Re: New subscriber...
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Tue, 06 Oct 1998 15:22:01 +1000
> Kim,
> As a female reader of Salinger how do you view his writing about women. I
> am trying to get a perspective on how other women view this author's
women
> from a feminist viewpoint.
> If you have nothing to say about this subject, fear not.
> Thanks.
I am not Kim but I'm answering this one anyway (: I necessarily try to look
upon writings as a reader first, and any other emotional baggage I might
have second - i.e. I never try to approach things from a feminist
standpoint. In fact, it irritates me a little that this is presupposed as
the `proper' position to view women from - very rarely are you allowed to
study a woman/study as a woman without this viewpoint.
Generally you can see that Salinger writes about women from a male
perspective. Most of the Women in Salinger are enigmas - albeit very
beautiful enigmas (Sybil, Muriel, Charlotte, the nun from `De Daumier
Smith', Jane Gallager) Yet on quite the other hand he gives articulate and
original voices to characters such as Franny, and handles them quite
perceptively. He certainly isn't as patronising of women as many of his
contemporaries.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
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