Feminist Critique

“...subjects include the images and stereotypes of women in literature, the omissions of and misconceptions about women in criticism , and the fissures in male- constructed literary history”

When I read Showalter’s essay one thing that stood out to me is the fact that a lot feminist literature is based upon the male’s perception of women. A female character in a book or novel written over 50 years ago has a woman staying at home taking care of the household and the children; she is not going to be a lawyer or a doctor.

In “Things Fall Apart” women are portrayed as caregivers and mate's for thier men . In the story Ekwefi is Okonkwo’s second wife who has had 10 live births, and only one child that survived. The survival baby is of course a girl, who is not really accepted because she is not a boy. Okonkwo’s main concern is that his wife has failed to give him a male baby to carry out his legacy. This man also beats his wife and leaves her and her only daughter crying .This notion of the first born son is extremely over rated; the fact that only males are important in this world is completely ridiculous for the simple fact that without woman there is no future. This story to me explained what woman in those days endured , because it was thier role in society.

Another example of a woman’s role in society is the story “Girl” that we read a few weeks ago. In this story the mother is actually giving her daughter a set of guidelines for when she becomes a woman. The guidelines include how to cook, clean, iron, and tend to her husband’s every need. This story infuriated me because the mother is teaching her daughter how to become a housewife and a child bearer. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that the reason woman are portrayed or stereotype this way in literature is because men has made it this way. Men have this perception on how women should or shouldn’t be, and I think that our history proves that.

Showalter suggests that one of the main problems with feminist critique is that it is still male- orientated She goes on to say that we don't really know what women think or experience because their thoughts or experiences were strongly influenced by a male's ideology.