Feminism and Books

From time to time over the coming weeks and months, I am planning on reading and sharing my thoughts on several books that relate to the topics of feminism and violence aimed at women. Before I begin to post about these books and the ideas contained in them, I think that it is important to share a little bit about some of my personal biases, options and associations in relation to these topics. As of late my views have become very strong.

I have always considered myself a feminist. Feminism has always been one of the belief systems that I advocated. As with several other social topics, I would have described myself a moderate on the issue.  Over the past year, for various reasons, on various social media, but especially on Twitter, I have strongly spoken in support of causes focusing on the reduction of violence aimed at women as well as upon feminism. Over the past year, my support for feminist ideals, as well as my belief that violence aimed at women is an enormous societal ill that needs more attention, has strengthened.

 

There are two reasons for the increased level of my convictions. First, I have been reading blogs and articles, as well as listening to women, both in my life as well as on social media, concerning these issues. This has convinced me as to the gravity of the issues that women face worldwide as well as the far - reaching benefits of feminism to all of humanity.

Something else has solidified my beliefs and led me to a point where I would now describe myself as an adamant and committed feminist. Something dark has come along with the recent trend of women speaking out strongly on social media  about violence and sexism. I am not unique in observing unrelenting threats, harassment and insults, some of it perpetuated by semi - organized groups, against women who speak about gender issues on social media. This goes well beyond the usual trolling. It is extremely serious. At its worst it involves death, torture and rape threats directed at both notable Internet personalities as well as against less famous people who I know personally. There have also been campaigns of slander, as well as the release of extremely personal information aimed at women who speak about gender issues. Lately, there has been a fair amount of media coverage, especially on the serious American public policy shows and publications on this issue.

Most of what my friends and acquaintances have experienced was not even the result of speaking about feminism, but instead was prompted as a result of protesting the morally unambiguous issues of rape and violence directed at women.

There is a lot more that I have witnessed that has shocked and angered me. It has been really ugly and unrelenting attempt to silence women who express views on these issues.  If anyone is curious for additional details I will be happy to discuss in either in my comments section or through private email.

All this has helped to convince me that misogyny is a much greater problem in the Western world then I ever imagined, and that the ideals embodied by mainstream feminist thought are directly relevant to what is going in in social media.

I bring this up in context of my future posts to highlight that fact that I am not unbiased in this argument. The unrelenting rage that I have observed by a percentage of my fellow men, directed at women who speak on these issues has influenced my opinion in many areas relating to gender issues as well as feminism.

Though I believe that it a extremely important issue, social media harassment of women is certainly not all there is to gender relations, or to the idea set that is feminism. It is but one of many issues and arguably not the most important.  However, my observation of all this has influenced my personal views and has led to an emotional response. I have become downright furious at times. At other times I have lost my objectivity. I am the first to admit that I must be on guard to the fact that my outraged reaction to the harassment may be distorting my view of the big picture. With that said, what I have observed is clearly relevant to the big picture. As such, I felt the need to air this out before I begin commenting upon relevant books and ideas.

I choose to strive for intellectual honesty. That means I will attempt to examine all ideas critically and fairly. I will listen and discuss dissenting views. I intend to be as open minded and civil as I always am. My regular readers know what I mean.

I can and will apply my usual open mindedness to anti–feminist or the ambiguous opinions of others. Feminism is a set if ideas that like any set of ideas, should be open to scrutiny. There are reasoned and civil arguments against feminist ideals. I would even point out that I do not agree with every pro - feminist idea or concept. I will express my disagreement with ideas, including pro – feminist ones, as I see fit in the context of these books.

It is not anti – feminist ideas and opinions that anger me, rather it is the ubiquities and unrelenting harassment of feminists on social media (I must qualify this to say that there are a few extremely odious ideas that I have encountered recently that I have no respect for. For instance, I have run into folks who claim that most women are intellectually inferior to men, that society should accept rape as natural, etc.) . I have had rational discussions with both men and women, who for various reasons are anti – feminists, who are reasoned, respectful and are in no way misogynist. I consider this an intellectual disagreement.

Since I am bandying about the word, I think it is fitting to define what I believe feminism is. In my opinion the term is one of the most misconstrued around. For now, I will start with the basic Miriam - Webster’s definition,

The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.

and

Organized activity in support of women's rights and interests.

The above definition is simple and in accord with my own beliefs. I would go a little further and argue that in order to be a feminist these days also means that one believes that there is still progress to be made in the pursuit of equality.

Some of the thinkers that I will discuss in future posts may have alternate definitions that I hope to explore.

In my opinion feminism has been given a bad name. Feminists have been unfairly stigmatized as all adhering to the most extreme positions. Like most broad based ideologies with a lot of adherents, there are some very controversial feminist thinkers and ideas out there. One does not need to accept all, or any, radical or revolutionary ideas to be a feminist. However, I hope to investigate and weigh in upon some of these controversial ideas in upcoming posts.

I also would like to address the contention that I have heard from some feminists as well as others: that is the opinion that men cannot be feminists. Since I consider feminism to be a set of ideas and ideals, I would argue that anyone who holds such ideas and ideals is a feminist.

I want to mention a couple of books that I have already read and written commentary on.  While not considered a book on feminism, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker, is in my opinion, a profoundly important work that relates to the subject. In this book, Pinker lays out a hardheaded and convincing case for what he believes are five historical forces driving humanity to a more peaceful, prosperous and virtuous future. One of the factors he calls “Feminization”, which is basically the empowerment of women and the increased influence of women on society. My commentary on this work is here.

Christine de Pizan ‘s The Book of The City of Ladies was written in 1405. Christine was amazingly ahead her time in her presentation of what I would call pre - feminist ideals as well as in her identification and criticism of what today we would call stereotyping. I commented upon this book here.

I do think that I will take on some challenging and controversial books. I will be reading authors who have ideas on gender issues that I both agree and disagree with. Thus I anticipate some very interesting posts to come.

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream

A recent reread of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream has prompted me to ponder. I am not going to attempt to encompass the entire play in this post.  For my musings today, I will concentrate on just one part of the work that concerns itself with passionate and intense early love instead.

For those unfamiliar with the work: the part of the play that I am referring to here centers upon two couples. Hermia and Lysander are in love. However, Hermia is ordered by Duke Theseus to marry another man named Demetrius. Complicating matters is the fact that another character, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, who is uninterested in her.

 When the four find themselves in a forest at night, they encounter a group of fairies and elves. Oberon is the King of the Fairies, and Titania is his estranged queen. Puck is a mischievous elf who is a servant of Oberon. The king decides to send Puck to play a nasty trick on Titania by administering a love flower to the queen and pointing her in the direction of a buffoon named Bottom. The clownish Bottom is also in the forest that night rehearsing for a play. Adding insult to injury, Bottom is transformed into a man with the head of a jackass.  

While all of this is going on, Oberon comes across the love-struck Helena for whom he feels sorry. Thus, he sends Puck to apply the love potion to Demetrius in order to enthrall him to Helena.

Chaos ensues, as Puck is prone to make mistakes as to who he should be administering the herb to. Throughout the play, characters become obsessively smitten and un-smitten with one another as a result of Puck’s actions.

I think that it is important to define exactly what kind of love, if it is love at all, that Shakespeare is dealing with here. There are many kinds of love as well as variations within each kind. What Shakespeare seems to be exploring here is the kind of passionate love that comes on fast and burns intensely. Even this fairly insubstantial form of the emotion is complex and is characterized by nuance and exceptions. It often, but not always, strikes the young. It often burns out fast, but sometimes leads to a more substantial, long term and lifetime version of love. One gradient of the emotion may not really be love at all and would be better characterized as intense infatuation mixed with lust.

Shakespeare’s depiction of this type of love seems almost like a mechanical process. The emotion is depicted as if it can actually be turned on and off at the flick of a switch. In the play, Puck flips this switch on and off. When he applies it to the wrong person, it seems to further illustrate the random nature of this intense infatuation. I think that this comedic and dramatic convention can be seen as a reflection of how this emotion really affects people.

The Character of Puck is meaningful and seems to represent all sorts of things. One aspect to him and his tendency to trigger this amorous reaction in various people seems to be a representation of the human tendency to fall into such fickle passions. As the “controller” of the “passion switch,” he seems to reflect an innate nature that manifests itself during the lifetime of many people. This emotion is not something that Shakespeare seems to be portraying as virtuous or desirable. When Puck utters the famous lines,

And the youth, mistook by me,

Pleading for a lover's fee.


Shall we their fond pageant see?

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

He seems to be commenting upon something that he himself symbolizes.

Later, he rhymes, in a very mischievous way, about the changeability that he finds so easy to invoke.

Up and down, up and down,

I will lead them up and down.

I am fear'd in field and town.

Goblin, lead them up and down.  

This changeability seems to reflect the real life experiences of people.

Shakespeare was not the first to observe through poetry and fiction the seemingly arbitrary nature of intense infatuation. Mythology is full of such musings. There are plenty of examples of stories of gods, goddesses and various magical characters casting love spells that cause their recipients to act in all sorts of irrational ways. One thing that makes this a great play is that in his use of language, Shakespeare explores this issue in a way that is unparalleled. The above passages are only two examples among many.

At the play’s conclusion, all seems well. The two young couples are matched and satisfied to be in love and most are wedded to the person that they originally desired.  All are back to their original state except Lysander. He is left with Puck’s spell and is now in love and married to Helena, a girl whose affections he originally spurned.

Shakespeare does not hint whether the couples will end up happy in the long run or not. The only long-term relationship depicted in the play is that of Oberon and Titania, who seem to be locked in a strange relationship characterized by acrimony and power struggles that alternate with periods of true affection.

However the couples end up in the long run, this play is about a lot more then just a fun lark in the forest on a summer night. Indeed, this is perhaps the most enjoyable and fun of Shakespeare’s works. It also has a lot to say about the human condition, and it goes about saying it in a truly sublime way.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Read Along Wrap Up.

Our Jane Eyre read – along has come to end. What an insightful and fun event this was! I feel that, due to the exchange of ideas, I have reached a better understanding of this novel then almost any other piece of fiction that I have read.

I want to thank my co – host, Maria of A Night's Dream of Books for all the hard work that she put into the event as well as for some great insights and discussion of this novel. I also want to thank everyone who participated.

This post contains spoilers.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is the story, told in first person, of the title character. This novel is an impressive and important work of art that shines on many levels.

The narrative begins in Jane’s childhood. Jane is an orphan who is neglected and abused, first by her pernicious relatives, the Reeds, and later in the oppressive institution /school of Lowood.

As she reaches young adulthood, Jane strikes out into the world and comes to be employed as a tutor in Thornfield Hall. Her employer is Edward Rochester. He is a man of strong and dark emotions who sees great depth in Jane and eventually falls in love with her. Jane is also attracted to Rochester’s charms and reciprocates.

Unfortunately for the pair, a wedding day revelation reveals that Rochester is already married. He had a wedded the unfaithful and vindictive Bertha Mason on the island of Jamaica. Shortly thereafter, Rochester’s wife descended into a homicidal madness. She is kept and cared for, locked up in Thornfield Hall.

Though not able to legally marry, Rochester begs Jane to run off with him to the continent and live as man and wife. Though very much in love with Rochester, Jane is unwilling to take this path. She flees alone into the world.

Jane is desperate, penniless and exposed to elements. She nearly dies of exposure. She eventually finds sanctuary and is taken in by young clergyman, St. John Rivers and his two sisters. As time goes by St. John is shown to be a gentle, moral but an extremely puritanical and willful man. He plans to travel to India where he will devote his life to missionary work. He eventually proposes marriage to Jane. Though he does not love her, he admires her strength of character and believes that she will be the perfect missionary wife. Jane also does not love St. John. She realizes that such a life path will be stark, hard and eventually fatal. Thus, she initially refuses the proposal. She is however, increasingly pressured by St. John, whose strong character and sense of purpose is attractive to her. At the moment when she is most tempted to offer herself to him, an extraordinary psychic connection to Rochester manifests itself.

Fleeing St. John, Jane sets off to find Rochester. She finds that Bertha Mason is dead. She was killed in a fire that she set herself. The inferno has blinded and lamed Rochester. Jane and Rochester marry and the novel ends on a mostly optimistic note.

I can write volumes about this work. Please see some of my detailed comments that I made in the weekly read- along posts. I will only talk about one aspect of Jane’s persona below.

Jane’s character is a monumental artistic and aesthetic achievement.  Many people who have read this book have expressed enormous admiration for her. I concur that there is much to admire, however I find that her determination sometimes has a high cost to both herself and to Rochester. Adding to Bronte’s wonderful creation is the fact that Jane’s psyche seems to me, to represent a view of the Universe that is thoughtful and sophisticated.

Jane is a unique literary creation. There are several key components to her makeup. As the book covers a good stretch of her life, the development of her persona is a wonder to read.

First, I think that Jane develops a strong and surprisingly complex worldview or theology. She never actually spells it out, but we observe its development and we are doled out tidbits throughout the course of the narrative.

Unsurprisingly, Christianity is the major component of Jane’s belief system. Her thoughts and actions often reflect Christian ideals such as forgiveness, humility as well as the concept of sin. She does often make reference to, and pray to, a masculine God.

But I think that there is more going on in this novel. At several points she seems to give more credence to nature and a feminine force as a power in the Universe. At a moment of great physical and emotional distress, instead of praying to a Christian God she exclaims,

“I have no relative but the universal mother, Nature: I will seek her breast and ask repose. “

I think Bronte further establishes a mixed theology within the confines of these pages as Rochester and Jane refer to one another using such pagan imagery as elf, fairy and sprite. I would contend the psychic connection that reveals itself between Jane and Rochester indicates that these mythical elements are indeed in play in the real world.

Though never spelled out, Jane’s expression of faith seems to be an odd composite of a belief that is mostly Christian, but that embodies a kind of Feminine nature worship. I am not arguing that if Jane were asked what her views were that she would articulate that she believed in anything other then Christianity. Instead I think that, as I describe above, there is vague unexpressed undercurrent, both within her psyche, as well as within the Universe that governs the book, that there is also something else about. Something older, more feminine and more tied to nature, then the Christian God.

Jane has what I would describe as an extremely strict and unwavering moral code that she never wavers from. This is tied to an enormous sense of self worth and dignity that comprises her core. During her childhood she bravely and defiantly takes her abusers to task for their actions and even gets them to occasionally back down.

Whatever form Jane’s belief in God takes, it is combined with this strong faith and belief in herself that translates into a monumental Will. This Will, and how it formed is one of the cornerstones of this work. It makes her larger then life and a wondrous literary creation.

Jane’s powerful personality and determination is best exhibited when she chooses to leave Rochester. The two are love and came within a hair’s breath of marrying. When it is revealed that Rochester is married, but married in a mostly nominal way, he gives her what seems like a viable alternative to run away with him. Though she is temped to do so, she concludes that this choice violates her own morals and dignity. She makes an alternate choice that causes both Rochester and herself, terrible suffering. This choice seems to really illustrate the incredibly powerful force of will that Jane possesses.

I must point out that I am oversimplifying in order to illustrate my point. Jane’s character is so very complicated and nuanced. We see her during a broad swath of her life, which makes her even more multifaceted. For instance, despite her strength of conviction she sometimes allows herself to be temporarily dominated and even consumed by strong personalities. She experiences this at various points with both Rochester and St John. At one point she makes an observation that speaks volumes about this contradiction.

“I know no medium: I never in my life have known any medium in my dealings with positive, hard characters, antagonistic to my own, between absolute submission and determined revolt.   I have always faithfully observed the one, up to the very moment of bursting, sometimes with volcanic vehemence, into the other;”

Yet in the end, Jane never follows a path set out by another and never compromises. This may sound admirable, but as I pointed out above, the calculus of her choices does not really take in to account her own well being or the harm that she does to others. I am not writing this in judgment, rather in admiration of Bronte’s complex achievement. Finally, as we discussed during the read – along, if one accepts an interpretation that at the ending of the book, Rochester has lost his dark side, a key component of his powerful persona, then one can argue that Jane’s will has overpowered the one personality that seemed a match for her.

There is a lot more going on in this book. I have only commented here about one of its many interesting points. Many aspects I have barley mentioned. Even Jane’s personality has many more angles that I have not touched upon. The writing style is brilliant in a highly stylized gothic sort of way.  Rochester’s character would lend itself to volumes of analysis in itself. The book has a strong but complex feminist message. For the brilliant literary creation that is Jane Eyre the character, and also for the additional above reasons, Jane Eyre the book, is a brilliant literary achievement.