Third wave feminist analysis : An approach to the exploration of discourses of femininity. LILADHAR, Janine. Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20746/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Please visit http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20746/ and http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html for further details about copyright and re-use permissions. SHS-^/cU) H4ULAM m mmm « i HSPRELDSfta? REFERENCE ProQuest Number: 10702845 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 C a i y^ALLAM b'A /n ^ ^ ^ y pS,ALTEB L A ^ Third Wave Feminist Analysis • • An Approach to the Exploration of Discourses of Femininity 4 Janine Liladhar A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment o f the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (March 2001) To Nathaniel and Fabian without whom this would have been written much Acknowledgements Throughout the writing of this thesis a number of people have supported me emotionally and in practical ways, whilst others have helped me to develop my ideas. For such reasons, and many others, my thanks go to Sara Mills; Evelyn Kerslake; Merja Makinen; Mary Peace; my students; David, Annette and Jo Beaumont; and Kesh Liladhar. Janine Liladhar Thesis submitted for degree of Doctor of Philosophy Third Wave Feminist Analysis: An approach to the exploration of discourses of femininity ABSTRACT This thesis suggests that whilst feminist theory has been, and remains, a significant political influence which has contributed to wholesale legislative and social changes, the climate in which this theory circulates is now markedly different from that of the 1960s, when Second Wave Feminism began. Consequently, a new form of feminist theory is developing, which attempts to respond to an increasingly more complex situation, without losing sight of the many important elements of the earlier work. This thesis is situated within this movement and I term the approach it takes Third Wave Feminist Analysis. Third Wave Feminism seeks to challenge sexism and to explore notions of femininity as they are manifested in texts, looking for both the restrictions these seek to impose on women and for the potential these offer for liberatory ways of behaving and being. As this reference to texts might suggest, Third Wave Feminist Analysis is primarily a form of literary criticism. However, it does not only draw on work from that discipline. Instead, it employs ideas and approaches used by feminists working in other fields, in order to formulate a more comprehensive analysis than was generally found in earlier feminist literary criticism. Moreover, the thesis is not limited to an exploration of only literary texts but also explores other cultural forms. This diversity is important because constructions of knowledge and subjectivity are enabled by all types of representations. Thus, interdisciplinarity moves analysis on from a straightforward identification of the ’facts' of literary cultures to an exploration of cultural identities, a step which is assisted by Third Wave Feminist Analysis’s insistence on the importance of extra-textual features, including the analyst's own background knowledge of the society in which the texts being explored are produced and interpreted. The object of this emphasis on the cultural and the societal is a more equitable world; in other words, I am claiming that Third Wave Feminist Analysis aids feminist praxis. As part of this attempt, Third Wave Feminist Analysis attempts to interrogate the ways in which femininity is defined in the case studies explored. In this thesis three texts in circulation in the 1990s are examined: Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres (1992); The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope (1991); and the TV Soap Opera archetype, the Soap Queen. As part of this examination, femininity is understood as one of a number of inter-connecting discourses which not only reflect but shape gender. Thus, discourses disseminate social and institutionalised values and also create them, influencing people's behaviours and attitudes, although individuals do have the potential to resist or challenge this influence. A recurrent discursive theme in the three case studies explored here is the association of femininity with the 'private' or domestic realm of home and family. In many ways, this association is rooted in an outdated notion of femininity; the Victorian concept of the feminine domestic ideal. To this extent, this thesis argues that its case studies are implicated in the promulgation of anachronistic discourses. However, all three texts also subvert this ideal in a number of ways and the ways in which this subversion occurs are also explored. Third Wave Feminist Analysis: An exploration of the discourses of femininity Contents Pages Introduction 1-13 Part I: Third Wave Feminist Analysis Chapter l:The Theoretical Background to Third Wave Feminist Analysis 14-43 Chapter 2: Defining Third Wave Feminist Analysis 44-69 Chapter 3: Discourses and the Body 70-103 Chapter 4: Discourses of the Public and Private Spheres 104-128 Part II: Third Wave Feminist Analysis in Practice Chapter 5: Case Study One:A Thousand Acres 129-151 Chapter 6: Case Study Two:The Rector's Wife 152-175 Chapter 7: Case Study Three: The Soap Queen 176-197 Chapter 8: Conclusions 198-207 Bibliography 208-227 Introduction The Aims of and Context for Third Wave Feminist Analysis This thesis will suggest that whilst feminist theory has been, and remains, a significant political influence which has contributed to wholesale legislative and social changes, the climate in which this theory circulates is now markedly different from that of the 1960s, when Second Wave Feminism began. Consequently, a new form of feminist theory is developing, one which attempts to respond to an increasingly more complex situation. Some of these complexities have arisen as a response to feminism's advances. For example, attempts to formulate an inclusive politics, which also retains an awareness of differences between women and groups of women has proved to be both demanding on feminist scholars and productive of much exciting and dynamic work. This thesis, in outlining a form of Third Wave critique, strives to emulate the best elements of this relatively recent work. However, other changes to the contemporary climate are less welcome. One of the reasons why feminist theory is constantly needing to adapt is that, just as it makes advances and certain forms of overt sexism become unacceptable in a number of situations, so other, more subtle forms, of sexism continue to circulate, whilst new types of less overt sexism also come into circulation. Third Wave feminism seeks to challenge all forms of sexism, now matter how subtle or difficult to confront. Thus, my main aim is to formulate a type of feminist analysis which can incorporate the strengths of earlier feminist theorising, whilst developing it to better suit an ever changing context. Additionally, I aim to explore notions of femininity as they are manifested in a specific range of texts. I look for both the restrictions these seek to impose on women and the potential they hold to offer liberatory ways of behaving and being. As this reference to texts might suggest, Third Wave Feminist Analysis is primarily a form of literary criticism. Feminist literary criticism has made a significant impact on the academy and the publishing industry. Yet, feminist literary criticism is a relatively new form of scholarship. It was not until the 1970s that feminist criticism - began to constitute a body of study with its own distinct identity, with the publication of 1 works by such scholars as Kate Millett (1970) and Elaine Showaiter (1977). However, the genesis of this body of work did not ensure it immediate influence, nor even recognition, since, in its early days, feminist criticism was not only, "beyond the border of the traditional academy" but also "invisible" (Humm, 1998: 195). Yet, although feminist criticism did not achieve immediate acceptance into the academy, it is now well established, as is evidenced by, for example, the fact that feminist literary theory, "has become part of the core curriculum in the majority of institutions of Higher Education"(Mills and Pearce, 1996: 1). However, although feminist literary criticism has been influential in shaping and changing what is meant by literary criticism, so that it now incorporates a, "remarkable diversity of theories, methods, and concepts", some feminist literary criticism has, perhaps, been less flexible than the broader discipline has proved to be in many ways (Abrams, 1984: v). This more rigid work is characterised by a backward looking approach, which relies almost exclusively on earlier feminist scholarship, without making a rigorous critical engagement with many of its limitations (for example, see Goodman, 1996). Whilst the earlier work has been of significant influence and its importance should not be underestimated, many elements of this work need to be refined or even rejected in order to give it a contemporary relevance and, thus, it is not enough for new scholarship to simply rely on the earlier material.