Misogyny in John Steinbeck's Books

Misogyny can wear many different faces. Its most obvious face is that of the man or society - or even other woman - who hates women, who sees them as dangerous and evil, a threat to everything that is civilized, a force that can at best be controlled. There are writers, and writings, that are misogynistic in this way. But there are other, more subtle of forms of misogyny, and one of the most pervasive of these is the practice of viewing women only as they appear in relationship to men, as if they had no substance of their own, as if they could not somehow be seen except as reflections of the men who accompany and define them. Women in this kind of world are not evil (or rather, they are not necessarily evil); they simply have no substance of their own. They are only shadows.

This is the more common form of misogyny in the art and literature of the 20th century, and its less obviously virulent form does not mean that it is not deeply problematic. If among the purposes of art is an attempt to unify the people of a given time and place, then such a clear bias against women abrogates any possibility of such a unifying force to art. Moreover, the near ubiquity of subtler forms of misogyny in art help to maintain the culturally sanctioned myth that art is a realm that is properly male. It is the man who is the artist, and woman may be subject or muse but not author. The woman may take off her clothes and stand before the artist to be the loving subject of his gaze, she may be immo

Related Essays

Misogyny in North America .... and religion should be able to fight misogyny's insidious influences. Brown, Gabrielle. The New Celibacy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980. D'Emilio, John. .... (2547 10 )

Hip-Hop Women .... misogyny and sexism" (Drakes 4). Yet, if portraying violence, misogyny and sexism in .... For example, star baseball pitcher John Rocker was lambasted and crucified .... (1016 4 )

2008 Election Strategies .... In conclusion, it is readily apparent that John McCain subscribes to a .... the fact that it accepts realistic cultural factors, like racism or misogyny, as being .... (1192 5 )

Music Censorship Musicians, recording companies and fans are all .... Musicians as diverse as Frank Zappa and John Denver spoke out against what they .... NWA's albums are also controversial for their use of misogyny and other .... (2704 11 )

Music Censorship .... Musicians as diverse as Frank Zappa and John Denver spoke out against what they .... NWA's albums are also controversial for their use of misogyny and other .... (2823 11 )

ck's most articulate - or perhaps it would be more accurate to say least silent - women, and this is in some large part because she has commodities to sell. The seller of commodities is for Steinbeck (at least in Cannery Row) a fundamentally masculine character, and therefore one who has a voice in the narration. But Steinbeck makes it clear that even the ever-competent Dora needs a man - not only in terms of the fact that she needs the men who come to her as customers, but she professes to her bouncer, Alfred, that she doesn't like to try to run the place without him, without a man around at all times (Steinbeck, 1945, p. 113). Steinbeck describes Dora as someone who: �through the exercise of special gifts of tact and honesty, charity and a certain realism, made herself respected by the intelligent, the learned, and the kind. And by the same token she is hated by the twisted and lascivious sisterhood of married spinsters whose husbands respect the home but don't like it very much (Steinbeck, 1945, pp. 9-10). Dora is the woman who ensures that men get what they need. The sex she sells is straightforwardly geared to meeting men's desires. Men at a whorehouse (unlike when they are in their own house) don't have to worry about the

Category: Literature - M