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english feminist criticism

english feminist criticism Whileaway, the all female utopia in “When It Changed,” offers the women a society with no gender boundaries. The female colony was created when a plague killed all men six centuries earlier. Using a method of reproduction involving the merging of two ova, which results in female children with a mixture of genes from both mothers, allowing the women-only society to flourish (Wahlstrom 521). In their female perfect society, masculine and feminine work is distribute equally amongst the women, without negative gender biases until the men of Earth arrive at Whileaway to “perfect” the female society with men. After a confrontation, the women know that it will only be a limited amount of time before the men take over the colony of Whileaway. Janet, the narrator in “When It Changed”, can be classified as the “feminine” female in her lesbian marriage with Katy, but she also has “masculine“ characteristics. She worries about her wife and her daughters and she does not understand cars. “... I am afraid of far, far too much. I’m getting old...” (Russ 345). Her worries could easily classify her as a “typical women” in today’s society. Janet worries that everything that has been worked for to create their perfect Whileaway will be destroyed when the men take over (Wahlstrom 522). But contrary to Janet’s overly feminine character, she handles guns and owns a rifle, which would be classified as a manly activity. “I reached down next to me where we bolt the carrier panel to the door and eased my rifle into my lap” (Russ 345). Although she worries and acts like the classic female, she still handles and owns a rifle. This crossing of genders is what Whileaway is based on. They hold no gender barriers, they equally distribute all tasks and characteristics. There are no “male” or “female” jobs, and Janet is the police chief of the colony, which is typically thought of to be a man’s job. Janet’s wife Katy, can be typically classified as a “masculine” woman. Katy is a mechanic, who likes driving fast, fixing cars, and is not afraid to go camping without a gun. “Katy drives like a maniac; we must have been doing over 120 kilometers an hour on those turns... I’ve seen her take the whole car apart and put it together again in a day” (Russ 345). Janet also describes Katy as having big muscles. “The muscles of her forearms are like metal bars from all the driving and testing of her machines. Sometimes I dream about Katy’s arms” (Russ 350). This comment, proves again Katy’s masculinity and Janet’s feminine domineer. Usually, it is the woman’s role to admires the man’s muscles. Another scene which classifies Katy as masculine is when she challenges the men from Earth, (who come to “perfect” the female society) when they insult Katy and herself. “’You damned fool, don’t you know when we’ve been insulted?’ and swung up the rifle to shoot him through the screen, but I got to her before she could fire...” (Russ 349). As Katy is speaking, Janet describes her wife’s voice as “brittle.” This scene in the story, again depicts the “feminine” and “masculine” characters. Katy speaks in a brittle voice and she is speaking up to protect and defend her family. And at the same time, Janet is holding Katy back, in fear that she will hurt herself (Garland 88). The confrontation between the Earth men and the women of Whileaway, presents the possibility of the fall of the all female utopia empire (Cortiel 57). The men feel that unity between the two gender will ultimately perfect them. “There is only half a species here. Men must come back to Whileaway” (Russ 349). The men of Earth and the women of Whileaway exchange many words during their confrontation. The physical size and the their sexual stereotyping, poses a major threat (Garland 91). The men criticize the all-female society. “You know as well as I do that parthenogenesis culture has all sorts of inherent defects, and we do not- if we can help it- mean to use you for anything of the sort.... But surely you can see that this kind of society is unnatural” (Russ 348). The men of Earth truly believe that they could propel the female society out of its “unnatural” state. Here the idea of men as supreme being escapes. The men have invaded the female utopia and then, insulted their way of life, in order to enhance theirs (Wilmer 484). The visitation of the men, leave the women in dismay, knowing that their all female utopia, which has succeeded in surviving, will soon be coming to an end. “All good things must come to an end” (Russ 350). The all female utopia will become extinct when the men from Earth plan there forceful invasion. After the confrontation with the men, Janet feels that the future of Whileaway is in jeopardy, because the men will change their life as they know it (Cortiel 59). Bibliography: Works Cited Cortiel, Jeanne. Demand My Writing: Joanna Russ/Feminism/Science Fiction. Ed. David Seed. Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press, 1999: 55-59. Garland, Barbara. Dictionary of Literary Biography: Twentieth-Century American Science-Fiction Writers. vol 2 part 2. Ed. David Cowart and Thomas L. Wymer. Michigan: Bruccoli Clark, 1981: 88-93. Lynn, Steven. Texts and Contexts: Writing About Literature with Critical Theory. 2nd ed. United States: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1998. Russ, Joanna. “When It Changed.” Literature and Gender: Thinking Critically Through Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. The Longman Literature and Culture Ser. Ed. Robyn Wiegman and Elena Glasberg. United States: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999: 345-350. Wahlstrom, Billie J. American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present. Ed. Lina Mainiero. New York: Ungar, 1981: 521-522. Willmer, Caissa J. Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States: A Bio-bibliographical Critic Sourcebook. vol 2. Ed. Sandra Pollack and Denise Knight. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1993: 481-487.

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