Tis pity she's a whore-feminist reading

Feminism comprises various theories and movements, aiming to address gender inequality and promote women's rights. It delves into social constructions of gender and sexuality, examining power dynamics and themes like patriarchy and oppression. Despite criticism for its Western academia association, feminism tackles culturally relevant issues worldwide, from female circumcision in Sudan to universal concerns like rape. Feminist activism targets reproductive rights, domestic violence prevention, and workplace equality. Campaigns advocate for family medical leave, equal pay, and combatting sexual harassment and discrimination, striving for social justice and fairness for all genders. The word FEMINISM was first coined in 1837 by French philosopher, Charles Fourier. Introduction: Feminism, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. Although largely originating in the West, feminism is manifested worldwide and is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved for men. In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to own property, to study, or to participate in public life. At the end of the 19th century in France, they were still compelled to cover their heads in public, and, in parts of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife. Even as late as the early 20th century, women could neither vote nor hold elective office in Europe and in most of the United States. Women were prevented from conducting business without a male representative, be it father, brother, husband, legal agent, oreven son. Married women could not exercise control over their own children without the permission of their husbands. Moreover, women had little or no access to education and were barred from most professions. In some parts of the world, such restrictions on women continue today.

2015

Feminism has transformed the academic study of literature, fundamentally altering the canon of what is taught and setting new agendas for literary analysis. In this authoritative history of feminist literary criticism, leading scholars chart the development of the practice from the Middle Ages to the present. The first section of the book explores protofeminist thought from the Middle Ages onwards, and analyses the work of pioneers such as Wollstonecraft and Woolf. The second section examines the rise of second-wave feminism and maps its interventions across the twentieth century. A final section examines the impact of postmodernism on feminist thought and practice. This book offers a comprehensive guide to the history and development of feminist literary criticism and a lively reassessment of the main issues and authors in the field. It is essential reading for all students and scholars of feminist writing and literary criticism.

Journal of feminist scholarship, 2011

A type of literary criticism that became a dominant force in Western Literary studies in the late 1970 ‟ s, feminist theory more broadly conceived was applied to linguistic and literary matters. Since the early 1980 ‟ s, feminist literary criticism has developed and diversified in a number of ways and is now characterized by a global perspectives. It is nonetheless important to understand differences among the interests and assumptions of French, British and North America,(United States and Canada), feminist critics writing during the 1970 „ s, and early 1980 „ s, given the context to which their works shaped the evolution of contemporary feminist critical discourse.

1986

® the British women's movementamong others in western Europe-is now giving more serious consideration to 'entering tlie main-stream' and making more formal interventions in politics. There are indications-in Norway and West Germany, for example-that this is beginning to produce results. J•u ~hull fuu if' U c\11"''1 l~lll'tliTH\

When she was nineteen or so, Charlotte Brontë (1810-1855), who was already beginning to produces serious imaginative work, sent a sample of her writing to Robert Southey (1774-1843), then the British Poet Laureate, a respected contemporary of COLERIDGE and WORDSWORTH. Southey wrote back, granting Brontë's talent, but stating quite baldly "Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be."