Title: A Guide into Feminist Theories and Criticism - A Research Guide for Students
Headings: A Simple Guide To Feminist Theories and Criticism
A Simple Guide To Feminist Theories and Criticism
Types of criticism
Constructive criticism
Projected criticism
Concerns in feminist criticism
Oppressed by patriarchy
Considered as secondary
Discrimination by cultures
Discrimination is everywhere including the literature
Definition of feminism
Definition and overview of feminist theory
First wave feminism
Second wave feminism
Third wave feminism

Content: We can find the works of Simon de Beauvoir in Le Deuxieme Sexe in 1949 as a facilitating the spread of feminist theories. It picked up the pace during the civil rights movement in the USA. This wave is also called Gynocriticism and involves three major aspects. First of them examines and recognizes the work of the female writers. This aspect observes their place and how they are considered in the literary history. The second aspect of the third wave is based on how a woman is characterized by the works of both male and female authors. It considers the treatment given to the women in the literature. The third is the most important aspect as it is focused on exploring the canon of literature written by female writers. It helps in understanding the contribution of female writers in the context of women empowerment and criticizing the way women have been treated in different cultures. Elaine Showalter has proposed three phases of women writing in her book “A Literature of Their Own”, as follow.