Literature has long provided an effective and efficient pathway to reveal, communicate change, and sensitize society on the need to relegate ill traditions, customs, and behaviors (Duhan, 2015). For instance, the problem of male chauvinism among other evil societal behaviors has been central in most works of literature (Freiwald, 2001). For example, Kate Bornstein’s “Gender Outlaw” and Joan Nestles’ “Restricted Country” feature the problem of male chauvinism (Duhan, 2015). However, the authors make it clear that the oppressed can still emerge victorious in their fight against such challenges. One way of achieving this emancipation is through an appreciation of a positive identity of self and the oppressed in general (DeCrescenzo, 2002). It is only when this is realized that a true liberation is realized. Furthermore, possession of a positive view of self avoids one the psychological, emotional, and mental turmoil. Therefore, this paper discusses how Bornstein and Nestles discuss the issue of sex and identity in the literary works above.
“Gender Outlaw”
This is Bornstein’s bestselling book that has earned her a lot of recognition and fame. This is especially so due to her critical view and analysis of society and its evils (Freiwald, 2001). Gender biasness takes central stage in her book. She is hurt by the negative treatment of all the females in society. Furthermore, she is never satisfied by the conduct of women that often promote their exploitation by men. Consequently, her text is full of revolutionary forces that attempt to pull out the females from the abyss of abuse and extreme extortion (Freiwald, 2001). In her perspective, society is only a better place when both genders are allocated equal freedom, opportunities, and joys (Duhan, 2015). The restrictions by customs, traditions, and often thoughtless laws ought not be adhered to but rather come up and adopt new and productive social codes.
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Consequently, she takes note of several ills facing women in a patriarchal society. First, the whole society is eager to know whether a child born is a male or female. The gender of a child takes significance over anything else. It is a society that never counts a child as wholly a blessing but rather a curse if the child is female. Society is inclined too much to the belief that female are secondary to males (Freiwald, 2001). Consequently, they can never be owners, heirs, and leaders among other leading social roles. This thus explains why the whole society is eager to know the gender of any child born.
Additionally, the societal socialization of males and females in society manifests a stack contrast. The females are made to understand their secondary positions, their inferiority, their misfortunes, and their need to toil in service of their male counterparts. On the other hand, the males are made to understand and feel their importance, their leadership roles, and their roles in completely subjugating their female’s counterparts (Freiwald, 2001). Consequently, a tussle between the two genders is introduced even during their tender ages. Therefore, one can feel the futility of any move to emancipate the females from the hard disenfranchising and demeaning grip by the harsh and lethal males.
Society has become a disgraceful place for women to live and feel their much needed pride and significance (Duhan, 2015). The males have takencontrol of all the productive and important roles (Freiwald, 2001). The women are left to compete among themselves in getting the least rewarding and demeaning roles (Freiwald, 2001). They are housekeepers, babysitters, maids, and worst of all they are expected to be ever read sex objects. All these are geared towards entertaining the oppressing and proud male. She is hurt by the social trends and is looking forward to a time when society will learn to value, appreciate, and treat women well.
Therefore, her text presents her much thought and wished intentions and plans to liberate the bedeviled woman. Any means that can help realize the end is appreciated. However, the reluctance by the general society is worrying and heart breaking. She perceives a social rot that has been inculcated into the society from time immemorial. Consequently, a revolutionary force is required in order to reform society (DeCrescenzo, 2002). Feminists should utilize all platforms to call for social change. Literary world should provide the much needed impetus to realizing this. Consequently, her role in the literary world has had significant influences in sensitizing, valorizing, and ameliorating the state of women.
“A Restricted Country”
Joan Nestles has had a significant impact in the move to realize a fair and productive society to both genders. She seems not to comprehend the aristocratic position of men in society. Just like other feminists, she resorted to literary writing as a move to find a platform to communicate her disagreements with the patriarchal society. She is known best as the founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives (Freiwald, 2001). Consequently, she is often viewed a leading threat to the long existent male chauvinism. She is steadfast in thought and action (Duhan, 2015). Therefore, most males do perceive her a wayward, senseless, and irrational person. However, all these can be seen as counteractions by the rigid males who never wishes to extend any meaningful freedom, peace, and psychological stability to the distraught woman (Freiwald, 2001).
What is highly appraisable in Nestles writings is her steadfastness in both thought and action. She never stands the harsh treatment of men and thus the rigidity of the whole society. Therefore, she never adheres to doing what will please men at the expense of her joy and peace. She advocates for a mental, behavioral, and emotional changes on the side of the female. This will allow them to resist and move away from doing what curtails their realization of their peace and joy. For instance, she suggests that lesbianism is a way to counter and beat the men’s sexual exploitations. Consequently, women will find emotional satisfactions out of their own relations (DeCrescenzo, 2002). The man is thus closed out from interfering with the woman’s internal peace and progress (Freiwald, 2001). However, the move is often made to look obscene and evil than the male sexual harassments and torture. Consequently, she calls for resilience and support from all the females in order to achieve their desired ends.
Clearly, what is important in Nestles’ emancipation strategy is the, establishment of a solid positive identity among women. There is a need to grow out of the barriers introduced by the selfish men in society (Duhan, 2015). Women can however realize this through struggle and unity (Freiwald, 2001). The males in society have ganged up to suppress and inflict pain and harm to the naïve and docile woman. Consequently, there needs to be a shift from being docile recipients of ills, naïve social participants, and generous sexual objects to steadfast, unified, and progressive women (Freiwald, 2001).
The key achievements of feminism movements come out from the efforts of the oppressed. Consequently, women ought not to place their trust for change upon the jealous man. Instead, they should pull together their efforts and resources to fight for their rights. The idea of women being subordinated and mistreated is real and alive in society (Freiwald, 2001). Consequently, her revelations are devoid of any euphemism and reproach of self (Freiwald, 2001). She reveals, quantifies, and comes up with emancipation strategies that she deems relevant and effective in realizing the set women goals. She never considers how the male dominated society will react (Duhan, 2015). Therefore, she is considered one of the leading proponents of feminism and the call for a just progressive society.
Sex as Power and Identity
Nestles and Bornstein are both feminist literary scholars. They adopt the literary platform as the best place to communicate their stance, frustrations, and suggestions for changing the fate of women. They take note of the injustices subjected to female members of society right from the time they are born to the time they die (DeCrescenzo, 2002). Consequently, most women have failed to realize their meaningfulness and goals in life due to the highly patriarchal and mistreating society. However, evident in their works is the presentation of women as the cornerstones for social, economic, emotional, and even political survival of society (Freiwald, 2001). Therefore, power and influence resides in their much obscured roles and contributions to society. Being a female translates into being a caregiver, a protector, a supporter, and a hope giver to the often weak and senseless man (Freiwald, 2001). Therefore, without a female, the male loses significance and control of the world he purports to rule by himself.
First, women enhance the realization of a psychologically, emotionally, and mentally health society. They come in handy in ensuring that all the societal goals are realized through their hard work and support to the men (Duhan, 2015). Their roles as mothers and general caregivers are essential in the promotion of life and success in society. For instance, one cannot actually downplay the productive roles played by women in childbirth and even in the economic and political spheres. Therefore, there is no point to justify the pride and the mistreatment promoted by the males in society. The trend in society is thus ill motivated and without any meaningful basis.
However, there is still need for women to be made to realize these great contributions they make in society. There is need for them to learn to perceive themselves in a healthy and progressive way. Though women have had significant impacts in society, most of them have been made to believe and accept their secondary positions (Freiwald, 2001). They have been made to feel weak when they are strong, careless when they are the most productive and stupid when they enhance support and progress in society (DeCrescenzo, 2002). Women thus are highly in need of an emancipation strategy that will valorize them through teaching them their significances and contributions. Therefore, women ought to change their attitudes towards self and societal view. They have to perceive themselves as men’s equals and also as the sources of the necessary forces of social transformations. It is only through the achievement of these that women are fully emancipated and given the requisite strength to influence and change society.
Secondly, women are the sources and promoters of positive virtues in society (Duhan, 2015). Through their humility and patience, society has realized a stable and productive existence (Freiwald, 2001). Women are thus the most sensible and promising part of society. The males have long been impacted negatively by their pride and extortionist ideals. They have focused much on the negative than on the positive. Consequently, women have had to stand strong as both recipients of harm and intermediaries between the two genders. Women have to understand the negative pride of men and also the ways they can realize their joys. Through this, women satirize and shame the men of their ignorance and insensitivity. They achieve to show how being female is both a blessing and a curse in the patriarchal society (Duhan, 2015). Therefore, women become a necessary part of society both for progress and harmonious existence.
Furthermore, both Nestles and Bornstein argue out the need for a reformative action in society. There is an urgent need to exterminate the gender problem in society. Therefore, the society ought to learn important roles played by the women in society. The society is unable to progress with the negative impacts of gender problem persisting (DeCrescenzo, 2002). Consequently, the women ought to rise up and express their thoughts and intentions in the walk to reform society. As a matter of fact, the females in society represent productivity, peace, and harmony among other values. Consequently, they ought to stand up to bring sanity and progress (Freiwald, 2001).
The way women achieves the above is through a revolutionary counteraction against the male pride and harassments. They have to resist their subordination and mishandling. They have to express their inbuilt strength to overhaul social evils and replace them with complete adherence to virtue and morals. For instance, the women ought not to yield naively to the sexual demands of the men. Instead, they ought to demonstrate their emotional stability as a show of their independence and unity. They have to do this despite the pressure inflicted upon them by the patriarchal society. This thus explains Nestles’ stance and her key strategies to reform society (Duhan, 2015). There is no point to prove progress and dignity when a woman satisfies a man whose intentions are not good for the progress of women. They only want to exploit the emotions of the women while ditching them deep in the abyss of dystopia and pain.
Consequently, both authors agree on the need for the males in society to appreciate sense and upright thinking and doings (DeCrescenzo, 2002). They agitate for them to appreciate and utilize more harmonious and progressive treatment of women. For example, Bornstein strongly agitates for one never to engage in sex for sex sake but rather for a more responsible and healthy productive sense. Sex ought not to be used as a unidirectional satisfaction of male’s emotions but also those of the women. Consequently, there is need for the two to appreciate the need for both to be participative in the pursuits of sexual satisfaction. There is no point whatsoever that justifies sexual abuse promoted by the males. Bornstein states it clearly that it is wise to never engage in sex when the other person is not for it at all. By extension, this implies that there is no justification for the mishandling and sheer mistreatment of women (Freiwald, 2001). The promotion of the same only means that the males are rigid, selfless, and reluctant to realize a better society.
Thirdly, being a woman signifies the capacity to lead and influence society in a positive way. The two authors suggest a move from the old traditions that relegated women from the leadership roles (Freiwald, 2001). They argue out that females have the capacity to lead others just like their male counterparts. They state clearly that women can even provide meaningful leadership more than their male counterparts. For instance, their immense contributions in building and holding together families have sufficiently demonstrated this (Duhan, 2015). They have long withstood the challenges imposed upon them by the highly restrictive and patriarchal society (Freiwald, 2001). Furthermore, they have been in a position to provide impactful competition to the men. These have been witnessed in fields like education, economy, and even in politics. Consequently, women have all it takes to be leaders and bring forth meaningful results to promote the whole society.
Therefore, there is a need for society to embrace the fact that women are capable and willing to lead. Nestles dares to show this by leading fellow women in demonstrating the ability of women to take control of their emotions (Duhan, 2015). Furthermore, their literary works demonstrate a highly convincing stance to view the problem of gender biasness. They explicitly show the significant position of women and their roles in society (DeCrescenzo, 2002). They demonstrate and convince on the need to give women a chance to exercise their freedom, rights, and obligations. They are equally capable and thus no theory put forth by the jealous men can win over their arguments. Consequently, it is sad to note the long term hostilities that women have had to experience and endure. They both regret this and opt instead to focus on the future of women. They have a strong conviction in them that things are going to change for the better.
Consequently, through their literary skills and prowess, they serve to satirize and deconstruct the long existing notion that there exists a difference between men and women. They utilize actual societal experiences and evidences against women mistreatment top validate their points of view. They strongly dictate the need for a social change (Freiwald, 2001). They represent the majority of exposed, educated, and civilized women who are strongly against unfair competition and treatment in society. Consequently, their works acts as eye openers to the whole society. They endeavor to break the stalemate that has persisted long in society especially when gender-based problems are concerned.
Ultimately, Nestles and Bornstein achieve in demonstrating that both women and men ought to co-exist in society (Duhan, 2015). They both have equal capabilities to lead, promote social cohesion, and realize progress in the general society (Freiwald, 2001). They achieve in showing that being born a female does not translate to being born a loser. Instead, they demonstrate that it is the individual’s perspective on gender problems that is responsible for any ultimate reality. For example, when society is inclined to the notion that men are superior to women, the whole society is prone to failure. On the other hand, society succeeds when people believe in the inbuilt capacity to lead, be creative, to promote social ideals, and to realize social stability inherent in the female gender. Consequently, there is nothing evil or secondary for being woman.
Society has long relied on wrong grounds in justifying the gender related problems. Consequently, the women have long suffered and endured baseless torture, pain, and absolute deprivation of freedom and justice (Duhan, 2015). There have been a lot of troubles in the patriarchal society facing women. Consequently, women have never achieved significant impact and usefulness in the society they ought to transform (Freiwald, 2001). However, Nestles and Bornstein are critical and steadfast in calling for a mental, emotional, psychological, and social view on women. They utilize actual experiences and evidences in society to justify their call for change in society. Furthermore, they logically argue out the significance of extending women freedom and fair handling. They demonstrate how being female is being central in the societal development and transformation. There is immense power and ability to progress society residing in female members of society. Though this is also the reality among men, the ability in women has long been suppressed. Consequently, the society’s gender partiality is to be blamed for the least felt contributions of women. This thus calls for a change in society for the positive impacts of women to be fully realized. Therefore, there is power and influence in women (Duhan, 2015). Being woman is being key to social, political, and economic transformations among other meaningful changes.
References
DeCrescenzo, T. (2002). Genderqueer (Book). Lesbian News, 27 (12), 41.
Duhan, R. (2015). The Relationship between Literature and Society . Language in India, 15 (4), 192-202.
Freiwald, B. (2001). Becoming and Be/Longing: Kate Bornstein’s Gender Outlaw and My Gender Workbook . Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 24 (1), 35
