FEMINIST CRITICISM

An Annotated Bibliography
by Roza puspita/186332026

Feminist criticism is a critic focuses on the role of women (or gender) in a literary text. This
criticism derived from the woman movement in 1960s. The movement realized the significance of
the images of women promulgated by literature. Women started to question and cricticize their
images potrayal in the work of literature and they emphasized how the role of a men and women
constructed by the society. The representation of women in literature based on Toril Moi’s
explanation is divided into three terms categories; “feminist”, “female”, and “feminine,” the first is 'a
political position', the second 'a matter of biology', and the third 'a set of culturally defined
characteristics'. Seeing the important of literature in shaping woman in the society which mostly
constructed by a man, woman is portrayed in the work of literature as usually inferior, passive,
obedient to man, and take care of domestic thing. In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman
is other: she is marginalized, defined only by her difference from male norms and values, which
means defined by what she (allegedly) lacks and men (allegedly) have. Seeing this bias on defining a
woman in the society arise a representation of woman critics the literature by making criticism
toward the text. Feminist criticism can be seen in two different types in literature; the first type is
concerned woman as the feminist critique. It means woman as a reader of male literature product.
Second type is “gynocritics” which is concerned with woman as the writer where woman as the
producer of the textual meaning with the history, themes genres and structure of literature by
woman.

Feminist criticisms succeed in giving insight on how the role of man and woman is not
naturally determined but socially constructed by society. As literature is the mirror of the society,
feminists’ criticism proves that actually how woman is portrayed in literary work is actually also how
woman is portrayed in real life. The reader can see how the patriarchal society marginalizes women
in real life by having standards which believed to be natural for women to do. Basically the feminist
movement brings social changes in term of the way of the society treat woman nowadays. This
theory has also bad influence toward the society; it can be also understood as woman against man.
Woman not only wants to get the equality as a man but woman wants to defeat a man. Later on the
text that produces by the female writer can be seen as racist propaganda o make woman defeat or
against man.

As annual invited adjudicator for debating competition which is arranged by the

government, I often got this issue to be debated in the competition. As an adjudicator I saw that
many of the students didn’t yet understand about feminism and abut woman movement and how it
could be effected toward woman position in the society, how this theory can arise woman status as
equally as a man in the society. Having knowledge about this make me realize that actually there are
many aspect that can be explored in order to explained woman movement to be elaborated in my
fellow debater argument. By learning about this aspect or theory then I can teach my fellow debater
o my students in this aspect so then they can build a good argumentation about feminism and how
they should counter other people argument about this.

Bibliography
Barry, Peter. (2002). Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester
and New York: Manchester University Press