By Taylor, Julia, and Tommy

 The Feminist literary critique is a way of looking at the impact of gender on a text.  This approach does not focus solely on one gender, but looks at what a text has to say about gender in general and gender differences.  There are three different sub-categories of the feminist approach:  “Humanist feminists” argue that humanity is equal and gender is irrelevant in a text.  “Essentialist feminists” argue that men and women are different, but one gender is not superior to another.  “Social constructionist feminists” argue that gender development is not inherent, but depends on social constructs.

 Feminist literary criticism became more prominent in western literature in the 1970’s and has developed and diversified from a global perspective since the 1980’s.  This approach is used to study gender issues and each gender’s role in society based on a text.  The Feminist approach addresses three things when reading:  Question representations of genders others have made.  Recover works that have been ignored and undervalued because readers have lacked the proper reading strategies.  Celebrate texts that challenge traditional representations of gender.

 Women have been generally underrepresented in traditional literature, and a feminist approach to literature addresses this problem.

 The Feminist literary criticism is often misunderstood as anti-male.  Can turn a work of literature into a political battlefield.  This approach is often viewed at theoretical.

 This poem contrasts the traditional view of the matriarchal figure. Instead of a supportive and strong person the woman in this poem has given up on life and the beauty of it. “My mother would not give the time of day…I’ve had it with living, in the days to come, in the years to come” (Ravikovitch).  The woman in the poem spends eight years waiting to die rather than being active in life. The poem paints a picture that shows a different perspective on gender, putting women in an opposite position then the one they are normally in.  In looking at this text, a feminist would celebrate it because it goes against gender norms.

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