TWENTIETH-CENTURY WOMEN AND AGENCY

Danika RockettUniversity of Baltimore

English 371

Such thought views the world as a dynamic place where the goal is not merely to survive or to fit in or to cope; rather, it becomes a place where we feel ownership and accountability.

~Patricia Hill Collins

FIRST WAVE FEMINISM

1792 – Early 20th Century: Basic human rights 19th century women began to demand equality 20th century women won the right to vote Women entered the workforce, noticed

inequality Housewives complained of no personal

fulfillment Mary Wollstonecraft, Sojourner Truth, Virginia

Woolf, Alice Paul,

SECOND WAVE FEMINISM

Early 1960s – ~1980s: Justice This wave came as a response to efforts to re-establish pre-

war patriarchal social trends* These women fought for

Reproductive rights, Pay equity, Sexual harassment, Gender discrimination, The handling of rape victims in the courts, Criminalization of marital rape

Legislation victories Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of

1964, the Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), Roe v. Wade (1973), Women’s Educational Equity Act (1973, 1975),

National Organization for Women (1966) Betty Friedan*, Simone de Beauvoir, Gertrude Stein,

Adrienne Rich

THIRD WAVE FEMINISM

~1990s – present: Global perspective

“Women are of many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds …”

Feminism involves all women—not just white, middle-class

Participants work from within political structures rather than criticizing from the outside

Barbara Smith, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldúa

TODAY’S READINGS

Gertrude Stein: “A Sonnet” Adrienne Rich: “Diving into the Wreck” Maya Angelou: “Still I Rise” Patricia Hill Collins: “Black Feminist

Thought in the Matrix of Domination” Laurel Sutton: “Bitches and Skankly

Hobags” Charles Perrault: “Little Red Riding Hood” Angela Carter: “The Company of Wolves”

GERTRUDE STEIN (1874 – 1946)

American, but spent most of her life in France

Friends with many famous writers, poets, and artists

Lifelong partner was Alice Toklas

Coined the term “The Lost Generation” Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott

Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound

Portrait of Stein, painted by Picasso

GERTRUDE STEIN“A SONNET” (1927)

Title is ironic Appears in her long poem Patriarchal

Poetry Who is the speaker in this poem? What does the speaker seem to be

saying?

ADRIENNE RICH (B. 1921)

Born in Baltimore Her parents

pressured her to be a “prodigy”

Married in 1953 but later came out as a lesbian

Influential civil rights, anti-war, and feminist activist

ADRIENNE RICH“DIVING INTO THE WRECK” (1972)

The “wreck” is historical myth Knowledge, and creating new knowledge, is

powerful “the damage” = lies/myth “treasures” = the truth This diver has come for “the wreck and not the

story of the wreck”= the actual event and not just someone else’s idea of that event

“the fouled compass” = taking direction from past stories will lead you astray

“a book of myths/in which our names do not appear” = because it was written by those in power

MAYA ANGELOU (B. 1928)

San Francisco’s first African-American female cable car operator

Performed on Broadway in the 1950s

Fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and the West African language Fanti

Friends with Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. A bird doesn’t sing because it has an

answer. It sings because it has a song

MAYA ANGELOU“STILL I RISE” (1978)

How is this poem similar in theme to “Diving into the Wreck”?

PATRICIA HILL COLLINS (B. 1948)

Born in Philadelphia Master’s degree from

Harvard She examines issues of

race, gender, social class, sexuality and/or nation

Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at UMCP

PATRICIA HILL COLLINS“BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT” (1990)

Age, sexual orientation, race, social class, religion, and gender are “part of one overarching structure of domination”

Black feminist thought debates “truth” Epistemology

“Female spheres of influence” Are you Black, or are you a woman? Colin Powell, Barack Obama—racism is

eradicated, right … ?

LAUREL SUTTON“BITCHES AND SKANKLY HOBAGS” (1992)

Double-standards in the English language Master/mistress, bachelor/spinster, player/slut

90% of slang words for women are negative Only favorable from male perspective Many refer to sexual promiscuity,

attractiveness, weight, intellect, as objects or animals

“A man who has sex often is to be admired; a woman, despised” (Sutton 287).

CHARLES PERRAULT (1628 – 1703)LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Perrault was a French author who helped create the genre of “Fairy Tales”

These stories served as morals for how children (and adults) should behave

Often focused on girls and women to warn them

He authored the Tales of Mother Goose stories

In more recent versions of LRR, the girl is rescued

ANGELA CARTER(1940 – 1992)

Known for feminist, fantasy, and science fiction writing

Working on sequel to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre when she died

“The Company of Wolves” (1979)

How is this re-telling different from the original?

How could you argue that this is a feminist re-telling?

PRESENTATION GUIDELINES: JULY 14

Presentation will be based on your reflections of what you have learned in this class as well as the topic of your final essay

25 points. I will look for these 5 elements1. Reflection: What are some significant things you learned this

semester? In what ways have women changed throughout history? What surprised you the most? Etc.

2. Final essay topic: What topic have you chosen? Why? How will you make your argument?

3. Tell us something interesting about your topic: Is there a surprising fact or statistic related to your topic? You may use visual aids or PowerPoint, but it is not required. You might practice your presentation with a friend to get someone else’s perspective on how well you convey the subject matter

4. Clarity of speaking voice: You don’t have to be perfect, but you should do your best to maintain eye contact and speak clearly and loudly enough for everyone to understand

5. Time (should be between 10 and 15 minutes)

READINGS FOR MONDAY, JULY 12

Stephanie Coontz – “Leave it to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet: American Families in the 1950s.”

Melissa Silverstein – “Feminism and Revolutionary Road”

I have modified the readings, so be sure to read the handouts I am providing now

IN-CLASS ESSAY

For today’s essay, I ask that you write ¾ - 1 page describing the topic you plan to write on for your final essay. What topic have you chosen?

Why? How does this topic reflect on the title of this course,

“Changing Woman”? Which readings or sources will you use to make your

point? I will review them and provide feedback either via

email or in class Monday Be sure to put your email address on your essay if you

want quicker feedback, and check your email!