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Socialist Feminist Criticism

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Socialist Feminist Criticism: You Dropped the Bomb on Me, Baby

Feminism and gender studies have been described as having the ability to "challenge literary and culture theory to confront the difficult task of assimilating the findings of an expanding sphere of inquiry" (Contemporary Literary Criticism 567). This area of study has taken center stage during the last fifty years, not only in our society, but also in literary criticism. Although the terrain Feminism traverses can hardly be narrowed down to one single definition, the exploration of the genre can, at times, be the most intriguing feature of the criticism itself. While feminism has undoubtedly changed the way women and gender roles are considered in society today, it has …show more content…

This definition of feminism situates sex and gender alongside the subjects of focus of the Marxist theory, even going as far as to intertwine the two. While I, myself, have been trying to determine how much I agree with the points that each individual theory makes, I have found that Socialist Feminist Criticism has had the greatest impact on my writing, reading, and understanding of the world.

It has been noted that "in literature the languages of class, race, and gender are fused." This, throughout history, and in our society specifically, is true. Every role that is developed in literature is "not natural or self-evident but… is always articulated within a system or relationships… predicated upon exclusions of gender, race, and class" (CLC 592). Every character is described within a system of a culture that is based on stereotypes, specific gender roles, and societal issues. Cora Kaplan makes her most significant point when she suggests that "We must redefine the psyche as a structure, not as a content, so that we can move toward a fuller understanding of how social divisions and the inscription of gender are mutually secured and given meaning. Through that analysis we can work towards change" (Kaplan 609). An understanding of the issues that Socialist Feminist criticism tackles can help a reader determine why the literature they are

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