Women and Literature

Women and Literature

A lot has been said, both by women and about women, for a very long time: women's power and mystery, their beauty (or lack thereof) and the inflated importance of it, the ties that bind them to good men, the lies that bind them to bad men, their close bonds with other women, the miraculous joy and fulfillment of becoming a mother, and that all-encompassing power and elegance that all women throughout history have shared.

Many women over the age of fifty still feel the reverberations of the revolutionary and controversial message of books like The Female Embodiment, written by Germaine Greer in 1970. The ladies of the moment were forced beyond whatever safe space they may have occupied due to the in-your-face impact of this work's fascinating and provocative nature. In some cases, the mothers took to the message and inspired their daughters to do the same. Anti-feminists claimed that Greer hated men and was bitter because of it. Some women's rights activists claimed that she pandered to men and blamed women for the sexual dysfunctions of society.

Back in the day, many women answered the call to freedom and independence.In those days, we used the term "women's liberation" to describe this movement. However, we are just entering 2006, with a long road still ahead for women. Women still need to keep going until they reach the point where they can rest easy knowing their efforts have been acknowledged and their basic necessities met a point where their worth as individuals is determined only by their own standards.

In modern times, when the women's liberation movement has been demobilized essentially altogether, being a woman is more challenging than ever before. Women are once again working 12-hour shifts in their jobs and at home as a result of the government's cuts to social services and the general decline in wages and working conditions. The Whole Woman, Greer's most recent book, documents this shift and vehemently counters the argument advanced by certain feminists that women have already attained their liberation. She claims that "fake equality" puts women in perilous positions. 

As a form of political correctness, the rhetoric of equality is being utilized to cover up the abuse that women are subjected to. We did not have a problem with teenage girls self-harming or going on eating binges when The Female Experience was written. In a global system that produces billions of losers for every handful of winners, silent women suffer unimaginable anguish on all sides. Feel the wrath once more; the moment has come. Whether or not you agree with the message, books like these will help us track and evaluate our development.

Literature has quite naturally been men's and women's most poignant outlet to express love, joy, desire, dreams, and disappointments because of the weight and depth of our human relationships and because it celebrates the sparkling but scary dance that men and women, whether wickedly or heartfeltly, engage in every day of our lives.

Over the ages, authors of both sexes have provided us with guides, telling us how to avoid pitfalls and how to transform obstacles into opportunities. However, men also compose absolutely brilliant treatises devoted to women, and they often do so with tremendous sensitivity and comprehension of their subject. Many poets and writers, then, have been instrumental in bringing about positive changes for women's society, while others have contributed to its decline, sometimes unintentionally. Still others have written lyrical poetry and novels that unabashedly celebrate women, elevating them to the status of goddesses and queens who dominate all. They have crafted for our ravenous minds and souls, as if in awe of our femininity, women figures who, like birds in flight, are fluid, enchanting, flash-dancing bolts of warm liquid lightning whose mere existence makes man's world go 'round.

Literature serves as a reflection of our culture. It's brutally honest and spot-on. Poetry, prose, nonfiction, and fiction all offer in-depth looks at women and their journeys, at where they are and where they need to go in the grand scheme of things. Women are mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, life partners, and so much more, and the profound impact they have on the people in their lives and the world at large is evidence of a power far greater than their own. In literature, we can find a synthesis of the mundane and the fantastic.

Every day, thousands of women around the world defy the odds, rise above their situations, and inspire others with their art, their love, and their determination. Everything that happened is documented in written form. The poetry and stories of women and those who admire them are resonant with the essence of women, proving that bravery, strength, perseverance, and vision can and do alter laws, frighten the hell out of the powers that be, provide children with positive role models, and improve the world.

Explore the worlds created by authors past and present, let poetry into your heart, and tell your own stories. Simply putting our thoughts down on paper can be the only way we are ever heard.