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FEMINISM The Church of Philosophy
& Independent Thinkers
By: Mary-Noël Dufton
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 1908-1986
Born: Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand De Beauvoir
Eldest of 2 daughters; Middle Class Family
M.A.s in Literature, Philosophy (Sorbonne), and Mathematics
Among 1st Generation Educated in Elite Universities
that had once been ALL male
9th Woman & Youngest Student ever to pass the
Agrégation in Philosophy to become a
tenured Professor Taught in Marseilles, Rouen, & Paris (1931-1943) Supported herself by her writing from 1943 on Lifelong associate and lover to Jean-Paul Sartre
The Second Sex (1949) Classic Manifesto“Means of understanding the lived experiences of women.”
History shows women reduced to objects for men; women classifiedas the ‘Other.’
Theoretical Basis for Feminism in Europe & North America 1960’s-1970’sShe inaugurated the Social Constructionist Critique of Essentialism that
occupiedfeminist literary theory in 1980’s and 1990’s.
She rejects any notion of a female nature or essence. Founded Les Temps Modernes, a monthly magazine devoted to politics & literature. (1945)She wrote 6 novels, numerous essays, and 6 volumes of autobiography including one on her mother and one on Sartre.
Beauvoir’s argument is that in patriarchal cultures man is the norm and woman the deviation…”a constant state of ‘inauthenticity.’” * “Essence does not precede existence; that is a human being is neither more nor less than the sum total of her or his acts.” * “Economic independence is seen as the cornerstone of women’s liberation, while both the marriage and motherhood are disparaged as inauthentic choices.”
WOMAN MAN
“Immanence” “Transcendence”
• Stagnation * Freedom• Immersion in Nature * Authenticity• Sentiment / Inwardness
I. Myth and Reality (1265)What importance does the myth of woman play in daily life?
= Static: “division” of humanity into 2 classes of individuals (Man & Woman) “We are told not that Femininity is a false entity, but that the women concerned are not feminine.”
“…the relation is a struggle between conscious beings each of whom wishes to be essential, it is the
mutual recognition of free beings who confirm one another’s freedom; she is a subject, a fellow human being.” (1265-66)
Men are astonished as to the difference between man vs. woman just as the “Old Sophists” could not fathom the difference between men having blond hair and those with dark hair.
FEMALE BINARY
“BAD WOMAN” “GUARDIAN ANGEL”
( Undue Influence) ( Overseer of Household)
Praying Mantis Muse / Goddess Mother
Demon Harmony & Rest
“…the man who ‘does not understand’ a woman is happy to substitute an objective resistance for a subjective deficiency of mind; instead of admitting his ignorance, he perceives the presence of a ‘mystery’ outside himself: an alibi, indeed, that flatters laziness and vanity at once.” (1268)
“To say that woman is mystery is to say, not that she is silent, but
that her ‘language’ is not understood; she is there, but hidden
behind veils; she exists beyond these uncertain appearances.”
(1268-69) = Seen as a Sphinx; a riddle; “indefinable.”
“…’sounding her own heart’; …one interpretation will be no
truer than another.” (1269)
“Mystery is never more than ‘a mirage’ that vanishes as we drawnear to look at it.” (1271)
Drawing by Raymond Peynet (1948) =Seduction by mayoress getting ready to officiate his marriage. To hold a ‘man’s position’ and be desirable at the same time.
ADRIENNE RICH Born: 1929
Jewish family in Baltimore Yale
Younger Poets Award at age 22
Graduated Radcliffe College
Guggenheim Fellowship
Married Alfred Conrad, Economist
Raised 3 sons
Taught at Columbia & City College of N.Y. By
mid 1970’s, she was openly Lesbian
Celebrated Poet & Writer Voice
in American Feminism since 1960’s
Explored Women’s oppression & response Her
works link to Butler & Sedgwick
Known for her strength in character,
staunch integrity, & immense talent.
Rich’s argument: “Heterosexuality is not natural but social…” (1589)
= Only opposite sex deemed appropriate= Same sex desire must be denied or indulged in secret= Same-sex bonding viewed as suspicious= Assures access to men= Punishes those who are not heterosexual= Ensures power of men over women
“Women must present themselves as ‘attractive’ according to dominant standards.” {A larger unwritten set of rules}
Rich highlights both how hostile to and threatened by women’s independent action patriarchal society is. The focus on bonds formed outside of sex is primary.
Queer Theory Evolves: “the early bond of the girl baby with her mother;” {different forms & many different behaviors} (1590).
SEXUAL RELATIONS OF POWER WITHIN INSTITUTIONS
LESBIAN EXPERIENCE QUESTIONS OF SEXUAL
IDENTITYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2mADkJBqfY
“The Origin of the Family” {8 Characteristics of Male Power}
1.) Deny Women Their Sexuality
2.) Force Male Sexuality Upon Them
3.) Exploit Their Labor
4.) Control of Their Children
5.) Confine Them at Home
6.) Use as Objects in Transactions
7.) Constrict Creativity
8.) Denial of Access to Knowledge & Culture
SANDRA M. GILBERTBorn: 1936
Born in N.Y. CityM.A. from N.Y.U.Ph.D. Columbia in English Literature7 Books of Poetry
SUSAN GUBARBorn: 1944
Born in N.Y. City
Ph.D. University of Iowa (1972)
Still Teaches at Indiana U.
They both met in 1973 while at Indiana University. They team-taught. Jointly named “Ms. Magazines ‘Woman of the Year’”
The Madwoman in the Attic develops the notion that women writers can be understood as a group.
Isolation that felt like ‘illness’… 18th & 19th Century women writers alienation that felt like ‘madness’… wielded their pens in defiance attempting
(1924) to steal a right extended only to men.
SLOGAN: The secret sisterhood of
role models who show that women
can write.
“The woman who speaks out is branded ‘an active monster’; the woman whoremains silent risks madness.” (1924)
“DISEASE” or “DIS – EASE”{Conditions from Feeling Ill at Ease}
• Anorexia * Claustrophobia
• Agoraphobia * Retinal Disease
• Aphasia “eyes put out” (Dickinson)
• Amnesia {Oedipus}
ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS:
“Don’t you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There’s one marked ‘Brightness,’ but it doesn’t work.” – Gallagher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPNL_fdlsG0
“But I like taking apart motorcycles.” - Happy from Scorpios on CBS
{Episode from 10/20/2014}
Works Cited
De Beauvoir, Simone. “The Second Sex.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1265-1273. Print.
Gilbert, Sandra M. & Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer & the 19th Century Literary Imagination.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1926- 1938. Print.
Rich, Adrienne. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1591-1596. Print.
www.youtube.com