What is Feminism?

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political,
economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women including gender roles..
Gender role means the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially correct for
individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and
over time. Gender is important in Feminism. Gender identity is the gender(s) based on a person's self-
identities.
Gender-based Differentiation is an issue in Feminism. It is the situation when one job, attitude or skill
is only known for one gender. For example, it was a normal idea to see jobs like doctor, lawyer, and
engineer for male rather than female.
Feminism in literature
Feminism in literature is a school of theory that views how our culture are inherently patriarchal (male-
dominated) and aims to expose misogyny (prejudice against women) in literature explicitly and implicitly.
Although there are various views in feminist criticism, the following shows what is common among these
varying concepts in feminism:
1. Women are oppressed by patriarchy (society governed or led by males) economically, politically, socially,
and psychologically.
2. While biology determines our sex (male or female), culture sets the standards of what is to be masculine
and feminine.
3. Feminism has the ultimate goal of changing the world by promoting gender equality.
4. Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience, including the production
and experience of literature.
Feminist criticism focuses on how literature has represented women and relationships between women
and men, drawing attention to how women have been marginalized and denied a voice of their own in
literature. It also deals with how literature reflects society's ideological assumptions regarding gender and
power
First Wave Feminism
● 19th and 20th century
● UK and USA fought for equal contracts for marriage, parenting, property, and rights
● topics and issues about political power, Women’s suffrage (right to vote), and Women’s reproductive
and Economic Rights were opened.
Second Wave of Feminism
• In 1960, during the 2nd wave of feminism, a remarkable event in human history happened – the end
of the ‘patriarchy’.
• Suddenly women became active in politics, demanded and won the rights to university education, to
a career, to easy divorce.
Third Wave of Feminism
• Feminism is described as a sudden representation of women at all levels of government.
• with issues that appear to limit or oppress women.
• Gender violence has become a central issue for third-wave feminists.
Basic Premises of the Feminist Approach
1. Women are presented in the literature by male writers from a male point of view.
2. Women presented in writing female writers from the female point of view.
Goals of the Feminist Approach
justice and equality for women everywhere and, of course, also for the men and children to whom they are
inextricably linked
 empower the persons being researched (rather than reduce them to passive objects of study), and may
involve them in the research more completely
 promote political change for women
acknowledge researcher biases
 qualitative than quantitative
 blur the boundary between the personal and the public; between intuition and reason; between researcher
and world
Charles Fourier (1837) is credited with having coined the word feminism
 How the Disney Princess Movies Went from Fairy Tales to Feminism
By Megan Batt, SUNY Cortland

How the Disney princesses went from fitting into glass slippers to breaking the glass ceiling.
In the last decade, Walt Disney Productions has produced several new Disney Princesses for both
children and adults to enjoy. “Tangled,” “Brave,” “Frozen” and “Moana” all feature stronger, more
independent heroines, marking a distinct break in tradition from the damsels-in-distress of the Disney
classics.
Millennials spent their childhoods watching classic Disney princess movies on VHS for hours.
Generation Z watched the same movies, albeit using the updated DVD versions. And, in the same way,
movie-watching technology has changed, and so have the messages in the films.
From Walt Disney’s first film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” to the most recent production,
“Moana,” princesses have gradually become more independent. Indeed, these new Disney princesses are
fully capable of saving themselves and others.
The new films look starkly different from their first-generation ancestors, many of which portrayed
the Disney princesses as dependent on men. For instance, while “Cinderella” is not Disney’s first princess
creation, it is one of the most popular of the animations Walt Disney oversaw himself.
The classic film tells a story as old as Romeo and Juliet, but with fewer unnecessary deaths. A
helpless girl meets a handsome prince; the guy falls in love with a girl because she’s pretty; the guy rescues
the girl and they live happily ever after.
After years of romanticizing the love story of Cinderella and Prince Charming, it’s no wonder that
young men and women have, for decades, sought out their own version of a magical, fairytale
romance. Indeed, even nowadays, many heterosexual couples still consider Cinderella and Prince Charming
to be the height of “relationship goals.”
The Cinderella story has been reimagined in literally dozens of cinematic romances. Cinderella posts
and references are the ultimate fodder for ideal Instagram posts. Girls want to be swept off their feet by a
strong man who will shower them with love and walk down the aisle wearing a dazzling crown; guys want a
beautiful girl who will be their princess and help them rule over their kingdom, even if their kingdom only
exists on “Fortnite.”
When girls talk about what they want in a man, many say that they want a Prince Charming who will
be their knight in shining armor. What they don’t dream of, though, is a Eugene Fitzherbert holding a frying
pan or a Kristoff creating voices for Sven. Why not?
Many of the newer Disney Princesses challenge this ideal romance; if their films have any romance
at all, the relationship between the princesses and their love interests tend to be more realistic and
egalitarian.
In “Tangled,” for instance, Rapunzel spends the entire film on a journey to see the floating lanterns
she dreamed about. Flynn Rider takes her to the capital, where they end up falling in love over a lake and a
new dream.
He tries to be a hero and save Rapunzel from her “mother,” and gets stabbed for his troubles. He
sacrifices his chance to live by cutting her magical hair, taking away her coveted gift. She then saves his life
because of their true love and her magical tears.
Though the love story has the typical boy-saves-girl ending, Flynn Rider and Rapunzel do not fall in
love at first sight. In fact, their relationship is the most accurately represented love story Disney has ever
created; the two fall in love slowly after bonding throughout the course of the movie.
The only comparable love story among the Disney classics is that of the Beast and Belle, who needed
an entire movie to realize that they loved one another. However, considering that the Beast kept Belle as a
prisoner in his castle, there were some issues with the gender politics of that movie.
Flynn and Rapunzel, on the other hand, bonded over the struggles that they overcame together,
including his past as a thief and her life as a prisoner in her tower.
Each princess in this new era of Disney removes herself more and more from the old idea of the
damsel-in-distress. While Tangled subverts the stereotypical fairytale romance with Flynn and Rapunzel’s
relationship, many of the other new movies have no romance at all. Instead of finding their prince, the
heroines of these movies find their place in the world as independent women.
 Take Merida from “Brave,” for example. The entire movie centers on Merida fighting to pick her
own fate, instead of trapping herself in an unwanted marriage with a boy she hardly knows. She defies her
parents, shoots a bullseye for her own hand in marriage, and becomes heir to Dunbroch.
Merida embodies the belief that it is okay to sort your life out first before getting married. Modern
society has seen a rise in young people who want to chase their own dreams before finding a significant
other and starting a family.
The classic Disney movies pushed the idea that finding your soulmate was all anyone could hope for
in life, but “Brave” showed viewers that finding one’s own purpose in life is just as important as falling in
love.
While “Frozen” does have romance, unlike “Brave,” it tackles many of the stereotypes created by the
classic Disney films. For example, the film challenges the idea of a perfect Prince Charming.
When Anna meets Prince Hans, he seems like a perfect “Prince Charming” — polite, elegant, and
handsome. They fall in love almost instantly and he proposes to her after a single sappy love song. However,
Elsa does not give her blessing on the union and questions how they could be in love after just one night.
Like any sheltered and romantic teenager, Anna does not realize that her love for Hans is not true
love but infatuation. Elsa has a realistic idea of love, while Anna still believes in traditional Disney love.
When Hans betrays Anna and attempts to kill Elsa, Anna realizes her mistake and attempts to rectify
the situation. At the very end of the movie, she asserts her independence from Hans by punching him into
the harbor.
In addition, there are many fan campaigns that want Disney to portray Elsa its very first LGBT
princess — or in this case, Queen. Because of Elsa’s lack of a male love interest, Disney could give her a
female significant other.
LGBT people were shunned and ignored in the era of Disney’s first films; however, in today’s
society, LGBT characters are growing more and more common as the LGBT+ community gains recognition.
In addition, Elsa could provide a relatable character for LGBT+ individuals who struggle to find
representation in the media.
The newest Disney Princess to hit theatres was Moana from the movie of the same name. Moana is
the daughter of the chief on the island who dreams of being a voyager. However, her father has forbidden
the islanders from going past the reef surrounding the island.
Moana dreams of rebelling against her father and leaving the island for years; when the fish in the
water surrounding the island begin to disappear, she finally gets her chance. She sails off alone on a quest to
find Maui, a demigod who stole the heart of Te Fiti, so that they can save the island.
Out of all the recent Disney movies, “Moana” stands alone because there is no mention of a romantic
relationship. Moana is on a quest to explore the ocean and save her people; there is no prince in the movie,
Charming or otherwise. Even Merida had the opportunity if she wanted it, but Moana doesn’t even have
that. She doesn’t need the distraction of a relationship when her people are at stake.
Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, Elsa, and Anna all challenged the way that Disney himself illustrated and
portrayed his princesses. With Snow White and Cinderella, Disney envisioned beautiful damsels who
needed to be saved from terrible evil.
Today’s Princesses have not only shed their damsel attitudes, which involve waiting for someone to
save them, but have become the heroes of their own story and have found a way to save themselves.
Disney Studios has begun creating realistic and empowered princess characters, inspiring a new
wave of merchandise and costumes for every aspiring royalty. However, Cinderella and Prince Charming
are still the relationship goals of many couples.
There are no social media posts about Eugene Fitzherbert taking them on romantic dates fulfilling
their lifelong dreams, but many girls dream of a Prince Charming sweeping them off their feet.
The change in romantic goals might occur over time as the children born in the last decade begin
dating. For many of today’s young girls, the first Disney princesses they saw were not Snow White and
Cinderella, but Rapunzel and Merida. Soon enough, the Cinderellas and Prince Charming might become
Flynn Riders and Rapunzel.

Still I Rise ’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

BY MAYA ANGELOU Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may write me down in history You may cut me with your eyes,
With your bitter, twisted lies, You may kill me with your hatefulness,
You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like air, I’ll rise.
But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you?
Does my sassiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise?
Why are you beset with gloom? That I dance like I've got diamonds
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells At the meeting of my thighs?
Pumping in my living room. Out of the huts of history’s shame
Just like moons and like suns, I rise
With the certainty of tides, Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
Just like hopes springing high, I rise
Still I'll rise. I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Did you want to see me broken? Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Bowed head and lowered eyes? Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
Shoulders falling down like teardrops, I rise
Weakened by my soulful cries? Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
Does my haughtiness offend you? I rise
Don't you take it awful hard Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I know he must be sorry Because he sent me
I rise flowers today.
I rise
I got flowers today.
It wasn't Mother's Day or any other special day.
Last night, he beat me up again.
I got Flowers today And it was much worse than all other times.
By: Paulette Kelly If I leave him, what will I do?
How will I take care of my kids?
I got flowers today. What about money?
It wasn't my birthday or any other special day. I'm afraid of him and scared to leave.
We had our first argument last night. But I know he must be sorry
He said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me. Because he sent me flowers today.
I know he was sorry and didn't mean the things he
said. I got flowers today.
Because I got flowers today. Today was a very special day.
It was the day of my funeral.
I got flowers today. Last night he finally killed me.
It wasn't our anniversary or any other special day. He beat me to death.
Last night, he threw me into a wall and started to If only I had gathered enough courage and
choke me. strength to leave him,
It seemed like a nightmare. I would not have gotten flowers today.
I couldn't believe it was real.
I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over.

What is a Moralist criticism?

A type of literary criticism that judges the value of the literature based on its moral lessons or ethical
teachings
Determine the worth of literature by seeing if it encourages good out of the reader.
Aspects
1. Literature that Is ethically sound and encourages virtue is praised.
2. Literature that misguides and or corrupts is condemned.

Things to consider:
for moral criticism evaluate the:
*maturity *sincerity *honesty *sensitivity *courage
If the literature seeks corruption or negative influence.
The moral and ethical teachings the author presents.
How does the text play out ethical principles?
Is a practical, moral or philosophical idea being presented?

History of Moral Criticism (360 BC)

The Great Greek Philosopher Plato argued that literature and art had the ability to influence people.
These influences could cause corruption or virtue.
He stated that literature had more value if it could teach the audience something about morals. He
basically wanted to judge literature for how it influenced the reader’s moral compass.

Evolution of Moral Criticism

1. Moral Criticism
2. Post Modern Moral Criticism (Neo-Humanist)
- Ask how the reader is affected, American Philosophy that evaluates morality. Response to
Naturalism and Romanticism.
3. Christian Humanism
- After WWII Neo- Humanism was replaced with the Christian Humanism, same goal but uses
Christian beliefs and teachings or morality as its basis.
 -
One can discover the world through reading. Reading is a way to explore and learn more about
life. The most important thing that a reader learns is the moral value that each story presents.
If you have lost someone and felt freedom for a short time, which one would you choose:
Grieve for the person you love or enjoy the freedom?
Today, you will discover and learn more about life by reading the literary selection of Kate
Chopin’s short story entitled, The Story of an Hour.

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

Kate Chopin (1894)
Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as
gently as possible the news of her husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken
sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half-concealing. Her husband's friend Richard was there, too, near
her.
It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was
received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure
himself of its truth by a second telegram and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in
bearing the sad message.
She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept
its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of
grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.
There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this, she sank, pressed
down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.
She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new
spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares.
The notes of a distant song that someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were
twittering in the eaves.
There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one
above the other in the west facing her window. She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the
chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried
himself to sleep continues to sob in his dreams.
She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.
But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of
blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.
There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not
know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her
through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.
Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was
approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white
slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly
parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of
terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulse beat fast, and the
coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.
She did not stop to ask if it were or was not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted
perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she
saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and
gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong
to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome. There would be no one to
live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.
There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women
believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature. A kind intention or a cruel
intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.
And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often, she had not. What did it matter? What could love, the
unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion that she suddenly recognized as
the strongest impulse of her being?
 "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission.
"Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For
heaven's sake open the door."
"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that
open window.
Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, summer days, and all sorts of
days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she
had thought with a shudder that life might be long.
She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in
her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and
together they descended the stairs. Richard stood waiting for them at the bottom.
Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little
travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the
accident and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at
Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.
When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.

Read each sentence and choose the letter of the correct answer.
1. What is the response of Mrs. Mallard to her husband’s death?
A. joy B. anger C. sorrow
2. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease- of joy that kills." What is the
figure
of speech or literary device used in the last sentence of the story?
A. Hyperbole B. Foreshadowing C. Irony
3. How important is the story’s setting?
A. The setting takes place in a huge house where the protagonist feels trapped.
B. The story is set in a time when women have few rights.
C. The setting does not make any difference in the totality of the story.
4. Why do you think the writer did not mention the first name of Mrs. Mallard?
A. The author thinks that the first name of the protagonist was not important.
B. The author wants to show that Mrs. Mallard’s identity was denied for a long time.
C. The author does not want to recognize the first name of Mrs. Mallard.
5. How would you evaluate the story in a moralistic aspect?
A. Each individual has the right to choose what he/she wants to do and there should be no
limitations
as to what he/she can do.
B. Every person should feel free despite of the challenges encountered in life.
C. No one has the right to be deprived of the freedom that one wishes to have.

Complete the chart by filling out the elements of the Story of an Hour.

ELEMENTS THE STORY OF AN HOUR

1. Plot

2. Theme

3. Mood