Feminism, Feminist Lens and

Gender Criticism
January 12, 2024
21st Century Literature from the Philippines
and the World
Teacher-Facilitator: Mr. Manuel J. Radislao

Emiliano Lizares National High School - Senior High

 Activity
• Write on the paper what you see and identify
if its a GIRL THING OR A BOY THING

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 1

• DOING LAUNDRY

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 2

• CLEANING THE
HOUSE/YARD/CAR

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 3

• GROWING
VEGETABLE/GARDENING

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 4

• BUYING, PREPARING AND

ADMINISTERING
MEDICINES TO THE FAMILY
MEMBERS

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 5

• MARKETING/DOING
ERRANDS/DOING
GROCERY/ PAYING BILLS

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 6

• BUDGETING FAMILY
EXPENSES

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 7

• PLAYING
MARBLES/ENGAGING IN
TEAM
SPORTS/BIKING/JOGGING/
RUNNING
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 8.

• BULLYING

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 9

• WHO IS MORE
SUPERSTITIOUS?

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 10

• SINGING IN SUNDAY
WORSHIP/SUNDAY
MASS/ATTENDING MASS

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 11

• FRIENDLINESS/
AMIABILITY/
APPROACHABILITY

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 12

• TALKATIVE/LOQUACIOUS/
• STORYTELLER/
• GOSSIPER

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 13

• MENDING
CLOTHES/SEWING
CLOTHES/IRONING
CLOTHES

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 14

• COOKING AND PREPARING

MEAL FOR THE FAMILY

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Questions

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 Question 1
• 1. What do you think this piece is about?

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 Question 2
• 2.What do you notice about the punctuation
marks?

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 Question 3
• 3.Do you think this is a poem, a short story,
or…?

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 Answer to Q3
• Semicolons are used to separate the mother’s
advice and commands.This creates a prose
poem that vividly captures the daughter’s
conflicting feelings for her mother. A prose
poem is one that lacks rhyme, lines, and the
traditional form of poetry as well as the
narrative structure of conventional fiction

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 Question 4
• 4.Who is the speaker? Is there anyone else?

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 Question 5
• 5.Think about the concept of “voice.” Who has
a voice in this piece? Do you think it is actually
her voice? If not, whose is

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 Question 6
• 6.This is a list of instructions, mostly for
sewing, housework, and other behaviours that
have traditionally been called “Women’s
work.” What else is the speaker instructing?

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 Question 7
• 1.In your DIASS 1 and 2 classes, you have
learned how socialization in the family can
dictate human behavior befitting one’s
gender? Can you still identify other issues
aside from gender and socialization

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 Question 8
• Does your religion also dictate the kind of
behavior that you should manifest in your
Sunday worship? In the story, “Girl” are there
lines in the text that prescribe behavior
dictated by religion?

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Lecture _Discussion

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 What is Feminism?
• the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of
the equality of the sexes.
• It is a range of socio-political movements and
ideologies that aim to define and establish the
political, economic, personal, and social
equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the
position that societies prioritize the male point
of view and that women are treated unjustly
in these societies.
Emiliano Lizares National High School - Senior High
What do we mean when we say “Feminist
Criticism/Reading or from the feminist
point of view ”?
• The phrase “Feminist Criticism” is an umbrella term for several
varieties of critical analysis and interpretation of literature that
use as a base some of the assumptions of the feminist
movement.
• Several other distinct types of criticism have branched off from
Feminist Criticism. Queer Theory and Gender Studies both grew
out of ideas originally developed by feminist critics.
• Feminist Criticism and related theories are unapologetically
political. Critics who use these theories share the strong belief
that examining literature through the lens of Feminist Criticism
can be a tool for social and political awareness and for change.

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 Important Terms for Gender and
Feminist Criticism
• Patriarchy: a system of beliefs and social practices that supports
male dominance by denying women access to power, privileging
issues/voices that are seen as “masculine” over those that are
“feminine,” and exerting control over women’s bodies and
sexualities.
• Gender: A socially constructed set of expectations for what is
“masculine” and what is “feminine.” (As opposed to “sex,” which is
biological.)
• Essentialism: The belief that every woman is inherently different
because she is a woman. (Some early feminists used this idea to
say that these differences should be identified and celebrated, but
many feminists now see essentialism as outdated and prone to
abuse.)
Emiliano Lizares National High School - Senior High
 What questions might a feminist
reader/critic ask in reading literature?
1. In what ways is patriarchy present in a particular
work? How are the effects of patriarchy evident
in the lives and attitudes of the characters?
2. Do female characters show signs of resistance to
patriarchy? If so, how is this resistance portrayed?
3. How are the concerns unique to women in a
particular place/time portrayed in the work? To
what extent does this portrayal value those
concerns?

Emiliano Lizares National High School - Senior High

So What Do Feminist Critics/Readers look
for in a text?
• Feminist Critics are often interested in literary
representations of women, and in bringing attention to
works by women that have historically been overlooked.
• Feminist Critics believe that for much of history, the field
of literature and literary criticism have both been
dominated by men, and they seek to expose the effects
of this patriarchal mindset.
• By looking at the ways that women's concerns and
women's writing has been marginalized, they seek to
address the imbalance that has traditionally persisted in
favor of men's writing and men's concerns.

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 Gender and Feminist Criticism
• Many Gender Critics see a difference between
gender (which is socially constructed) and sex
(which is biological).
• This means that ideas about "typically"
masculine or feminine traits and behaviors are
products of culture and social conditioning.
• Gender Critics are interested in how works of
literature either support or undermine the
"standards" of masculine/feminine behavior
and identity held by the culture in which they
were produced.
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“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

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 Questions
• How do you see the mother in the story?

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 In other words ...the mother is
• strict and condescending
• This is shown where she warns the girl
consistently to not become like the slut she is
so bent on becoming
• Reproaching /Reproachful
• domineering/dictatorial/ scheming
• care and concern for her daughter’s
welfare/future/moral guardian
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 in other words, the mother is
... is wise: not only does she know how to cook,
clean, and keep a household, but she also has a
keen sense of social etiquette and decorum,
knowing how to act around different types of
people--which she now passes to her
preadolescent daughter ...
She is trying to imply to her daughter that
happiness comes from domesticity...

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Senior High
How do you see the daughter in
the story?

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 in other words...the daughter
• the girl shows no emotion to the mother’s
reproach
• the girl’s tone has indicated her innocence in
two different ways. The two times the narrator
speaks in the story shows innocence--by
definition as to not being guilty as charged,
“but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and
never in Sunday school” and the innocence of
a child “but what if the baker won’t let me feel
the bread.” Emiliano Lizares National High School -
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 Questions
• Does she also listen to her daughter?

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 Questions
• Are all instructions simply confined to
domestic or household work?

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Are all instructions simply confined
to domestic or household work?
• Basically everything is admonition of the
mother --counseling and warning her
daughter on what to do at home and outside
of their home.
• Prescriptive Behavior befitting a girl/woman at
home (Domestic Duties)
• Prescriptive Behavior outside home
(Gendered Behavior displayed in public)
• Prohibitions - the “donts”
Emiliano Lizares National High School -
Senior High