Parker said :- My idea is that all of us, men as well as women, should be regarded as human beings. This is something many would agree with now, but it was a relatively rare concept at the time, but came just after the Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations,1948) , which spoke about the rights of everyone and did not differentiate between the sexes. De Beauvoir acknowledges that there are such people as ‘Jews, Negros and women’ , all people that to some would be seen as being ‘other’, but declares firmly that :- The fact is that every concrete human being is always a singular, separate individual. Simone feels the need to declare that she is a woman, something she knows that no male writer would need to do. Nor would they write about what a man is. There was no need to do so. It is pointed out that although masculine and feminine are often seen as being opposites, yet, in electrical terms, the male represents both the positive and the neutral, while women are the negative. This idea of man being the neutral can be seen in many documents where the word man, or mankind , and its translations, are used to represent the whole of humanity, including the female parts of it, that is about fifty percent of all humanity. Intellectually how many women have been told that they think in a certain way because they are women, and that men don’t think like that. It would be a rare occurrence for a woman to say to a man ‘You only say that because you are a man, and that women think differently. It is pointed out that this is one of many instance of one group dominating another, but most often this is about numbers, with the larger number being in the ascendant, but this isn’t the case with men and women. De Beauvoir points out how historical situations, such as slavery, have changed over time, but this has not happened with the situation women. I am writing this 65 years after De Beauvoir wrote, but , although some advances have been made, for too many women around the world, the situation has not altered at all, as for instance when society denied an education to girls simply because they are females (Women Deliver , undated). Women, she says, have only gained what their men are willing to allow or grant (Introduction). There are many examples in modern life, from allowing women to study at university, to allowing , or denying , them the right to become priests. She feels this inequality of opportunity is because women do not organise themselves into one coherent unit able to make a stand, but rather are scattered in among the males who dominate them. She speaks ( Introduction) of the ‘otherness’ of women as always having been, in the main because of their anatomy and physiology. This De Beauvoir sees as making it much harder to change, than an event which took place in historical time. The Berlin wall would be a modern example. It was built, therefore there was a time when it did not exist, and could be therefore be destroyed. Chapter One. This deals with biology. DeBeauvoir begins by pointing out how men, although proud of their masculine attributes, at times use the word woman as an insult. This links back to ‘otherness’. Womanly attributes are not those of men. De Beauvoir then points out how in nature the differentiation into only two sexes is not always so clear cut, with multiplication in some cases, being separate from sexuality, asexual reproduction in many forms. She looks at an old myth which had people having two faces , and four of each limb. These individuals were then separated in half, and each now seeks to reunite, an early explanation for sexual attraction. Man however is seen as giving significance to sexual differences, and :- In the human species individual ‘possibilities’ depend upon the economic and social situation. Chapter 2, The Psychoanalytic Point of View. This, the author says, is to do with the fact that the body is inhabited by a subject. Each woman, she says, defines herself by how she deals with nature emotionally. The work of Freud, who had died ten years before, is considered. The psychoanalyst she says did not really concern himself with women and their destiny, but simply adapted the ideas he had already formed about men. This would include such matters as his thinking about penis envy and the Electra complex, which means that women consider themselves to be mutilated men. It is pointed out that Adler disagreed with this point of view, as not everything can be explained in terms of sexuality. De Beauvoir believes it is not so much penis envy as envy of men’s position in the world and their privileges. Chapter Three, The Point of View of Historical Materialism An important quotation in this section is :- Woman’s awareness of herself is not defined exclusively by her sexuality: it reflects a situation that depends upon the economic organisation of society, which in turn indicates what stage of technical evolution mankind has attained. Does this automatically mean that as society advances technologically the position of women will alter, and that this does not depend upon efforts women make to improve matters? De Beauvoir links this to the fact that women’s relative physical weakness becomes less important. This in turn links to Engels idea that history depends upon acquiring techniques. So the situation of women is closely related to economical and technical development. While acknowledging the individuality of subjects, whatever their sex, this does not fully explain the situation according to De Beauvoir. She links it to such things as man discovering bronze and having control over metals. This she felt meant that they saw themselves as being even more powerful and so put the physical weakness of women into an even worse light. It should be asked how many women De Beauvoir knew well. She chose not to have children, and may never have seen the mental strength of a woman in labour. Women may not have male musculature, but can be amazingly strong in other, perhaps harder to measure ways. On DeBeauvoir’s death in 1956 the newspaper headline was ‘Women, you owe her everything!’(Appignanesi, 2005) Conclusion At the time this book by De Beauvoir was written feminism as we now know it could be said to have been in its infancy. Was De Beauvoir a spark which lit a fire, or would the rise of feminism have occurred anyway simply because of changes in society? Those who read her writings today are after all mostly those who already feel sympathy with feminist ideas. Almost all of these texts can be considered as historical. What would these earlier writers think of our modern world, one where some changes have been made, but where so much is still to be done? Would they be cheering or weeping in frustration or just continuing to try and changes things for the better ? References Appignanesi, L., Did Simone de Beauvoir's open 'marriage' make her happy? The Guardian online, 10th June 2005, Web, 19th November 2014 De Beauvoir,S., The Second Sex, 1949, translated by H. Parshley, Penguin, 1952, web, 18th November 2014 Dworkin, A. Biological Superiority : The World's Most Dangerous and Deadly Idea, » Heresies 6 :46. , in Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory, editors Conboy, K., Medina,N., and Stanbury,S., Columbia University Press, New York, 1997 Glibret, S. & Gubar.S., Part 1. Chapter 2: Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship from The Madwoman in the Attic pages 45- 93. 1979, Web, 17th November 2014, Hartman, H., The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism,: Towards a more progressive union, , Capital and Class, Volume 3, issue 2 , pages 1-33, 1979, Web, 18th November 2014, Hooks, B., Postmodern Blackness, 1990, from Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics Boston, MA: South End Press, 1990): 23-31. Irigaray, I., , Ce Sexe qui n'en est pas un/ This Sex Which is Not One, 1977, Translated by Catherine Porter and Carolyn Burke, Cornell University Press , New York, Jordon, J., 2003, Report from the Bahamas, Meridians, Volume 3, number 2, Kelly-Gadol, J., The Social Relation of the Sexes,1976, Signs, Volume 1 , number 4, pages 809-823 Quora, Do some men and women choose to be lesbian or gay? If so, why? Undated, 20th November 2014, Witting, M., One is not born woman, 1979, a speech given at City University of New York Graduate Center, and then published (in French ) as ‘On ne nait pas femme’ Questions Féministes, no. 8, mai 1980, Web, 17th November 2014, Wollstonecraft, M. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects Chapter 2, The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character 1792 Discussed.Web, 17th November 2014, < http://www.bartleby.com/144/2.html> Women Deliver , Girl’s Education, undated, web, 17th November 2014, United Nations, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948, Web, 17th November 2014, Read More