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Beyond Conventional Feminism
There are a number of reasons why contemporary feminists would find fault with Island of the Sequined Love Nun, a novel published in 1997 by author Christopher Moore which may be considered an example of postmodern literature due to the variety of subjects, cultures, and sexual orientations it deals with (Powell 1). The book is largely told through the male perspective of a fairly certified womanizer, Tucker Case. Subsequently, women are consistently objectified throughout this work, mostly in the author's attempt to be humorous. Yet the central notion that would more than likely present a problem for feminists who are reviewing this novel would be the conception of beauty as it applies to women that the author portrays throughout the text. Most contemporary feminists would strongly object to the notion that a woman is only beautiful or desirable when she is "made up" in a manner that is considered attractive to a male perspective. The vast majority of feminist thought has largely striven to present its own definitions of femininity and the beauty of a woman's image on her own terms, which have relatively little to do with the conceptions of those of the opposite sex. A careful examination of Moore's novel, augmented by references and quotations from additional texts steeped in feminist thought, pointedly reveals that feminists would rather vehemently object to Island of the Sequined Love Nun due to its reinforcement of the stereotype that women must objectify their bodies and adhere to traditional male perceptions of desirability to be deemed attractive.
In order to readily demonstrate the veracity of this thesis, it first becomes necessary to provide adequate definitions of contemporary feminism, which is largely considered the epoch spanning from the midway point or the latter stages of the 20th century into the 21st century. A fairly comprehensive definition can be provided in the following quotation, in which it is stated that feminism "aims to examine women's oppression, expose the dynamics of male domination and female subordination, and, guided by that analysis, fight for women's liberation" (Mackie). One of the most salient points made in the preceding definition is in relation to the nature of male domination and female subordination. It may be argued that a large part of such domination and subordination may be due to the roles in which women are perceived, particularly in what constitutes a woman being considered attractive.
Furthermore, this quotation also implies that there is a relationship between the oppression of women and this regard for their beauty that is largely determined by a male perspective. This notion is largely underpinned by the following quotation.
We are in the midst of a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women's advancement: the beauty myth. It is the modern version of a social reflex that has been in force since the Industrial Revolution. As women released themselves from the feminine mystique of domesticity, the beauty myth took over its lost ground, expanding as it waned to carry on its work of social control (Wolf 10).
This quotation is largely important in regards to the fact that it suggests that the utilization of male perspectives of women's beauty is used as a form of "social control." Such control may be evidenced within Island of the Sequined Love Nun both in the depiction and portrayal of The Sky Priestess, who utilizes her half-naked, cosmetically enhanced beauty to actually control the notions and opinions of the islanders.
The male perspective of female beauty dominates throughout Moore's novel, in forms that are both obvious and subtle. In some of the passages, the author himself may not have even been aware that he was presenting a rigid, male-oriented view of female beauty. But as the following quotation certainly denotes, he definitely was presenting the representation of a woman's desirability largely through traditional male proclivities of attraction.
The Seattle Airport Holiday Inn was all hunter green, brass rails, and oak veneer. Remove the bar and it looked like Macy's men's department. It was one in the morning and the bartender, a stout, middle-aged Hispanic woman, was polishing glasses and waiting for her last three customers to leave so she could go home. At the end of the bar a young woman in a short skirt and too much makeup sat alone. Tucker Case sat next to a businessman several stools down (Moore).
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