Literary Perspective - Women in Rebellion
October/13/2016 11:11 AM Filed: Literary Perspectives
Credit: E. Hess
(Wikimedia Commons)
Women in Rebellion
As the women’s movement progressed from gaining the right to vote to acquiring freedom to pursue a career, reactions to equal status have not always been positive. Stereotypical problems include difficulty in combining a job and motherhood, fear of losing femininity, and desire to cling to indoctrinated roles.
Strangely, a woman sometimes rebels against patriarchal authority by rejecting independence rather than accepting it. Every decade she fights new battles and acquires political ground, while a traditional archenemy yanks her back.
In feminist literature, a patriarch can be any man—a minister, a father, a husband—even men in general. Although the device may be overdone, this technique is effectively used to address sensitive gender issues. In fiction, as in life, women can be their own worst enemies by not communicating, leading to lack of courage and assertiveness.