In the last week of school two of my classes have simultaneously began to focus on feminism in literature. One by looking at feminism in Gothic literature and the other by studying an essay by a writer named Adrienne Rich. I have always supported the feminist movement and I am of a big fan of equality but I noticed some aspects of feminism that I disagree with. These are the more radical sides of feminism that can sometimes be simply illogical or counter the battle for equality by generalizing and portraying men as evil rapists.
The early feminist influence that can be seen in early gothic works such as “Mysteries of Udolpho” is not where my problem lies. The feminism portrayed here is more of an undertone which is good in that it begins to challenge societies expectations of female characters. This lack of outright feminist material could be caused by the oppression of women at this time, or it could simply be that it was not the author’s intention to focus on a feminist agenda. Either way, the feminism I have seen in early gothic fiction is very important to the history of feminism.
On the other hand, more modern works like that of Adrienne Rich which was written in the 1980′s is slightly more difficult for me to support. I understand that the feminist plight is an important one and that they do face great obstacles insofar as some of the chauvinist they must overcome to completely achieve equality, however, generalizing all men as the commiters of rape and claiming that all heterosexual intercourse is rape is far too radical to me. This disagreement does not change my view of feminism as a good thing, it does however make me feel as if radical feminism such as this could be a step backwards instead of forwards.
Even though I do find some issue with the more radical sides of feminism, it sure beats a lot of the hegemonic masculinity I see every day in the media, at the bars, and pretty much everywhere else I go in life. I believe that these chauvinist views in society are a problem and that they need to be abolished before equality can truly exist, but I do not believe generalizing and name calling is the way to do it. I think many feminists would agree with me that alienating and criticising males as a whole is counter productive in making the world a more equal place because many males do agree with equality and they do not rape or attempt to oppress woman at all.
