During the first five weeks of this class I was able to get an
answer for the question that I have been posing for this class since day one:
Can feminism and romance truly exist? Through all of the readings I was able to
finally have a moment of realization. For a while I had thought that reading
romances was a woman’s form of expressing her subconscious need for a man, and
thus, she couldn’t truly be a feminist. However, this class really brought to
my attention that romance, and even feminism, don’t hinder feminism, but may
even help it. In the article written by Moran in which the author, who isn’t
very feminine or girlie, becomes very feminine and obtains an eye for fashion
so that she could see what it is like to be like all the other women, I was
able to observe a feminists perspective of the whole issue. Moran concluded
that although femininity was never her stronghold, and can be seen as the
antagonist to feminism, it can actually be considered as a form of feminism
within itself. The simple fact that a woman is taking care of herself and cares
about how she looks actually has an effect on how all the other people may view
her.
An example of this would be the show “Ugly Betty”. Within “Ugly
Betty”, Betty first starts to work for a high end fashion magazine in very
unfashionable clothing; however, people would never take her written articles
because of their perception of her based on her clothes. However, when she
comes back with an all-new makeover, she garners a lot more respect from her
peers because of the clean-cut professional she finally looks like. Her
knowledge and writing skills have never really changed, but the way people perceive
her and her work did, thus, she was finally able to get recognition for the
work she has always been working on.
Secondly, not only have I been questioning femininity, but I
also have been questioning the effect that romance may have on a feminist.
Although I have been thinking about this since the first day of class I feel
like I finally got a response once I did my survey for the feminist wave
project we were supposed to do. At first I believed that feminism and romance
could not coexist if feminism were to be successful, but once I began to think
about and draw on various examples from women in real life and fiction I found
that they can truly coexist and work together.
For example, Jane Eyre from ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte,
is a very strong headed and independent woman that could easily be
characterized as a feminist. Her willingness to adapt to her surroundings so
that she survives, or her ability to get a job and support herself, because her
aunt was not very nice are clear examples of her independence as a feminist.
However, she does eventually fall for Mr.Rochester, which she was at first very
reluctant to do, due to the loss of independence. She later realizes that
although she will always be the strong, independent woman, she will eventually
fall in love, which is definitely not a bad thing.
To conclude, it is perfectly normal for romance, femininity
and feminism to co-exist peacefully. As long as women aren’t hardcore romantics
or radical feminists, there is a way to reach a balance between the two
opposites.
Dear Michal,
ReplyDeleteThis class started with the question: Can there be a happily ever after?
In other words, can feminism and the romance coexist? In your blog pot, you attested, with the example of Jane Eyre, that they can, and I agree with your overall conclusion. However, you finished your blog stating that women should find a balance between radical feminism and radical romanticism. The use of the term “balance” in that statement got me thinking: can seemingly opposing ideas, such as feminism and romance, only exist if they balance each other out? Do all radical elements of a movement have to be denounced?
I’d like to say no to both of the previous questions because I think eliminating the dangerous spunk from a movement makes it boring and devout of individualism. Instead of balancing the two concepts, women should focus on how the two concepts aid each other. Romance literature helps feminism because the strong female heroines win the man “not with physical strength but with intelligence and courage” (Phillips 56). Romance novels celebrate the inner beauty and strength of females. In addition, feminism aids the romance because the continuing empowerment of women pushes romance authors to keep creating interesting, diverse, and strong female characters. Therefore, these two ideals do not have to be balanced- they need each other to exist.
To be moderate is to be blah. By calling for a balance between feminism and the romance, it is insinuated that both the romance and feminism need to be watered down. But I say to that- NO NO NO.
We need a little bit of crazy radicalism in both movements. We need Moran standing on her chair screaming, “I’m a feminist!” (Moran 68). We need Laura’s alluring claim that she is only wearing perfume under her red dress in Norah Robert’s The McGregor Brides. The spunk in both of these examples is what moves women forward. Moran uses her spunk to assert her worth and to celebrate a piece of her identity. Laura uses her spunk to advance the romance by playing directly to the sexual tension that underlies all romance.
“Real men aren’t afraid of strong women” (Krentz 137). And the women of the current era shouldn’t be afraid of strong, opinionated women either. We do not need to work toward being “moderate”; we should celebrate all the extravagance that makes us true individuals.