Problematising a ‘universal’ female bodily experience
Problematising a ‘universal’ female bodily experience
The second-wave feminists and their critics
Through an examination of how menstruation, childbirth, and the menopause are represented in second-wave feminist texts, Chapter One contextualises the book’s cross-cultural approach to representations of the female body in contemporary women’s writing in French. This chapter emphasises that the second-wave feminists were the first to break the silence that surrounds certain female bodily experiences and sought to challenge normative and patriarchal discourses which paint the female body in a negative light. It focuses on three second-wave feminist texts, namely: Parole de femme by Annie Leclerc, Pouvoirs de l’horreur by Julia Kristeva, and Autrement Dit by Marie Cardinal. The chapter subsequently examines how the second-wave feminists have been criticised for their idealism and essentialism by feminists such as Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Audre Lorde.
Keywords: Second-wave feminism, Intersectionality, Essentialism, Menstruation, Childbirth, Menopause
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