Gender Critcism

Gender criticism is an extension of feminist literary criticism, focusing not just on women but on the construction of gender and sexuality, especially LGBTQ issues, which gives rise to queer theory.

1. Gender Criticism

2. To know the significance of studying Gender Criticism. To understand how gender generally influences the works of literature. To identify the different approaches of Gender Criticism . To know some of the authors and literary works involved in Gender Criticism.

3. What is Gender? The state of being a man (masculine) and a woman/ feminine

4. What is Gender Criticism ? Gender criticism examines how sexual identity influences the creation, interpretation, and evaluation of literary works.” ( Kennedy, 2071 ) Because literature is timeless, Gender Criticism greatly influences the way society views gender differences. Therefore, it examines how an author may have influenced gender perception through a work of literature.

5. Purpose of Gender Criticism -to criticize gender as we commonly conceive it. Essentialism - concentrates of the differences between men and women and their bodies. Constructionism - concentrates in the differences being related to nurture not nature

6. Approaches of Gender Criticism Masculinist (recently advocated by poet Robert Bly) -an ideology of masculinity; and ideology opposed to, or opposed by feminism. Feminist -a social theory or political movement arguing that legal and social restrictions on females must be removed in order to bring about equality of both sexes in all aspects of public and private life

7. Historical Background In 1960’s, the gender criticism approach began when feminist criticism arose. There are definite differences that have been noted between gender criticism and feminist criticism. The difference is sex and sexuality . Gender Criticism is based on common conceptions of gender.

8. Feminist Criticism Takes as a central precept that the patriarchal attitudes that have dominated western thought have resulted, consciously or unconsciously, in literature “full of unexamined ‘male-produced’ assumptions.” Feminist criticism attempts to correct this imbalance by analyzing and combatting such attitudes…

9. Other goals of feminist critics include “analyzing how sexual identity influences the reader of a text” and “examining how the images of men and women in imaginative literature reflect or reject the social forces that have historically kept the sexes from achieving total equality.

10. Gender Criticism is present in literature as the time of learning to read. The image shown illustrates the typical roles of males and females.

11. After outgrowing the childhood reading, Americans are able to see the effects of gender in William S hakespeare’s work. Ophelia is consumed with an actual madness since she perceives that she has a problematic relationship. Her madness escalates with the death of her father Polonius. Hamlet however, exhibits a pretend sense of madness resulting from a plan to avenge his father’s death. William Shakespeare

12. Emily Dickenson Her first work was published in 1890 four years after her death. Her work was found after her death in 40 volumes of nearly 1800 poems. There are many of Emily’s poems that are important in gender criticism movement. 280

13. I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280) Emily Dickinson, 1830 - 1886 I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, And Mourners to and fro Kept treading – treading – till it seemed That Sense was breaking through –    And when they all were seated, A Service, like a Drum –  Kept beating – beating – till I thought My Mind was going numb –    And then I heard them lift a Box And creak across my Soul With those same Boots of Lead, again, Then Space – began to toll,   As all the Heavens were a Bell, And Being, but an Ear, And I, and Silence, some strange Race Wrecked, solitary, here –    And then a Plank in Reason, broke, And I dropped down, and down –  And hit a World, at every plunge, And Finished knowing – then – 

14. Europe Emperially -mined European women, like others in North America, sometimes operated from the same assumption of superiority when they founded the first international women’s group. International Council of Women (1888) International Women Suffrage Alliance (1904) Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (1915)

15. What has caused the continued gender role differences?? Picture of the entrances to the restroom. At early ages children learn that males wear pants and women wear dresses.

16. Strategies for Gender Criticism Consider the gender of the writer, what role does gender play in his work? Examine whether the reading of the work may be altered by the changes in gender roles over time. Observe how gender stereotypes might be reinforced or undermined. Consider the gender of the characters, and what role gender plays in this work? How is the relationship between men and women depicted? How does the treatment of gender in the work reflect the work’s meaning?

17. Other attributes to gender criticism of could be the deficiency of female authors until the 20 th century. Historically female education has been inferior to that of males. After the 19 th Century women were more frequently allowed admission to colleges and universities. The amounts of women that attain master’s degree and doctoral degrees also have risen. “The resulting stereotype that “a woman’s place is in the home” has largely determined the ways in which women have expressed themselves.”

18. -FIN-