CelestialBody
Starlet of India
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Interesting Women
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CreamyLady
Uncompromising Visionary
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Ever read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? It has a lot to do with the female mind, and the oppression of same by the male mind.
Closet Desire
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Much much more than that...
Not just oppression by the male mind but by a patriarchal system that included women as collaborators as well.
The Yellow Wallpaper is excellent, but if you want to read something more substantial along these lines try Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Her book was basically censored out of existence in the late 1890's by libraries and stores. Not until the 70's with the emergence of feminist theory in literature did the book come into the light again. A real eye-opener, particularly for women in their 30-40s, the time of awakening. Excellent read.
Not just oppression by the male mind but by a patriarchal system that included women as collaborators as well.
The Yellow Wallpaper is excellent, but if you want to read something more substantial along these lines try Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Her book was basically censored out of existence in the late 1890's by libraries and stores. Not until the 70's with the emergence of feminist theory in literature did the book come into the light again. A real eye-opener, particularly for women in their 30-40s, the time of awakening. Excellent read.
CreamyLady
Uncompromising Visionary
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I know, but I was mainly thinking of the implied line of demarcation. It is a sad fact that women cooperate in their own oppression -- beautifully illustrated by The Handmaid's Tale.
I try to limit my reading in this area, because I really don't want to become a bitter, manhating bitch and it is very easy to do if one sticks to "women's issues" fiction.
I try to limit my reading in this area, because I really don't want to become a bitter, manhating bitch and it is very easy to do if one sticks to "women's issues" fiction.
CelestialBody
Starlet of India
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CreamyLady
Uncompromising Visionary
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I remember joining NOW in my early 20's, and attending Consciousness Raising groups, and reading groups, and burning my bra -- yes, I really did -- and thinking that men were absolute pigs. I DID grow out of it, for the most part, but those were Interesting Times.
Seriously, I just find that reiteration of the same theme -- men are swine -- can tend to beat down on one. Yes, the key to getting clear of oppression is self-liberation, and, by extension, liberating the oppressor at the same time.
Practical models for this, however, are not thick on the ground. Better to find one's own path through the minefield of male/female relations than look to women's fiction for a map.
Seriously, I just find that reiteration of the same theme -- men are swine -- can tend to beat down on one. Yes, the key to getting clear of oppression is self-liberation, and, by extension, liberating the oppressor at the same time.
Practical models for this, however, are not thick on the ground. Better to find one's own path through the minefield of male/female relations than look to women's fiction for a map.
Weird Harold
Opinionated Old Fart
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CreamyLady said:
May I reccommend the _Amazons_ and _Amazons II_ anthologies edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, and the _Chicks in Chainmail_, _Did You say Chicks?_, and Chicks 'n Chained Males_ anthologies edited by Esther Freisner.
(The first two may not be readily available, they're copyright 1979 and 1982, paperback only. The latter series is currently in bookstores.)
I don't necessarily reccomend the way men are treated in these series, but they are collections of stories with strong female leads that don't necessarily treat men as scum.
Closet Desire
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I will not give up my "self"...
I wouldn't suggest fiction as a road map for anyone's life because fiction is often the personal roadmap followed by the writer. It would be a long stretch of imagination to read man-hate into The Awakening as Edna was in search of herself and when she found herself it was up to her to follow her own desires. There is the scene where she laughs at her lover calling both him and her husband fools for thinking she could "belond" to either of them.
In the end she chooses death at her own hands rather than relinguish her "self" to another.
It's a truth that works for both sexes, choose your path, follow it, and make it your own...good or bad.
I wouldn't suggest fiction as a road map for anyone's life because fiction is often the personal roadmap followed by the writer. It would be a long stretch of imagination to read man-hate into The Awakening as Edna was in search of herself and when she found herself it was up to her to follow her own desires. There is the scene where she laughs at her lover calling both him and her husband fools for thinking she could "belond" to either of them.
In the end she chooses death at her own hands rather than relinguish her "self" to another.
It's a truth that works for both sexes, choose your path, follow it, and make it your own...good or bad.
