This article serves as a survey of feminist literary criticism over the last 40 years. While its purpose is to cover a wide range of material briefly, and not necessarily to present the reader with new information about the topic, it does manage to make a few points that seemed to stick out from the rest.
The first thing that stuck out to me was the need for this article in the first place. At the risk of sounding sexist, let me explain. It amazes me that in our current world that seems to pride itself on its acceptance of all people, we still find ourselves with such a disparity between the sexes. It baffles me that the world of academia, the supposedly enlightened portion of society, took so long to recognize the contributions of women. Even today, we find ourselves struggling to overcome these old habits.
I also found it interesting that they would include the remarks of Sullivan that men and women have differing cognitive skills (58). This seems to be contradictory to much of what is being said by other areas of feminism. There seems to be an aversion to the idea that there is a fundamental difference in the ways that men and women think. This admission lends itself to a judgment of value by those who are seeking to undermine the contributions of women. Sullivan’s idea that men and women should approach research differently sets the area of women’s studies up for attacks from those who would claim that men’s use of “the quantitatively focused scientific method” is more valid than women’s “qualitative research techniques.” While there may be very little difference in the final outcomes of these different methods, the fact that Sullivan claims that women are more seemingly more adept at one suggests that they are not as skilled in the other. I thought this was an interesting point to include in this particular piece.
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Brain researchers have been discussing the differences between what goes on in a female and male brain for awhile. From structural differences--females have a larger corpus collosum which integrates the functioning of the two lobes--to the role of hormones in thought and behavior. I don't question the fact that there are differences. For me, the issue is more how to regard those differences. A substantial portion of the feminist movement as I see do posit real difference in the way the two genders go about the business of living their lives, thinking their thoughts. Most want those qualities they regard as "female" to be more highly valued in a political context. I think.
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