Feminist Criticism Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson). This school of theory looks at how aspects of our culture are inherently patriarchal (male dominated) and "...this critique strives to expose the explicit and implicit misogyny in male writing about women" (Richter 1346).

Feminist Criticism A type of literary criticism that critiques how females (and males) are commonly represented in texts. It focuses on how femininity is represented as being passive and emotional – the “caregiver,” and masculinity is associated with reason and action – the “doer.” All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary criticism, has as its ultimate goal to change the world by prompting GENDER EQUALITY.

Feminist Criticism Questions How is the relationship between men and women portrayed? What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)? How are male and female roles defined? What constitutes masculinity and femininity? How do characters embody these traits? Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them? What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy? What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy? What does the work say about women's creativity? What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy? What role the work play in terms of women's literary history and literary tradition? (Tyson) Feminist Criticism Questions

Why does it matter?

Privileged people are more likely to be in positions of power – for example, they’re more likely to dominate politics, be economically well-off, have influence over the media, and hold executive positions in companies. Privileged people can use their positions to benefit people like themselves – in other words, other privileged people. In a patriarchal society, women do not have institutional power. In a white supremacist society, people of color don’t have race-based institutional power. And so on. Female privilege does not exist because women don’t have institutional power. Similarly, black privilege, trans privilege, and poor privilege don’t exist because those groups do not have institutional power. Privilege

When we use the word “privilege” in the context of social justice, it means something slightly different to the way it’s used by most people in their everyday environment. Privilege doesn’t mean that your life is easy, but rather that it’s easier than others. It doesn’t mean you didn’t work hard. People think that feminists and social justice activists point out people’s privilege to make them feel guilty. This isn’t the case at all! They want awareness and support in challenging the systems that privilege some people and oppress others. People often look at privilege individually rather than systemically. While individual experiences are important, we have to try to understand privilege in terms of systems and social patterns. We’re looking at the rule, not the exception to the rule. Misconceptions

It’s definitely easier to notice the oppression you personally experience than the privileges you experience since being mistreated is likely to leave a bigger impression on you than being treated fairly. So consider the ways in which you are oppressed: How are you disadvantaged because of the way society treats aspects of your identity? All of these things could make life difficult because society disenfranchises people who fit into those social groups. We call this oppression. But what about the people society doesn’t disenfranchise? What about the people society empowers at the expense of others? We call that privilege. So consider the ways in which you are privileged: How are you advantaged because of the way society treats aspects of your identity? Privilege Activity

There is a “cost” of privilege—and there are strengths that come from identifying as a member of an oppressed group. A man, while having privilege, could feel they need to hide their emotions or “be a man” about it. This is a cost. Similarly, a woman, a member of a historically oppressed group, could feel a sense of empowerment because of the social acceptance of expressing their emotions. This is a strength. However, these examples not reverse sexism/racism/etc.—which doesn’t exist…I’ll explain. Women can’t be sexist. POC can’t be racist. LGBT can’t be heterophobic. They can be prejudice (which is obviously not a good thing!)—but “isms” reflect systematic oppression. Get it? Cost of Privilege

Feminist Criticism—is concerned with " Feminist Criticism—is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women. Marxist Criticism—is concerned with class differences, economic and otherwise, as well as the implications and complications of the capitalist system…Marxists critics are also interested in how the lower or working classes are oppressed - in everyday life and in literature. Post-Colonial Criticism—is concerned with literature produced by colonial powers (historically white) and works produced by those who were/are colonized (historically non-white/POC). Post-colonial theory looks at issues of power, economics, politics, religion, and culture and how these elements work in relation to colonial dominion (western colonizers controlling the colonized). Moving forward