{"id":417,"date":"2009-03-17T22:42:42","date_gmt":"2009-03-18T03:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/?p=417"},"modified":"2009-03-24T07:12:02","modified_gmt":"2009-03-24T12:12:02","slug":"female-unity-in-the-female-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/?p=417","title":{"rendered":"Female Unity in THE FEMALE MAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

As others have been discussing, I, too, was struck by the \u201cunity\u201d of the women in the novel. There are several instances where Russ presents the idea of a dual-personality. For instance, Laura struggles with her wants and how they differ from societal expectations. (In fact, this idea of duality is clearly displayed as Laura\u2019s name become \u201cLaur\u201d at points when her \u201cother side\u201d is most prominent.) When Joanna (?) discusses how she turned into a man she says that \u201cknowledge is [\u2026] the perception of all experience through two sets of eyes, two systems of value, two habits of expectation, almost two minds\u201d (137-138). Alice says \u201cthere are always two sides\u201d (165), and Jael suggests that each woman has a Doppelganger (162).\u00a0 <\/span>These women, mainly \u201cthe J\u2019s\u201d, seem to be compromised of two personalities: the individual they want to be, and the individual resisting society\u2019s pressures and expectations. Each woman seems to have another \u201cself\u201d. Earlier in the novel, this other self seems to be in the form of some sort of spirit. (The \u201cI\u201d is confusing here, as its unclear if the spirit \u201cI\u201d is the other self of the same woman, or another woman all together. For instance, the \u201cI\u201d in the scene when Janet and Laura first become physically intimate seems to be some sort of an observant conscience of Janet.) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the novel I thought of Adrienne Rich\u2019s poetry and her themes of the unity of all women. Like Karin, I found the multiple pronouns to be very confusing at times, but I do think that Russ is saying something about the unity of women, just as Rich does in her poetry. Both Russ and Rich use pronouns in such a way as to emphasize the solidarity of\u00a0women and the shared female experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Along with my frustration with the shifting point of view that I could not always follow (I really feel that I lost whatever grip I had with the introduction of Jael), I also had a love-hate relationship with Russ\u2019s style. I enjoyed Russ\u2019s acknowledgement of social expectations and their incorporation throughout the novel, such as on page 65 when she repeatedly states, \u201ceveryone knows\u201d<\/em>, adding emphasis to these stereotypes and expectations. I enjoyed Laura\u2019s rebellion against \u201cThe Man\u201d (65).\u00a0 <\/span>I want a better understanding of the point of view changes, though. I also don\u2019t understand why Russ uses what seem to be sub-chapters within her chapters and I\u2019m curious as to the significance of this choice. I\u2019m also curious about the significance of the moon. Jeannine and Janet\u2019s first words were \u201csee the moon,\u201d and the moon comes up at other points in the novel.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As others have posted, I agree that in some ways The House of Leaves <\/em>seems to have prepared us for the journey into The Female Man.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>I have to admit that I did find it to be a challenge, though, and I feel that I\u2019m left with more many more questions than I have opinions and arguments.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As others have been discussing, I, too, was struck by the \u201cunity\u201d of the women in the novel. There are several instances where Russ presents the idea of a dual-personality. For instance, Laura struggles with her wants and how they differ from societal expectations. (In fact, this idea of duality is clearly displayed as Laura\u2019s … Continue reading Female Unity in THE FEMALE MAN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[32,34,51],"class_list":["post-417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-week-9-female-man","tag-house-of-leaves","tag-space","tag-the-female-man"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=417"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2009\/660\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}