Female Body and Sexual Politics in Margaret Atwood's Selected Novels

Soofastaei, Elaheh; Mirenayat, Sayyed Ali

doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.55.154

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Female Body and Sexual Politics in Margaret Atwood's Selected Novels

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Abstract:

Margaret Atwood is the most prominent Canadian writer. Her feminist ideology is clearly obvious in her novels. She overtly illustrates her feminism view in human rights equality and freedom of choice. Atwood's works are consisted of the fundamental freedom and human rights. In general, her fictions truly portray the women's rights that are equal to men's rights. Social constructions of gender are attacked by Atwood's novels. Her stories represent the silence and sexual discrimination in female characters. She is not only looking for annihilating of the gender system i.e. women's subjugation, but look at men and women at the same level in society. Female bodies in Atwood's point of view have been captured in patriarchal societies. Female protagonists in the selected novels explain noticeable symbols of bodily nervousness. Female characters are mostly used as objects in Atwood's stories. Women are considered as a tool or toy, as if they have no feelings, opinions or rights of their own. Body in female characters plays an important role and it is symbol of sexuality. Female body in Atwood's selected stories is under the cruel dominance by male and that is what she always tries to portray under the sexual politics. This paper aims to illustrate sexual politics though female body in Atwood's selected works.

Info:

Periodical:

International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences (Volume 55)

Pages:

154-159

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.55.154

Citation:

E. Soofastaei and S. A. Mirenayat, "Female Body and Sexual Politics in Margaret Atwood's Selected Novels", International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Vol. 55, pp. 154-159, 2015

Online since:

July 2015

Authors:

Elaheh Soofastaei, Sayyed Ali Mirenayat

Keywords:

Female Body, Gender, Politics, Sexuality, Silence, Victimization

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Open Access

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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