Feminist criticism
Feminist criticism presents different perspectives on how literature discusses issues of gender, focusing on education, financial and social difference in a male dominated society. Feminist criticism revolves around power relations between the two genders. Feminist criticism reviews how females are represented in different texts and literature and how such representation is insufficient. In addition, feminist critics in politics present literature that seeks to raise consciousness about the important role of women and highlight how language is misused to marginalize women. Different feminist views attempt to highlight how traditional literature have undervalued women presenting stereotype images about women.
Some literature creates a critical platform that shows a balanced view of women. Some literature urges the transformation of language to remove inequalities that cause linguistic distortion of humanity. Many feminist critics dry their framework from a combined approach using different movement and the sequence from the historical perspective up to the modern society views of feminist.
The earliest form of feminism is the liberal feminism, where gender inequality was commonly practiced; women were stereotyped with their role being of wives and mother. Some writers label feminism as bourgeois feminism where liberal feminist strived for equality with men in a male dominated society. Liberal feminist focus on how women ranges are portrayed in media, such critics promote autonomy, assertiveness, and final independent. Such notion has resulted in a new type of stereotype of modern women who is seen as someone who has it all. One of the major criticisms of liberal feminism assumes that radical changes can be possible in a male-dominated social structure. Hence, to be equal means women need to be like men that are not possible.
Radical feminism is a type of feminism critics that celebrates women and their difference from one. Radical feminist seems to have extreme views stating that feminist solution of to develop communities different from men. Radical feminism view media to be headed by male producers, and they operate to benefit the patriarchal society. Radical feminism assumes that women are good and can work without competition from male counterparts seems to be an illusion. A radical feminist believes that the solution for women position cannot be solved isolation instead feminism should be viewed from a cultural perspective and creating spaces for feminine voices.
The other framework where feminist criticism draws their argument is from a socialist perspective where they believe that women’s position includes analyzing class and economic condition of women is the key element. Social feminist advocate for the elimination of class and gender and women should have right to participate in paid labor and men should have domestic responsibilities. Similarly, socialist feminist view media as an instrument that presents both capitalist and patriarchal society as something natural.
Socialism feminist is concerned about how the media construct feminism and who benefits from such construction. Feminist criticism is a strategy for knowledge reconstruction because they are concerned about the stereotypical representation of genders. Feminist criticism tries to answer several questions like whether the author perpetuates traditional female stereotypes and to what extent do the text support those views.
Feminist criticism highlights unknown, values of women writers and giving them recognition and create an environment where women’s creativity is realized and appreciated. Much of feminist critics focus on discovering and analyzing the literature of women authors hence there are many varieties of feminist ideas.
