Why I Chose the Feminist Lens

For this blogging project, I have tasked myself with reading Beloved, the historical fiction novel by Toni Morrison, through the feminist critical lens. This is a lens that interests me because of the way in which it explored gender issues and the roles of men and women in society. Specifically this lens explores how the literature itself contributes to the social, political, emotional, and psychological oppression of women, something of great interest to me as a young woman. I have begun to notice a lopsided power structure and biased interactions between males and females and have started to form opinions on how I believe gender plays a role in our society. Our society is accustomed to an injustice in the treatment of women compared to that of men, but I also believe there is injustice in the way men are expected to meet a certain definition of “masculinity”. The feminist lens will allow my exploration of these ideas and opinions in a different era; Beloved’s post-Civil War setting will provide a look back into gender roles in the late nineteenth century. Reading Beloved through the feminist lens will allow me to dive deep into these opinions that I have and look at a level to this piece of literature that I would probably otherwise overlook.