FEMINISM The Church of Philosophy

& Independent Thinkers

By: Mary-Noël Dufton

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 1908-1986

Born: Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand De Beauvoir

Eldest of 2 daughters; Middle Class Family

M.A.s in Literature, Philosophy (Sorbonne), and Mathematics

Among 1st Generation Educated in Elite Universities

that had once been ALL male

9th Woman & Youngest Student ever to pass the

Agrégation in Philosophy to become a

tenured Professor Taught in Marseilles, Rouen, & Paris (1931-1943) Supported herself by her writing from 1943 on Lifelong associate and lover to Jean-Paul Sartre

The Second Sex (1949) Classic Manifesto“Means of understanding the lived experiences of women.”

History shows women reduced to objects for men; women classifiedas the ‘Other.’

Theoretical Basis for Feminism in Europe & North America 1960’s-1970’sShe inaugurated the Social Constructionist Critique of Essentialism that

occupiedfeminist literary theory in 1980’s and 1990’s.

She rejects any notion of a female nature or essence. Founded Les Temps Modernes, a monthly magazine devoted to politics & literature. (1945)She wrote 6 novels, numerous essays, and 6 volumes of autobiography including one on her mother and one on Sartre.

Beauvoir’s argument is that in patriarchal cultures man is the norm and woman the deviation…”a constant state of ‘inauthenticity.’” * “Essence does not precede existence; that is a human being is neither more nor less than the sum total of her or his acts.” * “Economic independence is seen as the cornerstone of women’s liberation, while both the marriage and motherhood are disparaged as inauthentic choices.”

WOMAN MAN

“Immanence” “Transcendence”

• Stagnation * Freedom• Immersion in Nature * Authenticity• Sentiment / Inwardness

I. Myth and Reality (1265)What importance does the myth of woman play in daily life?

= Static: “division” of humanity into 2 classes of individuals (Man & Woman) “We are told not that Femininity is a false entity, but that the women concerned are not feminine.”

“…the relation is a struggle between conscious beings each of whom wishes to be essential, it is the

mutual recognition of free beings who confirm one another’s freedom; she is a subject, a fellow human being.” (1265-66)

Men are astonished as to the difference between man vs. woman just as the “Old Sophists” could not fathom the difference between men having blond hair and those with dark hair.

FEMALE BINARY

“BAD WOMAN” “GUARDIAN ANGEL”

( Undue Influence) ( Overseer of Household)

Praying Mantis Muse / Goddess Mother

Demon Harmony & Rest

“…the man who ‘does not understand’ a woman is happy to substitute an objective resistance for a subjective deficiency of mind; instead of admitting his ignorance, he perceives the presence of a ‘mystery’ outside himself: an alibi, indeed, that flatters laziness and vanity at once.” (1268)

“To say that woman is mystery is to say, not that she is silent, but

that her ‘language’ is not understood; she is there, but hidden

behind veils; she exists beyond these uncertain appearances.”

(1268-69) = Seen as a Sphinx; a riddle; “indefinable.”

“…’sounding her own heart’; …one interpretation will be no

truer than another.” (1269)

“Mystery is never more than ‘a mirage’ that vanishes as we drawnear to look at it.” (1271)

Drawing by Raymond Peynet (1948) =Seduction by mayoress getting ready to officiate his marriage. To hold a ‘man’s position’ and be desirable at the same time.

ADRIENNE RICH Born: 1929

Jewish family in Baltimore Yale

Younger Poets Award at age 22

Graduated Radcliffe College

Guggenheim Fellowship

Married Alfred Conrad, Economist

Raised 3 sons

Taught at Columbia & City College of N.Y. By

mid 1970’s, she was openly Lesbian

Celebrated Poet & Writer Voice

in American Feminism since 1960’s

Explored Women’s oppression & response Her

works link to Butler & Sedgwick

Known for her strength in character,

staunch integrity, & immense talent.

Rich’s argument: “Heterosexuality is not natural but social…” (1589)

= Only opposite sex deemed appropriate= Same sex desire must be denied or indulged in secret= Same-sex bonding viewed as suspicious= Assures access to men= Punishes those who are not heterosexual= Ensures power of men over women

“Women must present themselves as ‘attractive’ according to dominant standards.” {A larger unwritten set of rules}

Rich highlights both how hostile to and threatened by women’s independent action patriarchal society is. The focus on bonds formed outside of sex is primary.

Queer Theory Evolves: “the early bond of the girl baby with her mother;” {different forms & many different behaviors} (1590).

SEXUAL RELATIONS OF POWER WITHIN INSTITUTIONS

LESBIAN EXPERIENCE QUESTIONS OF SEXUAL

IDENTITYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2mADkJBqfY

“The Origin of the Family” {8 Characteristics of Male Power}

1.) Deny Women Their Sexuality

2.) Force Male Sexuality Upon Them

3.) Exploit Their Labor

4.) Control of Their Children

5.) Confine Them at Home

6.) Use as Objects in Transactions

7.) Constrict Creativity

8.) Denial of Access to Knowledge & Culture

SANDRA M. GILBERTBorn: 1936

Born in N.Y. CityM.A. from N.Y.U.Ph.D. Columbia in English Literature7 Books of Poetry

SUSAN GUBARBorn: 1944

Born in N.Y. City

Ph.D. University of Iowa (1972)

Still Teaches at Indiana U.

They both met in 1973 while at Indiana University. They team-taught. Jointly named “Ms. Magazines ‘Woman of the Year’”

The Madwoman in the Attic develops the notion that women writers can be understood as a group.

Isolation that felt like ‘illness’… 18th & 19th Century women writers alienation that felt like ‘madness’… wielded their pens in defiance attempting

(1924) to steal a right extended only to men.

SLOGAN: The secret sisterhood of

role models who show that women

can write.

“The woman who speaks out is branded ‘an active monster’; the woman whoremains silent risks madness.” (1924)

“DISEASE” or “DIS – EASE”{Conditions from Feeling Ill at Ease}

• Anorexia * Claustrophobia

• Agoraphobia * Retinal Disease

• Aphasia “eyes put out” (Dickinson)

• Amnesia {Oedipus}

ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS:

“Don’t you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There’s one marked ‘Brightness,’ but it doesn’t work.” – Gallagher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPNL_fdlsG0

“But I like taking apart motorcycles.” - Happy from Scorpios on CBS

{Episode from 10/20/2014}

Works Cited

De Beauvoir, Simone. “The Second Sex.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1265-1273. Print.

Gilbert, Sandra M. & Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer & the 19th Century Literary Imagination.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1926- 1938. Print.

Rich, Adrienne. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1591-1596. Print.

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