Revealing feminism through female characters in Kate Chopin`s selected short stories - USD Repository
REVEALING FEMINISM THROUGH FEMALE
CHARACTERS IN KATE CHOPIN’S SELECTED SHORT
STORIES
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
DWI EKASARI ARIYANI
Student Number : 024214077
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
2007
Lov e is under st anding.
Lov e does not judge or condemn.
Lov e list ens and under st ands.
Lov e car es and sympat hises.
Lov e accept s and f or giv es.
Lov e know s no bar r ier s.
(Visuddhacar a)
For
My belov ed Par ent s
My Baby Sist er and Br ot her
My Big Big Br ot her
and All My Best Fr iends w her ev er They ar e
May God Bless all
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to praise and thank God for helping me passing this one very important chapter of my life. With His guidance and love this thesis was finally completed.
Secondly I want to send millions of thanks and gratitude to my beloved Mother and Father. I am extremely blessed of having such wonderful parents who always stand behind me to support me every time I needed them. I want also to thank my sweet baby sister Lya who always gives me laughter, my handsome baby brother Riff, and my dearest big brother Dedy.
I would also like to give enormous appreciation to my advisor Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A. and my co-advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. for their time and understanding in helping me finishing my thesis. Huge thanks also for my best friends Lissa, Novita, Yurince, Bonar, and Supri who always be the brightest light in my darkest days. I also thank my beloved closest friends who color my days: Na, Teax, Citrud Acid, Tegoy, Mbak Pichachu, Adek, Echo, Evoy, Shella, Parjo, Kuncup, Citra, and all “Right You Are If You Think You Are” crews. May God always be with you.
Dwi Ekasari Ariyani
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ......................................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE .................................................................................... iii MOTTO PAGE ................................................................................................ iv DEDICATION PAGE...................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................. vii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................... ix ABSTRAK ....................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1
A. Background of the Study ............................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ..................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study .................................................................. 5 D. Definition of Terms........................................................................ 5CHAPTER II THEORITICAL REVIEW................................................... 7
A. Review of Related Studies ............................................................. 7 B. Review of Related Theories........................................................... 101. Theories on Character and Characterization............................ 10
2. Theories on Plot ....................................................................... 13
3. Theories on Feminism.............................................................. 14
4. Theories on Feminist Attitude ................................................. 23
C. The Review on the Social Condition in Nineteenth Century in America Especially the Convention of Marriage and Motherhood.................................................................................... 24
D. Theoretical Framework .................................................................. 29
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY .............................................................. 31
A. Object of the Study ........................................................................ 31 B. Approach of the Study ................................................................... 33 C. Method of the Study....................................................................... 35CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 37
A. The Position of the Female Characters in Kate Chopin’s Short Stories “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse” in Their Familiesand in the Society........................................................................... 37
B. The Oppression Faced by The Female Characters in Their Families and Society ...................................................................... 48
C. The Female Characters’ Attitude toward the Oppression.............. 58
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ...................................................................... 63
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 66
APPENDICES ................................................................................................ 69
Appendix 1 The Summary of “The Story of an Hour” ........................ 69 Appendix 2 The Summary of “The Storm” ......................................... 69 Appendix 3 The Summary of “A Pair of Silk Stockings” ................... 70 Appendix 4 The Summary of “Athénaïse” .......................................... 70
ABSTRACT
DWI EKASARI ARIYANI (2006). Revealing Feminism through Female
Characters in Kate Chopin’s Short Stories. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.This thesis is a study of feminism seen from Kate Chopin’s short stories “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse”. Chopin was a well known female writer whose works stressed on feminist issues. She was said by Toth to be “a pioneer of her time.” Interested in Chopin’s works along with her desire to learn about feminism more, the writer chose this topic.
This study is to find out how the female characters in Chopin’s short stories were positioned in their families and in the society. Its aim is also to study how they were oppressed in their families and in the society. This study is also to learn how their attitude toward the oppression.
The method of this study is library research. The primary and secondary sources are Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, “Athénaïse”, and some theories on character, plot, and feminism. A review on the social condition in nineteenth century in America especially the convention of marriage and womanhood is also gathered to enrich the writer’s knowledge in order to analyze her topic.
From the analysis, the writer found out that the female characters in Chopin’s short stories who represented the women in the nineteenth century have been positioned inferior, submissive, dependent, and domestic in their families and in the society. In their families, they have been oppressed by their marriage and motherhood. In the society, they have been oppressed by the social stereotypes that women were dependent to men and by the lack of equal rights and educational opportunities. The writer also found out that the female characters have showed their rebellion toward the oppression. They rebelled through their feelings that they were unhappy and oppressed with their marriage, their beliefs that marriage should not oppress women, and their actions of rebelling which were different one another.
ABSTRAK
DWI EKASARI ARIYANI (2006). Revealing Feminism through Female
Characters in Kate Chopin’s Short Stories. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra, Unib\versitas Sanata Dharma.Skripsi ini adalah studi feminisme yang dilihat dari cerita pendek Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse”. Chopin adalah seorang pengarang wanita terkenal yang karya- karyanya menitik-beratkan pada isu-isu feminisme. Toth mengatakan bahwa Chopin adalah “pelopor eranya.” Penulis memilih topic ini karena tertarik pada karya Chopin dan karena penulis ingin lebih mempelajari feminisme.
Studi ini bertujuan untuk mencari tahu bagaimana karakter-karakter perempuan di cerita pendek Chopin diposisikan di keluarga mereka and di masyarakat. Tujuan lain studi ini juga untuk melihat bagaimana mereka ditindas di keluarga mereka dan di masyarakat. Tujuan lain dari studi ini juga untuk mempelajari bagaimana sikap mereka terhadap tindasan tersebut.
Metode studi ini adalah penelitian pustaka. Data utama dan sekunder adalah cerita-cerita pendek Chopin “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, “Athénaïse”, dan beberapa teori tentang karakter, plot, dan feminisme. Gambaran tentang kondisi sosial pada abad sembilan belas di Amerika terutama pada adat pernikahan dan keibuan juga dikumpulkan untuk memperkaya pandangan penulis dalam menganalisa topiknya.
Dari analisa, penulis mendapati bahwa karakter-karakter perempuan di cerita-cerita pendek Chopin yang mewakili wanita-wanita pada abad sembilan belas telah diposisikan dengan status yang lebih rendah, patuh, bergantung dan domestik di keluarga mereka dan di masyarakat. Di keluarga mereka, mereka ditindas oleh pernikahan dan keibuan mereka. Di masyarakat, mereka ditindas oleh stereotype sosial bahwa wanita bergantung pada pria dan oleh kurangnya persamaan hak dan kesempatan yang sama untuk memperoleh pendidikan. Penulis juga mendapati bahwa karakter-karakter perempuan ini telah menunjukkan pemberontakan mereka terhadap penindasan yang mereka alami. Mereka memberontak melalui perasaan mereka yang tidak bahagia dan merasa tertindas oleh pernikahan mereka, melalui kepercayaan mereka bahwa pernikahan seharusnya tidak menindas wanita, dan melalui tindakan pemberontakan mereka yang berbeda satu sama lain.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study There are many definitions about literature and its functions, depending on
the point of view used. Expressive theories believe that literature is a product of the authors’ perceptions, thoughts, and feeling (Abrams, 1975:22). Meanwhile, pragmatic theories believe that literature is made on a purpose, which is to achieve certain effects in an audience or reader. Literature imitates only as a means to the proximate end of pleasing, and pleases, it turns out, only as a means to the ultimate end of teaching (Abrams, 1975:14).
Sunaryono Basuki Koesnosoebroto says in The Anatomy of Prose Fiction that literature has its roots in one of the most basic human desires, i.e., the desire for pleasure. Literature exists to please us by imitating life, or more precisely, by displaying its writers’ vision of life as it is or as the writers think it should be.
However enjoyment alone is not sufficient without understanding (1988:1-2).
We are brought by the writers to the enjoyment as well as understanding while we are reading literature. This understanding, according to Graham Little in
Approach to Literature: An Introduction to Critical Study of Content and Method
in Writing , is also an expression of reality (1981:90). According to Little, when
we read literary works, we see reality as what the writers see.
Reading Kate Chopin’s works, which are mostly in the form of short stories, we can see a reflection of reality of the lives of the women in her era, or wants to say. “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse” are Chopin’s short stories which may reflect what she saw in her society, a reality about how women were oppressed by their families and society, how they reacted toward it and rebelled against it.
In writing her works, Chopin wants to bring her readers into an awareness that women are living in pressure. However not only that, she also wants to show that women are not weaker than men, and that women must struggle to reach equality.
Hans P. Guth and Gabriel L. Rico in Discovering Literature say in their review on Chopin that Chopin, in her novel and other fiction, dealt with topics that were to become major themes of feminist literature: a woman’s right to rebel against a stifling marriage, to reject the traditional idea that a woman should “sacrifice herself for her children,” and to have the same freedom to fulfill her emotional and sexual needs that men were taking for granted (1997:396).
In “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse”, Mrs. Mallard, Calixta, Mrs. Sommers, and Athénaïse are the female protagonists and the central characters in the stories who are suffering for their status as a woman, a wife and a mother. They are all burdened by their status as women, their marital status, and their duties as a mother who is labored by their household task responsibilities. They all represent women in general who are discriminated by the society constructed by the male domination.
Women from past until today have been suffering for their status as a woman. Women are constructed by the society to be inferior, weak, passive, certain lack of qualities, we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness.” And St Thomas pronounced woman to be an ‘imperfect man’, an ‘incidental’ being (Humm, 1992:47).
Women are poor creatures with bodies full of weaknesses. Women are more difficult to grow muscle that they do not have the same physical strength as men. Women have uterus as that is why women undergo menstruation, which cause them to be more emotional. Because of the uterus also, women carry the child and give birth. Having the breast, women feed and take care of the child. De Beauvoir says “Women are the victims of maternity and menstruation.” Women are conditioned to master the domestic area as men are conditioned to master the world outside the house, the world of achievements. Women have the responsibilities of taking care of the house and the children, while men produce the food and other needs. Women have been trapped inside their houses, out of the world of achievement, money and power.
Humm says that Socialist and Marxism feminism see family as the institution which has constructed the oppression and gender difference to women, and which has transformed women to be the tools of reproduction for the society. Family, according to Humm, is “a miniature political economy with its own division of labor (1990:68).”
In writing such issues on women, Kate Chopin was harshly criticized by her readers and critics, both men and women. Bad reviews were given to criticize her works. Her works had to be banned for publishing because Chopin’s works were considered to be too open on sexual details as in The Storm. Not until seven decades later, when feminism is spread, were her works appreciated by her readers and resulting her fame as one of those who dare to expose women issues.
The writer believes that the topic of feminism is still important to discuss, as the dream has not been achieved fully. Feminism is also the fight for human rights for equality, similar to slavery. Women have been slaved for hundreds of years by the society. Women have their rights to be equal to men. The other reasons are also because the works of Kate Chopin are worth discussing and Kate Chopin herself is said to be was “a pioneer of her time, in her portrayal of women’s desires and independence and control of their own.” Many of Chopin’s works have received many attention and appreciation. Her figure as the life support for her children as her husband passed away by writing and her bravery to write such a controversial issues which caused her into harsh criticisms and ban are admirable.
B. Problem Formulation
In analyzing her topic, the writer formulates some questions to help her in discussing Chopin’s short stories. They are:
1. How are the female characters positioned in their families and in the society? 2.
How are the female characters oppressed in their families and society?
3. What attitudes do the female characters have which show the result of the oppression they face?
C. Objective
The objectives of this study are to understand how the female characters oppressed in their families and society, and to see what attitudes they have which show the result of the oppression they face.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding, the writer provides some definitions on character, female, family, attitude and feminism. A character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story (Kennedy and Gioia, 1998:60). Female is a term reserved in feminist theory for the purely biological aspect of sexual difference with ‘feminine’ as the term for the social construction of women (Humm, 1990:71-72). Kate Millet, in Humm’s The Dictionary of Feminist
, describes family as a patriarchal unit within a patriarchal whole –
Theory
mediating between the individual and the social structure (1990:68). Attitude is “the manner of acting, feeling, or thinking that show one’s dispositions or
th
opinion” stated in Webster’s 20 Century Dictionary. Albert J. Lott states in “Social Psychology” that attitude is “a tendency or disposition to evaluate an object or symbol of that object in a certain way” (1973:921). He stated that attitude structure is being composed into three components; affective or emotional component which refers to the feelings of good or bad, cognitive component which is viewed as the information, knowledge and beliefs and behavioral or action component which described the response preposition associated with attitude. Feminism, according to Terry, can be described as a belief and a commitment to equal rights and opportunities for women (1989:139). Humm in says feminism has only working definition
The Dictionary of Feminist Theory
since it is a dynamic, constantly changing ideology with many aspects including the personal, political and the philosophical. Feminism is a call to action. Without action, feminism is merely an empty rhetoric that canals itself out (1990:140).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW In this chapter, the writer gives review of related studies and review of
related theories. They are given to support the writer’s idea in analyzing her topic and also to give more information and back-ups so that the writer would not be misleading in her analysis. The review of related studies is the review on Chopin’s works, especially her short stories “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse”, along with the review on the author, Kate Chopin. Most of them are taken from the internet. In the review of related theories, the writer provides theories on character and characterization, theories on plot, theories on symbol, and theories on feminism. They are taken from books on literature. These theories help the writer in studying and analyzing her topic.
A. Review of Related Studies
Chopin’s most works are short stories. Many researchers have discussed her short stories, such as “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, and “Athénaïse”. Most of them discussed her writings in their roles of expressing women issues.
Hans P. Guth and Gabriel L. Rico in Discovering Literature say in their review on Chopin that Chopin, in her novel and other fiction, dealt with topics that were to become major themes of feminist literature, “a woman’s right to rebel against a stifling marriage, to reject the traditional idea that a woman should “sacrifice herself for her children,” and to have the same freedom to fulfill her
Jonny Goodyear in his essay “Kill Husband: Comparing Marge Piercy and Kate Chopin” written on September 11, 2005, analyzes Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” by comparing it with Marge Piercy’s poem, "What's that smell in the
Kitchen? ” Both works, according to Goodyear, reflect marital unhappiness,
specifically, unhappy wives. Mrs. Mallard in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, according to Goodyear, is not self-aware of it during her marriage. Goodyear connects the heart problem Mrs. Mallard’s suffering as the cause of her none understanding of why she feels bad. He says, “Mrs. Mallard fears the realization that she is unhappy in her marriage, and she fights it. It is possible that she is afraid of fee” (2005:2). In contrast, the wives in Piercy's poem have a hey are American wives who are dissatisfied by their role as housewife. The husbands used to pay attention to the wives and make them feel , which makes them angry. The wives also are dissatisfied with their lives because they are strictly confined to the with the tedium of endless household tasks” (2005:2).
Another researcher wrote in “Kate Chopin Gives a Woman’s Voice to that both Chopin’s works “The Storm” and “A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Realism”
are about a woman’s responsibilities to her family, her community, and herself and the need to be independent (2004:4).
Linda J. Byrd wrote in her essay “Maternal Influence and Children in
Kate Chopin’s Short Fiction “ that the care of children can be not only a great joy
but also a great limitation on a woman’s freedom in “A Pair of Silk Stockings”
Martha J. Cutter's in her essay “Gender Roles in Kate Chopin's Short Stories: An Annotated Bibliography” says;
Kate Chopin's short stories often include male and female gender roles that are sometimes challenged by the female characters in the stories. Most of her short stories, including "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour," show females that undergo a transformation from weak and dependent on their husbands to stronger, more independent women. Desiree from "Desiree's Baby" and Louise Mallard from "The Story of an Hour" are examples of women changing throughout the story. Kate Chopin's short fiction also often incorporated "resistance to patriarchal discourse," as discussed in essay (1994:17-24). To discuss on a work of art, we cannot separate it from its author. Chopin is a very interesting female author to discuss as she was “a pioneer of her time, in her portrayal of women’s desires and independence and control of their own,” says Emily Toth. Her believe to speak up for the sake of women’s rights to get freedom in her writings was criticized harshly by the critics and readers of her time. Some sources even say that as the consequences of her openness in exploring sexual desires of her female characters, especially in The Storm and The
Awakening , her works were given bad reviews and were banned from publication.
Not until seven decades, when feminist writings were appreciated, that her works were spread and received as master piece (Deter, 2006:4-5).
During her lifetime, from 1850 until 1904, women did not have the right to would not be well-received, and indeed, Chopin's short stories were frequently rejected for publication because they were deemed ).
All the review of related studies on Chopin’s short stories above are to support the writer’s idea that all Chopin’s works are about women who are unhappy because of the oppression they have to face as the consequences as being a woman, housewife and mother. Their desires to be independent crash with the fact that they have children and husbands to take care of. Being a woman, they are forced to live away from the life of achievement outside the house. Their household tasks and their responsibilities to their husband and children become the causes of the oppression they faced. The writer is different from the earlier researchers above as she discusses how Chopin reveals the idea of feminism through her short stories with the approach of not only feminism in general, but also the approaches of Radical, Marxist, and Liberal Feminism.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories on Character and Characterization
In A Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams defines the term ‘character’ into “the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who is interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional quality that is expressed in what he says -the dialogue- and by what he does –the action” (1981:20).
Forster, in Aspects of the Novel, introduces two kinds of characters; flat and round characters. A flat character is also called a type or ‘two dimensional’.
Forster says that this type of character is built around ‘a single idea or quality’ and is presented without much individualizing detail. With this condition, therefore it is enough to describe flat character into a single phrase or sentence only. Different from flat character, a round character is complex in temperament and motivation.
It is represented with subtle particularity. With this condition, it is difficult to describe this type of character in a phrase or sentence. Like most people in general, their characters sometimes are unpredictable: therefore they are capable to make the readers surprise (Abrams, 1981:20).
Perrine differentiates fictional characters into static and dynamic characters. Static characters are characters that do not undergo any specific changes either in their outlooks, attitudes, or personalities during the course of the story. They remain stable from the beginning until the end of the story. They are described without much detail and they are not changed by circumstances. In another hand, developing or dynamic characters are characters who undergo changes in some aspects of their characters, personalities, or outlooks from the beginning to the end of the story. The change could be for better or for the worse.
It can be a large or small change, but whatever the change is, it becomes something important and basic (1971:21).
Characters in a story are different from one another because they have certain personalities and ‘physical attributes’ that distinguish them. The process used by the author to create characters is called characterization (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971:20). In Understanding Unseen, Murphy defines nine methods of characterization; they are: a. Personal description
It is author’s description of a person’s apprearances and clothes. Here, the author describes the character in details. b. Characters as seen by another Besides describing a character directly, the author can describe his of her character through other’s perspective and opinion. Through this, the readers may get a reflected image.
c. Speech The author gives a description of character through what the person says. The author presents some clues to character whenever he states his or her opinion.
d. Past Life The author gives the readers some keys or clues to any event that have helped to shape a person’s character, so that we can learn something about the character’s past life. This can be done by some ways, such as direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts, his or her conversation, or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others Through other people’s conversation and the things that they say about someone, the author can also give us clues to someone’s character. Usually, people talk about people, and the things that they say give us a clue to the character of the person spoken about.
f. Reaction Someone’s character can also be observed by knowing how he or she reacts to various situations and events that are presented by the author. g. Direct Comment The author can describe or give comment on someone’s character directly. By giving comments explicitly, the readers will understand what kind of person he or she is.
h. Thoughts The readers are able to find out someone’s character through the direct knowledge of what a person has in mind presented by the author. Here, the readers have a privileged position to come to the in most thoughts of a person in a story. i. Mannerism
At last, the readers are able to know someone’s character by observing his or her mannerism and habits presented by the author in the story (1972:161-173).
The nine methods above are ways that the author leads the readers to understand characters in the story. Usually, an author does not use one of these methods exclusively, but generally blends them skillfully.
2. Theories on Plot
Based on Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, plot is “the sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed” (Perrine, 1956:43). It consists of cause and effect relationship. There is a linked event that may include not only physical occurrence like in speech or action, but also a character’s change of attitude, a flash of insight and decision (Stanton, 1965:14). The plot is arranged to make the readers become more interested in the story. The linked series of events arouse their curiosity on what will happen next. The readers will be persuaded to read until the end, and thus, they will find the resolution for the conflicts. The plot has kept the readers’ interest.
Baldick divides plot into three categories, such as the beginning, middle, and ending (1990:171). In the plot of a story, conflict has become an important element (Stanton, 1965:16). The conflicts come from two sides, inside and outside the characters. The internal conflicts happens when they are conflicting ideas within the characters, while the external conflict appears when there is different action or idea between the characters themselves or between the characters and their environment such as society, culture, and the physical appearance of place, or even between the environments themselves. Thus, “the conflict may be physical, mental, emotional, or moral” (Perrine, 1965:44).
3. Theories on Feminism
Feminism as many other studies is very complex. This study has developed through time as well as through the development of women movement.
The women movement emerged during the 1800s. Judith Hole and Ellen Levine say in their essay The First Feminists that feminism emerged in the “time of geographic expansion, industrial development, growth of social reform movements, and a general intellectual ferment with a philosophical emphasis on individual freedom, the “rights of man,” and universal education.” According to Jo Freeman, although sometime during the 1920s, feminism died in the United States, in the early 1960s, feminism slowly awoke from the dead (1979: 543).
These two eras are called First Wave and Second Wave by Maggie Humm in her book, Feminisms: A Reader. According to Humm, both eras are different to each other.
In broad terms, twentieth-century feminists choose one of the two positions: largely, first wave feminism (which might be said to end with Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) centres on debates about materialism, about women’s individual and collective social and political interests and self-determination. In second wave feminism the arguments are concerned with materiality – moral solidarities created by feminist standpoints and identities based on differences which include women’s material, psychic and affiliative strengths.
Feminism can be divided into four, such as Liberal Feminism, Marxist Feminism, Radical Feminism, and Socialist Feminism. Liberal Feminism, according to Humm in The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, believes that the roots of women’s oppression are caused by the lack of equal rights and educational opportunities for women. Humm says that “Liberal feminism argues for individual fulfillment free from the structures of highly defined sex roles” (1990:119).
Radical Feminism, as Humm states in The Dictionary of Feminist , focuses “on the root of male domination and claims that all forms of
Theory
oppression are extensions of male supremacy” (Humm, 1990:155). Radical Feminism, unlike Liberal Feminism, believes that the women’s oppression is not only economic but also psychological. Humm states that “Focusing upon consciousness and culture on the one hand and the unconscious on the other, radical feminists analyse the psychic, sexual and ideological structures which differentiate the sexes in relation to the lived inequalities of gender” (Humm, 1990:184).
Marxist Feminism refuses the “biology” idea as the basic gender differentiation, where a husband is described the bourgeois class and a woman the oppressed class. Marxist feminism focuses on the destruction of capitalism as a way to liberate women and states that capitalism, which gives rise to economic dependence, is the root of women’s oppression. Marxist Feminists recognize that women are oppressed, and attribute the oppression to the capitalist or private property system. Because of that, they insist that the only way to end the oppression is to overthrow the capitalist system (Engel, 1845).
Socialist Feminism, stated by Humm, believes that women are second- class citizen in patriarchal capitalism which depends for its survival on the exploitation of working people, and on the special exploitation of women. We need to transform not only the ownership of the means of production, but also the total economic system of capitalism (Humm, 1990:213).
As stated above, the writer will discuss the thesis with the theories of Radical and Liberal Feminism as the writer believes that women were oppressed because of the lack of equal rights and educational opportunities which caused them to economically dependent, and that the oppression of women was not only economical, but also psychological. The approaches may differ or against each other, but the writer emphasizes on gathering the theories to find a broader explanation.
To discuss about women, the writer feels that it should be divided into three parts, such as women and their position in society, women and marriage, and women and motherhood, in order to make it easier. a.
Women and Their Position in Society In many part of the world, from past to present, women have been disadvantaged by her being a female. Their status in all aspects of life is conditioned lower than men by the society. They are constructed since they are born that they are dependent, passive, and weak. Simone de Beauvoir quotes Aristotle and St Thomas in her book The Second Sex,
‘The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities,’ said Aristotle; ‘we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness.’ And St Thomas for his part pronounced woman to be an ‘imperfect man’, an ‘incidental’ being (1992:47).
In the same parts de Beauvoir also quotes Benda’s opinion written in her : “Man can think of himself without woman. She cannot think of
Rapport d’Uriel
herself without man” (1992:47). She gives an opinion of her own to conclude the others’, that woman is simply than what man decrees; thus she is called ‘the sex’, by which is meant that she appears essentially to the male as a sexual being. For him she is sex-absolute sex, no less. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute-she is the Other (de Beauvoir, 1992:47).
These are not caused by simply a year or two process of time, but instead this social construction has happened for hundreds of years. Women for ages have been constructed to believe and accept it. Susan Martin said in her essay “Sexual
harassment: The Link between gender stratification, sexuality, and women’s
” that our society has consumed the sex-role norms for ages. economic statusPeople learn the cultural norms for attitudes and behaviors appropriate to their sex. They learn how to think and act as men or as women. These sex-role norms which they learn are not only different, but also reflect sexual inequality. Martin said, “Women are not born weak, passive, dependent, and receptive to male initiation; they are socially conditioned to develop these inequalities. Similarly, men learn that they are expected to be strong, dominant, independent, aggressive, and the initiators of sexual interaction” (Women, 1979:61).
Ashley Montagu mentions in The Natural Superiority of Women that women have been conditioned to believe that they are inferior to men, and it seems that people’s thought and belief about this condition is acceptable and naturally true (1953:23).
…women’s place is in the home…women should not meddle in men’s affairs’ (1953:23-24) Fakih stated in his book Gender Analysis and Social Transformation that the existence of stereotypes in the society, especially those who keep tightly the patriarchal values, always puts women in disadvantage. Stereotype based on gender differences are usually found in society. In the society, women are considered to be submissive, fragile, sensitive, dependent and emotional while men are aggressive, strong, insensitive, independent, and rational. The stereotype creates the negative impact on women as women are not allowed to participate in larger social life.
These stereotypes, according to Fakih, brought women into marginalization. The marginalization of women is a process of leading women to a marginal position in economic arena. Their roles in economic activities become less significant because of excluding them from the important positions.
Marginalization of women is allowed to exist by the governmental policies, religious, and culture interpretations, social norms and scientific considerations
(Fakih, 1996: 14). This makes the impact on the existence of poverty in society as women who account for great number of society are not allowed to participate in economic activities that make the income. The implication is that their status of social life is lower than men.
The marginalization of women is caused by men as they, according to Engels, have the surplus wealth from the state, social stratification, and control of property (Women, 1979:95). Men can control women because they have monopolized the world of achievements. Women are left with nothingness but duties on household tasks and child care.
b.
Women and Marriage Humm states in The Dictionary of Feminist Theory that marriage is “the institution which traditionally provides women with a social identity” (1990:127).
As a woman is married, she will have the title “Mrs.” followed by her husband’s last name and become the property of her husband. Marxist Feminism argues that marriage is a labor contract in which the husband’s appropriation of unpaid labor for his wife constitutes a domestic mode of production and a patriarchal mode of exploitation (Humm, 1990:127).
Radical feminism, stated in Humm’s The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, says: Marriage is as a form of compulsory heterosexuality whose main aim is to control women’s sexuality by tying her to her husband. This combined with men’s control over women, women’s labor in house work, makes marriage the central source of women’s oppression under patriarchy (1990:128).
Humm also gives some aspects of marriage. First, it is the site where categories of gender are reproduced. Second, it is the site of sexual division of labor and women’s subordination. Third, it is the model for other social institution of sexual norm. Humm also tells that sociologists and historians suggest marriage as “a simple social contract” which is closely related with the reproduction of children (Humm, 1990:128).
Gilman explains that marriage is the only women’s world. Women’s dependency to marriage is caused by women’s dependency to men. The economic structure in the society makes women become consumer but they are not allowed to be involved in economic world. They have to choose marriage because in marriage they can get food, clothes, goods, leisure, etc from their husbands as private servants.
Marriage becomes a symbol of one of the source of women’s oppression. Bressler says that women must reject marriage as their ultimate goal to financially support and dependent to husband. They must also reject the idea that women are mindless, weepy, passive, and helpless that needs a man to rescue them and make their lives meaningful (Bressler, 1994:180).
Marynia Farnham, in her essay The Lost Sex printed in Fairchild’s The
Way of the Woman, states that two of reasons which make American women so
unhappy are because of marriage and women’s responsibilities in marriage.Marriage, one of the cardinal indices of the relation between men and women, is having a terrible time, which may cause unhappiness toward women. Women have to bear a very heavy part of the load of family burdens, so that many of the difficulties reflect on them. These reflections find women in an uncomfortable, unhappy, and certainly unwanted position (1956:27-29).
c.
Women and Motherhood Michele Hoffnung says in her essay Motherhood: Contemporary conflict reprinted in Freeman’s Women that society sets an assumption that
for women
mother and child are a unit which is basic, universal, and psychologically most suited for both the healthy development of the child and the fulfillment of the mother (1979:124). This assumption which is accepted as a motherhood mystique because raising children is useful work which is necessary for the continuation of society, satisfying to human generative impulses, and highly valued has set women into a trap for their important aspects of their lives, such as their productive work, companionate marriage, and economic independence. Women are taken away from the world of achievement, power and money because mothering is done at home (1979:124).
Hoofnung also defines 4 other aspects of motherhood mystique, such as: (1) ultimate fulfillment as a woman is achieved by becoming a mother; (2) the body of work assigned to mothers-caring of child, home, and husband-fits together in a noncontradictory manner; (3) to be a good mother, a woman must like being a mother and all the works that go with it; (4) a woman’s intense, exclusive devotion to mothering is good for her children (1979:128). These mystiques are forced to women to be accepted as true. Since they are young, women have been prepared to be mothers. It is believed that after women have delivered children, they are “real” women (1979:128).
Doing mother-work, women have suffered a great lost. Mother-work done by women with great responsibilities does not give in return material rewards as men’s employment. Mothering together with housekeeping is not considered as productive work; rather it conflicts with work or career. Hence, it limits a woman’s independence, achievement, earnings, and status (1979:128).
Not only mothering caused material costs for women, Hoffnung says, it also caused an internal psychological conflict in women as they decide to obtain individual achievement or to fulfill their feminine responsibility.