"Women authors, however, reflect the literal reality of their own confinement in the constraints they depict, and so all at least begin with the same unconsious or consious purpose in employing such spatial imagery. Recording their own distincitively female experience, they are secretly working through and within the conventions of literary texts to define their own lives." (Gilbert & Gubar 261)
Okay, here is my problem with this essay, Gilbert and Gubar do exactly what we have been told time and time again not to do they make assumptions that all female writers try and define their own lives in their texts. I'm not saying that this may not be true for some of the earlier writers (or even some writers today), but that includes male as well as female writers. I do not think that Gilbert and Gubar do women any justice in this essay, in fact they made me a little angry while I read it. To assume that every female writer is using her writing to express her woe at the world and the presumed injustices done to her is not giving women any credit as true artists and writers.
I am not arguing that there are differences between how men and women percieve ideas or things, but to throw men and women into this one boat and use the word "all" upsets me. Every person has their own "distinct experience," but this includes within the gender lines, as well as, without. Even women percieve things and ideas differently than other women and though I am not male I would guess that it is the same with the opposite sex. To lump us all into one category is disturbing and I felt rather gender bias of these writers.
Comments (2)
Mara, I completely agree with you. I did not think that Gilbert and Gubar’s essay was very strong at all. They built almost their entire case on assumptions. Assumptions that all women feel trapped, that all men were felt free. I didn’t really like their essay and I don’t think it is fair for them to draw such division between male and female writing (I mean sure there were historically differences between the two and there still can be), but there does not necessarily need to be this differences. Nor, as you observe should she lump all females together.
Posted by Greta Carroll | March 5, 2009 12:13 AM
Posted on March 5, 2009 00:13
I agree with you and Greta. Our experiences help us understand a work better than gender. Gilbert and Gubur's evidence for their claims seemed to be a stretch in most places. I talk about this on my blog http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JennaMiller/2009/03/cant-we-all-just-write-the-sam.html
Posted by Jenna | March 5, 2009 1:58 PM
Posted on March 5, 2009 13:58