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Tom Robbins: a Man Doing Feminism Through His Fiction

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Tom Robbins: a Man Doing Feminism Through His Fiction 1. Introduction This thesis, entitled “Tom Robbins: A Man Doing Feminism through His Fiction” 1, explores the novels written by Tom Robbins and focuses on their feminist aspects. Strikingly, even though Robbins is a male author, his novels are abounding with feminist ideas. Nevertheless, there is some disagreement among feminists as to whether Robbins should or should not be considered a feminist author. One of the objectives of this thesis, therefore, is to provide sufficient evidence, by means of analyzing three of his novels, to prove that Tom Robbins indeed is a feminist author. Due to the fact that the story of his second novel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues 2, centers around feminist movement and its related isssues, I will demur at Robbins’s connection to contemporary feminist movement. Thus, at the beginning of the thesis, I explore the feminist debates of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. For the purpose of this thesis, the period of the turn of the decades is significant for two reasons: it marks the re-emergence of feminist movement which, at that time, became a cultural and political phenomenon. The other reason for which I focus on such a narrow period of time lies in the fact that Robbins started to publish his novels in 1971 and the feminist debates of the day clearly had an impact on and are reflected in the story of Cowgirls , published in 1976, the most feminist of Robbins’s novels. Apparently, it was the feminist debates of that period which provided food for thought for the young author and influenced him in such a way that he himself became profeminist. Moreover, Robbins, by focusing in his 1 The title of this thesis was inspired by Men Doing Feminism (1998) 2 Further on, I am going to refer to this novel as Cowgirls 1 fiction on feminists and their objectives clearly became a part of the movement by the means of contributing to feminist debates. Robbins’s ideas, though, are not always in keeping with those of female feminists; especially the radical feminists. Therefore, in the second chapter, I explore what might be termed “Robbins’s feminism”. This is done in a thorough analysis of two Robbins’s novels, Another Roadside Attraction 3 (1971) and Still Life with Woodpecker 4 (1980), which were, respectively, the novels immediately preceeding and following Cowgirls . It is, thus, in the second chapter where the actual analysis of Robbins’s fiction begins. It is focused on the way Robbins treats and depicts his female characters. In this way, I prove that even though Tom Robbins distances himself from feminist movement, his writing, nonetheless, steps out of line when it comes to the depiction of female characters, whom he pictures as strong and independent women. In this way, I show that the accusations of some feminists concerning Robbins’s supposed antifeminism or even sexism are unjustified. The purpose of the analysis of Roadside Attraction and Woodpecker is to prepare ground for the actual analysis of Cowgirls , which is the subject of the third chapter. As all of the profeminist themes surfacing in the two already discussed novels recur in Cowgirls as well, these will be ommited in this particular chapter and the novel’s most significant themes will be dealt with: the struggles of its particular female characters who represent the early 1970’s feminists – each of them struggling in her own way for her woman’s rights in the patriarchal society. Looking at their attitudes, I compare and contrast liberal and radical feminisms. Then, I focus on the feminist position of the novel’s protagonist who represents what I call “the feminist at 3 Further on, I am going to refer to this novel as Roadside Attraction 4 Further on, I am going to refer to this novel as Woodpecker 2 heart”, and I compare her attitude to those of the representatives of “organized” feminism. Finally, I point at the resolution to the issue of “organized vs. instinctive feminism” which follows from the previous analyses of Cowgirls and toward which Robbins has been heading from the beginning of the novel. 2. Feminisms in the Late 1960’s and Early 1970’s as Compared to Tom Robbins’s Feminism Tom Robbins published his first two novels, Roadside Attraction and Cowgirls , in 1971 and 1976 respectively. Clearly, the feminist ideas Tom Robbins incorporated in these novels derive and draw from his personal insights in the feminist debates of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Feminine principles and archetypes have continued to be among the dominant themes of all of the novels he has published ever since. Still, Roadside Attraction and Cowgirls in particular document the era in which they were written, as feminism became a cultural and political phenomenon in the late 1960’s. As defined by The Routledge Dictionary of Feminism and Postfeminism , the period of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s falls into what is referred to as the Second Wave feminism. At the turn of the 1960’s, feminist movement re-emerged, after a period of decades during which it had been on the wane, and started a new phase. This time, though, the feminist movement gained unusual strength and popularity with the young generation – it is important to keep in mind that one of this generation’s members was Tom Robbins himself. In order to distinguish the objectives of contemporary feminists from those of the feminist pioneers from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these were labeled as Second Wave feminists. This broad term encompasses a range of opinions which are not always congruous (Gamble 310). 3 There are, however, two prominent branches of feminism which were defined at the basis of their distinctive beliefs: liberal and radical feminisms. 2.1 The Second Wave Feminism: Radical vs. Liberal The difference between these two extreme branches of feminism must be explored, at least briefly, due to the fact that Robbins’s novel Cowgirls , as will be examined in detail later in this thesis, revolves around the tension between radical and liberal feminists. At this point, the feminist theories will not be applied to Robbins’s texts yet. Radical feminists became, due to their extreme opinions, the most visible section within this generation’s feminist movement. Since radical feminism presents an opposition and contrast to liberal feminism, these two branches of feminism must be examined concurrently. The core of the difference between liberal and radical feminist branches, according to The Routledge Dictionary of Feminism and Postfeminism , lies in the fact that while “liberal feminists work towards an egalitarian society, which would uphold the right of each individual to fulfill their potential” (Gamble 264) and are trying to ensure for “women [to have] the same status and opportunities as men” (Gamble 264), radicals go much further. They believe that, “male power is at the root of the social construction of gender” (Gamble 302). Gender, furthermore, “as a biological as well as cultural concept, is viewed as a constraint especially for women” (Gamble 302). Moreover, radical feminists claim that the system of gender construction must be “eradicated, not only at a legal and political level, but at a social and social and cultural level too” (Gamble 302). Many radical feminists go as far as to declare a war against men and society (Gamble 302). Broadly speaking, these are the differences between the objectives of liberal and 4 radical feminists. For the purpose of the feminist analysis of Cowgirls , it is necessary to be aware of the fact that radical feminism builds on the critique of liberal feminists’s aims which radicals consider to be restricted to fighting for egalitarian society. In Thinking about Women , Margaret L. Andersen suggests that “radical perspectives in feminist theory stem from a critique of liberal thought as too bound by the status quo [in society]” (342). Therefore, radical feminism is best described by contrasting it to the liberal wing of feminism. As Andersen puts it, “[w]hereas the liberal framework emphasizes learned gender roles and the denial of opportunities as the primary causes of women’s oppression” (310), the radical perspective, in Andersen’s words, “attempt[s] to explain how gender develops and persists as a social, economic, and political category. The radical analysis goes beyond the goal of including women in existing societal institutions by arguing that dominant institutions are organized through gender” (310). Even though the notions of liberal and radical feminisms cannot be seen in black and white whatsoever, the basic distinction drawn in this subchapter will, nonetheless, serve as the ground for the feminist analysis of Cowgirls , as Robbins chose to depict the tensions resulting from the opposing ideologies of the two wings – liberal and radical feminism – in his second novel. With regard to the fact that Tom Robbins is a male author, it is, at this point, desirable to look at the position of men within women’s movement and answer the question whether men can actually do feminism. 2.2 Men and Feminist Movement It is obvious that feminists have always been mostly women and these have been concerned with women’s issues and the way of solving the problems women have had to face in the society dominated by men. But what about men and their 5 representation in the feminist movement? During the period discussed in this thesis, men started to feel the urge either to participate in the feminist movement or, at least, to offer their sympathetic and profeminist views proving thus that not all men consider the patriarchal system and its oppression of women to be correct.
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