The Fear of Flying by Erica Jong is a feminist novel written in 1973 during the onset of the feminist movement in America, the American women were fast becoming rebellious of the societal norms and traditions imposed on them. The novel talks about its main heroine Isadora Wing , a married woman in her twenties seeking to break out from the American setting of what is expected of a wife, she embraces the new feminine consciousness within her and finds freedom from her boring marriage ( Butler, 1987) . She suddenly becomes aware of what she is missing. She is fascinated by the social possibilities to awaken within her to elevate and change the status quo and her position as a woman during those times. Erica Jong is identified as a feminine writer more so because of this novel. She believes society places women in roles not chosen by them (women). The women are expected to excel at those roles. As a result, she says women are made to undergo the internal conflict of whom they are and who the society expects them to be. She adds that under such circumstances women suffer as expectations outweigh their true autonomous being. They are expected to bear offspring’s, take good care of the family and the society. Such stereotypical roles are what the female protagonists Isadora Jong defies. She breaks free from such ideologies living only to please her desires and according to her preference. This study seeks to explore ways in which Erica Jong’s novel Fear of Flying was a forward thinking text even at that time, how the text was out of context especially given that at the time the feminist movement had just begun. We discussed three ideologies which made this text to be more open minded and explorative on the subject ( Jong, 2015) .
First the main female protagonist Isadora Wing, struggles with defining who she truly is, eventually, she defines her true identity and pursues what she believes were her sexual, social and career freedom. This was unusual for women in the ‘70’s where men were more expected to struggle with issues like self-identities and pursuant of dreams, while the society defined women outlining their duties and expectations. Isadora realised she had the fear to excel in a career as a young writer, she was afraid of finding herself in unfamiliar ‘heights’ in her career. She is married to Bennett Wing who she feels truly loves her, however being married for five years has made her yearn for more than just the security of being married ( Templin & Jong, 2002) . She has sexual fantasies and is convinced that the husband cannot meet such wants, on a trip to a writing conference she meets the man of her fantasies and openly pursues her desires. This context was very un-American during such times, for a married woman to openly pursue another married man let alone encourage the man pursue her. Its far-fetched and unlikely it’s almost like the author moved severally decades into the future to create this setting ( Templin & Jong, 2002) .
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Secondly, the graphic sexual scenes, descriptions and terms played out and used in this novel, a writer from New York Times explains it as ‘unprintable in this newspaper even today’ New York time (2013). The author is very graphic using very ‘dirty ‘sexual words to describe Isadora Wing’s sexual escapades and fantasy. The term “Zipless fuck” describes a sexual no strings attached relationships where Isadora pursues endless sexual encounters with her lover and believes that that is the purest form of relationship where either party bears no ulterior motives other than to get sexually satisfied from their encounter. The author defines their sexual encounter very graphically, using words even today’s romantic writers find very aggressive and harsh to use, the author is fearless in her writing covering topics that writers of her generations covered with a much settled approach ( Jong, 2015) .
Lastly Isadora Wing our feminists’ protagonists is only 21 and a divorcee but remarried and also seeking extramarital sexual adventures, it’s hard to comprehend how this in 1970’s given that women at that time were more concerned about having solid intact families at the expense of their own happiness. Divorce was never an option. Her character is extraordinarily stronger than the character of women in those days; it’s a big plunge and the author ( Jong, 2015) .
References
Butler, R. J. (1987). The Woman Writer as American Picaro: Open Journeying in Erica Jong's" Fear of Flying". The Centennial Review , 31 (3), 308-329.
Jong, E. (2015). Fear of flying: A novel .
Templin, C., & Jong, E. (2002). Conversations with Erica Jong . Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
