Feminism vs. Gender Egalitarianism

[trempnvt]

So I haven't posted in a while, but I kept meaning to. First I was going to post about feminism and gender egalitarianism and whether or not they're mutually inclusive, but I sort of lazed out on that one. Then I was going to post about white toilet paper, but I figured there are only, like, two people on my friends list who can relate to that

Comments

[prozacpark]

I think that it has to explore gender issues to an extent, and for me, in a feminist novel, a character has to be aware of the issues at least. Jane Eyre, I know, is considered a feminist novel by some critics because it has a strong female character. But, she's very Cinderella-ish in that she gets rewarded for being good and conventional. So, in my opinion, not so much. And while I love Austen's Elizabeth Bennet, I don't exactly consider her to be a feminist heroine. And, in literature, there are often strong heroines who think all other women are stupid. Which? Not very feminist. But you can critique any novel from a feminist perspective so maybe it's not really important what makes a novel feminist since it's all open to interpretation. My "Women in Literature" professor, for instance, absolutely hates "The Awakening" and doesn't think it's a particularly feminist novel.

As for recommendations, I can't recommend Willa Cather's "A Lost Lady" enough. It has very familiar themes of the time, but it features a fallen heroine who is a survivor and wants to live despite the disgrace (unlike all the other feminists heroines who are running off to kill themselves). Additionally, Scott F. Fitzgerald was a big Cather fan and read "A Lost Lady" while he was working on his "Great Gatsby". He said that "The Great Gatsby" would've been a very different book had he not been influenced by "A Lost Lady." Really, when I read "The Great Gatsby" after having read "A Lost Lady," my perception of all the characters changed slightly and I realized many things that I never would've considered otherwise.

And Tanith Lee's "White as Snow" (not a Classic) is also really fun. It's a dark, creepy retelling of the Snow White story that goes to some very uncomfortable places. Not a happy book, but it's good.

And Pike's (since I already know that you kind of like him) "Final Friends" series, which I think I mentioned before. Not highly literary, but it's fun and a good mystery. His "Listerners" is also good and a bit like "Season of Passage" in its creepiness.