Why I hate Maragret Atwood

Of course almost every woman in the 21st century would argue in favour of gender equality, as would the majority of men.  When these ideals are argued against they are usually in jest; jokes which even females make and laugh at.

  Why do women have smaller feet?

             

                 So they can stand closer to the sink.

Modern feminist literature is everywhere, yet many people would immediately think of writers such as Carol Ann Duffy, Sylvia Plath and Margret Atwood.  These authors/poets all make their work overtly purposeful regarding a feminist stance.  However I do not believe that a dramatic, surreal stance is necessary to prove such points.

Saying this however, I believe Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market to be a masterpiece within the canon of feminist literature despite its adopting of the two qualities listed above.  This works however due to the retrospective elements; that is that it looks back onto the injustice that women would suffer as apposed to the more automatically thought of "up and coming" woman that we think of.

Atwood

In her works, Atwood too presents the way in which women are mistreated and marginalised in society by men (take The Handsmaid's Tale for example) however whether this is retrospective or not is debatable.  The way in which the novels seem to be set in a more futuristic setting suggest that it is more of a current state of affairs, or a perception that society is in the process of moving towards a more chauvinistic stance.

This is contrasted by her other works, mainly poetry, which present the "new woman", or even the "ideal woman" who is in possession of a powerful stance. 

  This is what I find crazy.

Atwood's "modern women" are so powerful that they dominate men.  This is not feminism.  It does not advocate the equality which is fundamental to feminist belief.  By doing this Atwood's women appear evil, hardly something that a female would aspire to be.

Through supplying her women with power, Atwood has created monsters.  The balance is not there.  It is easy to understand that a melodramatic portrayal can be used to make a point, especially one that many people feel strongly about but it has gone too far and essentially, Atwood has put herself back to square one.  These women will not be respected nor idolised and it is not modern.  Parallel with the old stereotype of the innocent damsel is the caricatured corruptress/whore and it is easy to see how Atwood's characters neatly fit into this category.  Yes, she breaks away from the what is now "negative" damsel perception, but not from the outdated labels.

Another feminist writer who makes similar mistakes to these is Angela Carter.  Throughout her collection of short stories The Bloody Chamber we constantly see the same damsels and corruptresses that were common in middle age tales, the only difference being the modernity of the language used.  Even the setting is hard to determine as to whether it is modern or not.  Although a writer may adapt fairy tales which show women as either weak or evil in order to create a parody, readers may not be convinced that this is what Carter is attempting to achieve.  This is because very very occasionally, Carter manages to break away from these old ideals.  For example in her story The Bloody Chamber, the heroine is an old woman (who is also portrayed as being sexually attractive).  However Carter shoots herself in the foot again as many readers find this ending hilarious.

Even though there are so many miserable failures surrounding feminist literature, I am confident in believing that it is not a lost cause altogether.  Many pieces of work that one would never think of portray the modern woman wonderfully, with no humorous or negative connotations.

Take Bram Stoker's Dracula for example.  Here there are two conflicting women presented: the stereotypical outdated damsel Lucy (who, it could be argued, is being used as a form of parody) and the modern woman Mina.  Despite my odorous hatred towards this novel, I much favour the way in which Stoker puts forwards ideas of feminism than the likes of Atwood.


Let's face it, it's pretty embarrassing how these women have been prematurely beaten at their own game by a man a hundred years in advance.

Saying all of this Margaret Atwood reminds me of Meryl Streep so maybe one day I'll find it in my testosterone fuelled heart to forgive her.