When reading Sellnow's definition of a feminist, "anyone (male or female) whose beleifs and actions challenge hegemony by respecting and valuing women as well as respecting and valuing both men and women who embrace and enact multiple gender styles and sexualities," there was one woman that immediately came to mind.
Agatha Christie, world record holder for the best selling fiction author of all time, selling an estimated 2 billion to 4 billion copies to date. She wrote 75 novels, 66 being detective novels and 14 short story collections, and successfully put herself on the map as a pioneer of the modern crime novel. Christie is well known for creating the blueprint for detective fiction. In 1920 she published The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a story of several very different individuals gathering together in an isolated location, all being suspected of murder, while letting a detective put the pieces together and solve the mystery.
While she is an icon herself for being a strong, intellectual woman and pursuing a successful career in the early 1900s, a time where the concept was frowned upon, she was no stranger to feminism in her stories. In her writing, she flipped the script on the patriarchy, producing many characters that rejected the hegemony, for different reasons. There were many male characters portrayed as sex object, leaving the women to be the breadwinners and heroines. She has two detectives that switch being the main characters in her books, a man and a woman. Many of the women in her books had themes of being dominant, smart, and diverse.
Not all of her characters followed these stereotypes, however, she was a driving force for change to open up the possibilities for different types of characters. Thanks to Christie's example as a feminist, she helped pave the way for many women writers to feel confident in their career, and introduced a new way to murder the patriarchy.
What books have you read that opposed masculine hegemony?
This is a brilliant post. It has been a long time since I've studied the amazing works of Agatha Christie. It is no small feat that her works are still studied in schools and universities worldwide. Her work is extra special because even as she challenged masculine hegemony, she did it in such a strong, graceful way. She could communicate strength without being insulting in the analysis. But you have the best line of the day, "...introduced a new way to murder the patriarchy." Thank you! I now need to go dig up a new Agatha Christie and follow her example.
ReplyDelete