Patriarchy Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character Characterization
15 As it can be seen from Offen‘s description, feminism is one of the ways for
women to be advocated in this world. Feminism attempts to create a society where women
are no longer treated differently by men. There are many forms of feminism in this world. Below is a list of different types of feminism which is explained by
Maggie Humm in A R eader’s Guide to Contemporary Feminist Literary Criticism
1994: a. Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminism focuses less on gender and more to the rights of women. Liberal feminists seek for equality for women within the society, such as equality
within workplace concerning wage and equal rights for gaining education. Overall, liberal feminism seeks for equal rights for women sexually and within
gender. b. Radical Feminism
Unlike liberal feminism, radical feminism focuses on fighting against women oppression. Liberal feminists believe that women are oppressed due to
their existence as women. Thus, biology and sex are the primary factors of women oppression.
c. MarxistSocial Feminism Social feminism focuses on broader aspects of lives, which are literature
and class. Marxist feminists believe that literature can represent women‘s oppression and how they are oppressed not only sexually but also socially and
16 economically. Social feminists complete Marxist feminism by giving more details
concerning wom en‘s lives and give more values into them.
d. French Feminism French feminism focuses on literature and the aspect that dominates
literature – language. French feminists and patriarchy does exist within literature,
and it can be seen in the language of literature. For this reason, many who believe in this aspect of feminism attempts to discourse the language within literature,
finding evidence of patriarchy within in. e. Psychoanalytic Feminism
I nspired by Freud‘s theory, psychoanalytic feminism is mainly about re-
lationship within family and hidden desires. Relationship between a mother, a father, and their children is deeply investigated in this Freud-related feminism.
Moreover, psychoanalysis feminists have the tendency to seek out the hidden parts of a personcharacter, such as his implicit desires, his subconscious needs,
and others. They seek out for things that are not explicitly stated, therefore trying to read the lines between a person or a character‘s behavior.
f. Post structuralismdeconstructionpostmodernist Feminism Poststructural feminism sees literature and language as subjects that cannot
be separated from the condition or situation when it was created. Meanwhile deconstruction believes that terms or subjects that are being studied must be
isolated from the rest and delved further in order to understand its concept as a whole, starting from its origin to the reason of its existence. A good example of
deconstruction is the belief that society connects the concept of women gender PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
17 into the common stereotype of women wanting children a culture. By
connecting two different ideas, society tries to define gender, and deconstruction feminists are against such
ideas. Unlike its ―siblings‖ postmodernism is a whole new study of feminism.
Postmodernism tries to study those aspects together without having to unify them into a unified idea. Postmodern feminists believe that diversity is
important, so that ideas can be related with each other without having to individually separate them.
g. Black Feminism Black feminism sprang up around 1974, when black feminists or their
literature works were not mentioned often during that time. This movement started due to the fact that black authors and works were rarely or even hardly
mentioned at all. This movement counterattacks the misunderstood concept of black people by attacking the negative concept of black people and literature
works created during that time. Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, is an example of black feminist.
h. Lesbian Feminism Lesbian feminism started when more women were dissatisfied with the
result of feminist wave. Lesbian feminism believes that the best way to express dissatisfaction towards patriarchal society is by channeling their energies toward
other women, that is starting the relationship between the two women. However, as time passed by, many women encounter such relationship among each other
without having sexual intimacy among them. Female-to-female relationship with PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
18 the absence of sexual relation has become something common, leaving those with
such experience have no place to fit in – they are neither lesbians nor
heterosexuals. For such reason, Rich 1980, p. 648 creates the term ―lesbian
continuum.‖ The term ―lesbian continuum‖ is used for women who are close to each other without the need of having sexual relation between them. This way,
Women who have such experience can fit in with other lesbian feminists. Jill Johnston 1973 also expresses a similar opinion:
―The word lesbian has expanded so much through political definition that is should no longer refer exclusively to a woman simply in a sexual relation to
another woman. The word in fact had pornographic implications as though lesbian was a woman who did nothing but enjoy sex, and implication
employed as a tool of discrimination. The word is now a generic term signifying activism and resistance and the envisioned goal of a woman
committed state‖ p. 278
In conclusion, lesbian-feminism becomes the haven for some who are dissatisfied with results given during first-wave feminism and second-wave
feminism. They channel their feminist ideas to other women, sexually or not. It becomes a form of feminism which focuses on women, by women, and for
women.