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Analysis Of Feminist Criticism

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Letty Cottin Pogrebin, an American author, once said that “when men are oppressed, it's a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it's tradition”. Women have been oppressed for years, always living in a world where men are put first and seen as superior. It has just become tradition and the way that we go about living our lives. As it is so widely seen, these beliefs are translated into the media, books, films, etc. The idea of feminist criticism is explained in Lois Tyson’s article “Feminist Criticism” as the ways “in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (Tyson 1). It analyzes the ways these works promote stereotypical ideas of women in society …show more content…

In the film, Holden and Banky are childhood best friends and comic book artists who meet another comic book artist, Alyssa, who is a lesbian. Holden and Alyssa become friends though Holden continues to develop romantic feelings for her, eventually confesses to her and they begin a relationship. Though Holden is angered and the two argue when he discovers Alyssa’s promiscuous past, as he had been under the influence that he was the first man Alyssa was with. Near the end of the film, in an attempt to relieve tension and restore relationships with Alyssa and Banky, Holden suggests a threesome which Alyssa refuses to agree to and leaves. Though the film can be seen as very progressive, especially for the time it was released, there are also flaws to its modern approach. Despite the fact that it was not released too long ago, there have still been changes to people’s ideas and advances in the feminist movement. While Alyssa strives to be herself, she ends up erasing her identity of who she had strongly expressed and gives into a man. There are also many stereotypes presented Banky, Holden, and others throughout the film. In Kevin Smith’s 1997 film, Chasing Amy, while looking through a feminist lens, the film attempts to portray that women should have the ability to freely express themselves, when actually men influence their sexuality and force stereotypes upon

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