So what have I been doing today?
oh, this..

As far as many feminists are concerned, all centuries prior to the twenty-first portrayed women in fiction in a sexist light, as female characters were either written by men, or written in a time when men held precedence over the ideals portrayed in said fiction. There are some obvious exceptions: Austen, Woolf and Bronte all being perfect representatives of such, but it was the ideals, as opposed to the author’s, which stirred the pot regarding female stereotypes, and which helped woman gain headway on the path to equality. Sexuality is one of the most double-sided swords in literature, and modern society, as the way woman and their bodies are presented in the media is often reflected and refracted down the line until it reaches everyday people, and their impressionable minds. Sexuality is, however, not necessarily a negative thing for women, because although it is not always expressed in a positive way, (phallic-centred pornography, the weak-willed Eve in Theology and Sirens in Mythology) it can be a positive and empowering tool for women. In the novels To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon and Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood, the double-standard of female sexuality is examined, as each female protagonist relies upon their sexuality as a means of empowerment and fulfillment in their lives, and as a tool to control those around them. The role of these women and the degree’s of the ‘sex’ in their sexuality differs in each respective environment, but each woman weaves a spell over those around them, and are continuously perceived as inhuman by those in their lives. Of course each woman is only human, each flawed, and the main flaw in each is their extreme need to be needed, as their role as the satisfier of other’s needs, whether they be sexual or maternal, is a role that they require to feel complete, and useful. Unfortunately this need to be needed backtracks on feminism, as the women want to be put in these roles - as the seductress, or the mother figure - but they cannot be condemned for feeling empowerment and strength in their seemingly degrading roles, as long as those roles give them empowerment and strength of some sort.



It is a common misconception in society that a woman giving love or re-assurance does not gain any reciprocated satisfaction, but each woman in the three aforementioned works of literature defy that misconception. The comfort of putting one’s children to bed, appeasing each individual child’s wants and desires, and putting them to sleep with happy thoughts in their heads is satisfaction in itself; despite the fact that the word ‘sexuality’ immediately brings to mind an image of a voluptuous, scantily clad woman, sexuality also is closely associated to the word ‘power’, which almost instantaneously brings to mind an image of a man. Power is not exclusive to politics, or the phalace, and a mesmerizingly beautiful and alluring woman can carry with her a power and sexuality which blends into a hybrid, a strength that is revolutionary, and addictive.


The beautiful and apparently ageless character, Mrs. Ramsay, from Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, is an example of a woman who wields her lovely nature and appearance as a means to self-sufficiency and strength, and cast’s a spell of sexuality on those around her, but does not use her sexually in an explicit manner. Although her lack of promiscuity may be a direct result of the time period in which she was conjured, that period being early twentieth century, Mrs. Ramsay in the most romantic of the three different characters, and has a grace which is widely acknowledged, as even roaming poets herald her as “the Helen of [her] days” (P33) (alluding to the simultaneously beautiful and destructive Helen of Troy, from Greek Mythology). Mrs. Ramsay’s rapturous qualities are effortless, as she does not seduce those around her with anything but her kindness and her physical beauty: even the visiting male-supremist Charles Tansley is awe-struck by her presence, and looks upon her as “the most beautiful person he ha[s] ever seen” (P20). Additionally, the slightly condescending feminist painter Lily Briscoe cannot help but see Mrs. Ramsay and be “in love with her” (P26), and “in love with it all” (P26) ; “it all” refers to Mrs. Ramsay’s family, and her lifestyle, but it is not the superficially ideal family that it appears to be to smitten visitors: Mrs. Ramsay can only stand so much of her husband’s arrogant and condescending attitude, which he uses to bring others down and therefore elevate himself, and is infuriated so much that she looks at him and see’s an “odious little man” (P21). At other times, Mrs. Ramsay is nothing but contentedly obedient towards her husband, as the character she embodies while partaking in his fantasy can be anything, in one instance silent, as Mrs. Ramsay pretends to be “[reading] a book” [P128], while Mr. Ramsay revels in “man’s strength and sanity” (P129). Mrs. Ramsay knows that her consent “fortifie[s] [him]’ (P128) and “fill[s] [him]” (P128), and that is why she does what he wants and makes him feel good about himself, because the fact that he is empty and self-conscious without her, and the fact that he needs her to be complete, is the satisfaction that Mrs. Ramsay needs as well. It seems ironic that in a story where there seems to be such effortless beauty and rapture, that there is such starving need, and a need for that need; but every deity has an Achilles heel, and fault is inevitable. The extremity of Mrs. Ramsay’s fault –her desire to be a “strong influence” (68) on those around her – is best exemplified through her relationship, or lack thereof, with Mr. Carmichael. Mr. Carmichael is not overwhelmed by Mrs. Ramsay’s good looks, and “does not trust her” (P47), unlike virtually everyone around her. The fact that Mr. Carmichael never accepts Mrs. Ramsay’s offers, which seem trivial at face value, is an example of his dismissal of her, which is why Mrs. Ramsay so desperately seeks his approval. Although Mrs. Ramsay attributes her obsession with being in his favour to “some demons” (P47), it is really her need to be accepted, worshipped, or even acknowledged, that makes her so frantic. This specific infatuation of Mrs. Ramsay’s, her desire to be the person that makes one feel as if they “could do anything” (P87), is that which drives her to always maintain her position as the mother, as the kind temptress, and it is the same desire that is also present in Katje Bourgeoisie, who plays a more literal seductress in the novel Gravity’s Rainbow.


Where Mrs. Ramsay is the rapture of a rose, Katje Bourgeoisie is the allure of adultery; Mrs. Ramsay is beautiful in a way that can be admired, and absorbed in a more metaphysical manner, whereas Katje puts the sex in sexuality, and needs to be tasted and enjoyed physically by those around her. Katje is written as a sexual chameleon, a mystery of a woman, who changes with each need her client or lover desires. That ability to adapt is the reason why Katje is such a formidable asset in the war (world war two ((capitalized?)) ), which the novel is more or less centred around. Katje is involved with various parties and sides during the war, “The White Visitation” being the most prominent, and is physically beneficial to said organizations, due to the fact that she can manipulate and access information from others. Katje is never trusted because no one truly understands why she does what she does, as she seems to “play at playing” (P99); her first few appearances in the story are brief, but she makes a very strong impact as an eerily beautiful woman in an “incredibly phallic environment” (P100). Katje image of a fulfilled woman is first tainted when her sexual exploits with a man named Blicero are examined, and her lack of “emotional commitment” (P99) is noted, as well of that fact that the fantasy that she takes part in it largely a “preserving routine against the war” (P98). Katje’s beauty makes her feel liberated, and on a number of occasions she revels in the fact that she can seem “beautiful and frail” (P198) to those around her, but really be completely separate from her beauty in a way that no one else seems to comprehend. Although many of her companions “love her desperately” (P106), there is only one for whom the feeling are reciprocated, and that is the novel’s protagonist, Tyrone Slothrop. Slothrop is a man whose penis is of great interest to those involved in the war, as there seems to be a correlation between his erections and the release of bombs, and Katje is the women sent in to examine ‘the weapon’. When she is with Slothrop, Katje does not feel the need to create the fantasies and lies that she weaves with everyone else she associates with, and that is why their relationship is so special, and unique. After Katje and Slothrop see each other for the last time, Katje dives back into the fantasies, as it is the only thing that is “real, and pure” (P237) in her life. While playing the role of a Dominatrix Katje’s numbness is first exposed, as she is jealous of her sexual partner, a man who is “bound by nothing but his need for pain” (P237). Despite the fact that Katje seems like she is the one being used, she is capable of manipulation, and thrives off of the need that men like Pudding have for her, ever though it exists on a mainly delusional and physical level. It is through her sexual relations that Katje makes herself feel useful, and feel complete, and even though it is a negative way to do so, it is a way nonetheless.


Chronologically speaking, each character is the most similar to the one that precedes them, as Mrs. Ramsay of the early Nineteen-hundreds resembles Katje more than she does Elaine Risley from Cat’s Eye, and Katje of the middle of the Nineteen-hundreds resembles Mrs. Ramsay and Elaine, but Elaine and Mrs. Ramsay do not have as much in common. (I hate this sentence) In accordance with that, Elaine and Katje are similar in their nihilistic tendencies, and the physical avenue’s that they both go down to try and fill an internal emptiness. Elaine’s need to be needed is the most blatant in the novel, at least in terms of each woman’s acceptance; Mrs. Ramsay beats around the bush, and Katje is vague, but Elaine admits that she is in “love with [a lover’s] need” (P318). Elaine combats feelings of alienation and loneliness with the fleshy satisfaction of men, and in moments of despair she ache’s for “any man [she] knows” (P18). If Elaine was a different person – a less attractive woman like her friend Cordelia, for example – then she would have more trouble attaining the temporary pleasure of a man, but she has a power and sexuality that is unrivalled by all the other female characters in Cat’s Eye. Elaine doesn’t lure men in with her kind nature or feminine looks, but with her mysterious and introverted personality that always leaves those around her hungry for more; her power is not exclusive to men, or sex, and by ignoring childhood bullies she just becomes more attractive to them, and they need her, “and try to lure [her] back” (P208), but are unsuccessful. Even though she has a life in which relationships with men are always “effortless” (P287), and that she goes as far as marrying a man who is “incomplete in his need” (P344), just so that she can be needed, and be revived, it still isn’t enough. Elaine continuously takes part in activities laced with masochism as a means of having “something to hold onto” (P120). The life drawing class that she enrols in as a young adult is a representation of her lifelong relationships with men, as she is unusual to the boys: she isn’t their “old lad[ies] (P323), and to her teacher and eventual lover, Josef Hrbik, she is “silent, and mysterious” (P325), which he finds very appealing. Elaine eventually manipulates Josef’s obsession with her, and uses cruelty to feel empowerment, telling him after he asks that she “would[n’t] do anything for [him]” (325). The way in which Elaine uses her power is very different from Mrs. Ramsay and Katje, as Mrs. Ramsay act’s mostly for the sake of others, but Katje acts simultaneously for the satisfaction of others and herself. Elaine is the most selfish of the three, and most of her actions and self-beneficial, as her relationships and actions all reflect her trying to fill different aspects of herself. Each woman does fill the need of others for themselves, but it varies to different degrees, and Elaine’s selfishness is definitely the most predominant.


Blah blah blah closing paragraph. Each woman acts to fufill other’s needs while truly filling their own: each is threatened by those who retract from them/take away their power: for Mrs. Ramsay it’s Mr. Carmichael, for Elaine it’s Mrs. Smeath, and for Katje it’s for herself.


Women and sexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/