FEMINISM AND POETRY:
AN ANALYTICAL RESPONSE TO THE CHOSEN TEXTS
THESIS
It may be argued that the original aim of Feminism was the reclamation of a space of empowerment for women. As time passed, the porosity and fluid nature of the very idea of ‘woman’ came to light. That early conception of ‘womanhood’ has now been undermined as a monolithic construct with limited utility in reflecting the identities of a diversity of modern genders and sexualities and in capturing the heterogeneity of experience across categories of race, religion, economic status, and ideology. The creative freedoms offered by literary pursuits such as poetry allow it to serve as a rich repository and vehicle for the very expressions of heterogeneity that the hegemonic discourse fails to recognise, represent and give voice to.
DISCUSSION IN CONTEXT OF CHOSEN READINGS
Although Mary Wollstonecraft’s (1759 - 1797) ‘A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman’ (1792) is a dated text, its value to us lies in its ability to capture and powerfully communicate, from a contemporary perspective, the struggles and concerns of a nascent Western Feminism (Wollstonecraft and Poston, 1988). It reminds present-day Feminism of its origins. This was a text rooted in a very specific cultural and historical ethos although it claimed to represent the plight of all womanhood.
Wollstonecraft’s particular concerns had to do with a deeply entrenched belief in the ‘inherent’ intellectual and psychological inferiority of women as compared with men. She advocated equal educational and intellectual opportunities for both sexes. These ideas and similar ones occupied first-wave Feminists, particularly those who campaigned for rights and suffrage for women (Heilmann, 2000).
As Postcolonialism offered a new lens for refracting hegemonic ideas espoused by Western scholarship and society, it became clear that the very hierarchies Feminism sought to overthrow had also insidiously become established and entrenched within the ostensibly liberated space offered by a Feminist worldview (Thornham, 1999). Feminism had come to reflect the broader biases and prejudices existing in society such as those determined by racial differences, sexual difference,s and economic disparity. Using the metaphor of ‘colonialism’ to express the appropriation of womanhood as a whole by Western Feminists, Mohanty (1955 - present) makes it easier to appreciate the ‘othering’ and ‘universalisms’ at work (Mohanty, 1988). Yet, she also recognises the label of ‘Western Feminism’ as a similarly problematic construct.
Twenty-first century Feminism no longer concerns itself with women alone. In fact, it questions the very idea of ‘woman’. Today, Feminism extends to every disenfranchised category of humanity that is in need of a voice. In the same breath, it recognises that ‘men’ are no longer the enemy but equally victims of outmoded moralities and power structures. Ideally speaking, then, there is no ‘other’.
Admittedly, this loose and highly broadened purview of the ideology multiplies its complexity manifold, rendering its very identity and aims somewhat diffuse. What this also means is that its voices are in need of a medium that is capable of celebrating this diversity. The Postmodern world embraces diffuse and problematic identities, no longer seeking linearity, rigid categories, and watertight taxonomies. This is expressed in Postmodern art, design, and literature. This brings us to the third reading.
To somewhat modify Audre Lorde’s (1934 - 1992) arguments in ‘Poetry is not a luxury’ (first published in 1977), the cause of Feminism could benefit from adopting as vehicles these genres that have already been ‘liberated’ (Lorde, 1977). She believes that poetry is no longer a luxury for women since it serves as a tool for a very personal form of expression and for being heard. Poetry resonates with a power that dry academic texts or United Nations speeches cannot. From protest slogans to folk songs, poetry has a way of imprinting itself in the consciousness. It has an immediacy and authenticity that, as the author argues, render it capable of serving as “a safe-house for difference” since it can offer “a revelatory distillation of experience” (ibid.). This is precisely because it is born of subjectivity.
Poetry is shorn of the elitism and abstract theorisation that distances Feminist scholars from the very people they claim to represent. It restores agency to these individuals or groups and allows them to speak for themselves. Lorde’s ‘Sister Outsider’ has been credited as a seminal contribution to the formation of Postmodern Feminism. As a black, lesbian woman, poet, Feminist, and civil rights activist, Lorde’s writings do not represent abstract ideas delinked from praxis. Instead, they embody learning from personal experience.
CONCLUSION
The chosen readings each represent concerns arising from very particular, although certainly not mutually exclusive, worldviews. They are each a product of their times. They are products of individual minds shaped by varied cultural, social, political, religious, and ideological determinants. Despite these facts, this essay attempts to point out how these three very different texts speak to each other. The ideas expressed in this essay represent an effort to bring into the conversation and synthesise ideas drawn from all three sources. At their core, all three texts reaffirm the value of self-reflexivity in a world that is constantly undergoing transformation.
REFERENCE LIST
Heilmann, A., 2000. New Woman Fiction: Women Writing First-Wave Feminism. Springer.
Lorde, A. (2007). Sister Outsider. 1st ed. Crossing Press.
Mohanty, C. (1988). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. Feminist Review,, 30, pp.61-88.
Thornham, S., 1999. Postmodernism and feminism (pp. 41-53). The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism. Wollstonecraft, M. and Poston, C. (1988). A vindication of the rights of woman. New York: Norton.
