Hand Outs for 21st Century Literature

I. FEMINISM APPROACH IN READING

Feminist criticism or feminism, examines the role of women in literature. It looks into how the
female character may be empowered or discriminated against. Feminist criticism has, in many
ways, followed what some theorists call the waves of feminism:
1. The first comprised women's suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries,
promoting women's right to vote. Notable women in this period include writer Mary
Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792), activists like Susan B.
Anthony and Victoria Woodhull.
2. The second wave, the women's liberation movement, began in the 1960s and
campaigned for legal and social equality for women. Writers like Simone de Beauvoir
(Le Deuxième Sexe, 1949) and Elaine Showalter established the groundwork for the
dissemination of feminist theories dove-tailed with the American Civil Rights
movement.
3. In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality
and diversity. The term third wave is credited to Rebecca Walker.
4. The fourth wave, from around 2012, used social media to combat sexual harassment,
violence against women and rape culture; it is best known for the Me Too Movement.

Feminism literary criticism may use any of the following methods:

• interpreting the way that women characters are described in novels, stories, plays,
biographies, and histories, especially if the author is male
• decoding how the readers own gender influences the reading and interpretation of a
text.
• unravelling how women autobiographers and biographers of women treat their subjects,
and how women are treated as secondary to the main subject
• describing relationships between the literary text and ideas about power, sexuality, and
gender
• critiquing of patriarchal or woman-marginalizing language, such as a "universal" use of
the masculine pronouns "he" and "him"
• noticing and unpacking differences in how men and women write: a style, for instance,
where women use more reflexive language and men use more direct language
(example: "she let herself in" versus "he opened the door")
• reclaiming women writers who are little known or have been marginalized or
undervalued, sometimes referred to as expanding or criticizing the canon—the usual list
of "important" authors and works (e.g. include raising up the contributions of early
playwright AphraBehn and showing how she was treated differently than male writers
from her own time forward, and the retrieval of Zora Neale Hurston's writing by Alice
Walker.)
• reclaiming the "female voice" as a valuable contribution to literature, even if formerly
marginalized or ignored
 • analyzing multiple works in a genre as an overview of a feminist approach to that genre:
for example, science fiction or detective fiction
• analyzing multiple works by a single author (often female)
• examining how relationships between men and women and those assuming male and
female roles are depicted in the text, including power relations
• examining the text to find ways in which patriarchy is resisted or could have been
resisted

II. TIPS IN USING FEMINISM CRITICISM IN READING

Here are some tips in analyzing some of the feminism issues which are represented in a given
literary sample, with attention on the female characters and the roles they played. The
following aspects should be given attention when examining and analyzing the work. They are
as follows:
• Get to know the characters. The characters background, work, sexuality, childhood,
and outlook on life should be taken into consideration in order for you to draw
conclusion.
• Get to know their roles in the literary text. Determine the specific role the main
female character in the text.
• Determine their relationship with each other. Explore the relationship of the lead
female character with other characters, particularly with the male counterpart in the text.
• Evaluate their characters. Assess the characters’ attitudes and determine their
strengths and weaknesses.
• Time to write. Organize all the information you gathered and use them as the basis in
writing your analysis.
EXAMPLE OF FEMINISM APPROACH IN LITERATURE

Below is a sample format in writing an analysis using the feminism approach.

I. Introduction
A. What is the title of the literary work?
B. What is it about? (1-2 sentences only)
C. Who is the author?
D. What is your main thesis statement or the main idea of your analysis?
II. Body
A. Who is the lead female character? Describe her background, childhood, sexuality, work,
and outlook on the world?
B. What is the setting of the sample literary piece? How is the relationship between men and
women portrayed? Is it typical for that time or not? Why or Why not? C. How do the men
interact with women? Women with men?
D. What roles/work/responsibilities do characters of either gender have?
E. What is considered socially acceptable behavior for each gender?
F. Is there evidence of characters being fundamentally shaped by gender expectations?
G. Do the men and women use language differently?
III. Conclusion
A. How do you restate your main thesis statement?
B. What is the possible solution to the women issue/s presented?
 C. What is your challenge to the readers in relation to the issue/s?

As you can see from the format above, feminism critics are focused on the efforts to change
that include fighting against gender stereotypes and establishing educational, professional,
and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women that are equal to those for men.

Study the given analysis of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin which uses the feminism
approach, and then reflect on the questions that follow.

In "The Story of an Hour" we are told that the protagonist suffers from a heart condition and she was carefully
informed of her husband Brently's death. In the course of an hour we see the protagonist named
Louise as a weak person become into a stronger woman. She contemplates her newly found
independence and is delighted over thought of being free. This surprising reaction reflects the feeling women had
in the late 19th century had towards marriage. Through this, Chopin voices that marriage meant men had total
control over women. The women were not allowed to have their own identity, thoughts or purpose.

In Louise's case, her husband’s death frees her from the restraint of marriage. Her once forbidden pleasure of
independence will no longer hold her back. For just an hour, Louise experiences and praises her freedom that is

no longer chained to her husband's control. As she looks out the window we realize how marriage made her into
someone who did not have an identity. She has lived a life that has given her limitations that she was only her
husband's wife and nothing more. She believed for a brief moment that she no longer have a man that will
"[bend her] in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will
upon a fellow-creature." This demonstrates that
patriarchal ideology that was the norm in the late 19th century.

Louise was an example of an average housewife who was not allowed her own identity and freedom. I believe Kate
had connection with the story and the main character. When Louise felt a brief moment of
sadness of her husband’s death and then have it replaced with happiness, this reveals how truly Kate felt when

she heard the news of her husband’s death. Kate felt restrained in her marriage, even though she truly loved her
husband, she was not happy. Even though, "The Story of an Hour" is a fiction story, it speaks loud about the life
of women in the late 19th century.

Reflect on these questions in writing an analysis using the feminism approach (No need to
answer these questions on paper).

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS:
1. How did the introduction begin?
2. How did the body develop?
3. How was the setting introduced in the body?
4. How were the characters presented in the body?
5. What content/s comprised the body?
6. How did the analysis end?