Feminist
See also: Women SurrealistsFeminists have in the past critiqued Surrealism, claiming that it is fundamentally a male movement and a male fellowship, despite celebrated women Surrealists such as Leonora Carrington (1917–2011), Leonor Fini, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, and Toyen. Feminist critics believe that it adopts archaic attitudes toward women, such as worshiping them symbolically through stereotypes and sexist norms. Women are often made to represent higher values and transformed into objects of desire and of mystery.
A pioneer in the feminist critique of Surrealism was Xavière Gauthier, whose book, Surréalisme et sexualité (1971), inspired further scholarship on the marginalization of women in relation to "the avant-garde." This perspective was anticipated and critiqued as misunderstanding Surrealism's point in being a social critique and a reflection on the individual's presuppositions so that they may be critically questioned.
Read more about this topic: Surrealist Groups, Criticism of Surrealism
Famous quotes containing the word feminist:
“... feminist solidarity rooted in a commitment to progressive politics must include a space for rigorous critique, for dissent, or we are doomed to reproduce in progressive communities the very forms of domination we seek to oppose.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“If the feminist program goes to pieces on the arrival of the first baby, it’s false and useless.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)
“I am so tired of taking to others
translating my life for the deaf, the blind,
the “I really want to know what your life is like without giving up any of my privileges
to live it” white women
the “I want to live my white life with Third World women’s style and keep my skin
class privileges” dykes”
—Lorraine Bethel, African American lesbian feminist poet. “What Chou Mean We, White Girl?” Lines 49-54 (1979)