Increasing the visibility of women in the cultural space is essential to ensure a positive impact on public policies and a more balanced representation of men’s and women’s lives and views. The strategies to overcome general inequality and discrimination toward women in writing activities will be discussed in detail below. For the purposes of the essay, it is required to reveal the content of the concepts of class, gender, race, and the relationship of these phenomena with women’s subsequent production of culturally significant projects. The creation of autobiographical literary works for women from different countries allows them to declare their autonomous selves, which is also crucial for the visibility of women.
Due to women’s low status in a male-dominated society, the heritage of women’s writing has been largely overlooked. There are still many areas of literature where men write the vast majority of works. It is no longer possible to be guided by the gender roles relevant in the past, according to which women performed the auxiliary function of the care providers. The dominant cultural gaze has been established as the ‘universal’ male gaze since males have historically been the artists, authors, filmmakers, and active agents behind art’s canon. However, the assumption that the male view is universal cannot be considered valid. Readers and the world as a whole need a woman’s gaze with its keen observation, attention to everyday trifles, detachment from political passions, but at the same time sensitivity to the severe problems of private life. The existence of only one masculine gaze narrows the opportunities for self-realization for women; they are forced to adopt the dominant male position, even though it may differ from the feminine one.
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role that encompasses a set of actions and attitudes that are typically accepted, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their biological or perceived sex. Gender stereotypes can lead to unequal and unfair treatment based on a person’s gender. Some people believe that women should care for the children, cook, and clean the house while men handle the finances, work on the car, and maintain the house. Although such a distribution of roles may be entirely justified in some families because it is convenient for both partners, the woman’s role cannot be reduced to housekeeping.
Among the misogynistic books in which women are represented within traditional sexist constructions are For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Women by Charles Bukowski, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It is annoying that the popularity of such literary works is contributing to the reinforcement of sexism. The models of female behavior imposed in these books do not consider the voices of women themselves.
In recent years, there has even been a tendency for men to “pretend” to be women, for example, so that their thrillers sell better. Not being the bearers of experience, they (men) nevertheless appear as allies and opinion leaders. Mansplaining, which dominates in the everyday sphere of life and in the writers’ environment, needs to end. An attempt to explain to a woman how she should feel cannot be justified logically; women should speak in their voices and be heard.
Women have long played a vital role in the fight for social justice. Black women face structural oppression due to both their race and gender, which can serve as an essential framework for more critical discussions about the protracted civil rights campaign. Only the subjects of oppression themselves can speak and write about this because this is their personal experience, which is fully known only to themselves.
The books written by women on racism are mainly autobiographical. Women declare to the world the importance of their lives and the existence of their problems. For example, in the book Women, Race & Class, Angela Y. Davis talks about the impact of gender, racism, and classism on freedom and the movement for women’s equality. In her Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot, Mikki Kendall highlights the challenges poor people, black people, and women face and how these same people are not supported in radical change movements. If there is a ban on women writing studies on gender, racism, and other pressing issues, then the world will never know what about half of the world’s population has to deal with every day. Therefore, it is necessary to provide women with the opportunity for non-discriminatory free speech.
An autobiographical work is a statement about the uniqueness of an individual’s experience. It is a process of separating oneself from others and giving meaning to one’s story. However, until the early 1980s, women’s autobiographies did not stand out as a genre in the academic environment. The reason for this was the previously indicated dominance of the male gaze. However, the writing of autobiographical works helps to destroy the mainstream notions of identity. Through “expressing” protests and stimulating critical thinking, especially in the context of social oppression, structural violence, and political transition, Dissident writings of Arab women: Voices against Violence examines how women’s writings provide models for social justice. Thus, women writing autobiographical works not only reflect on their experiences but also invite readers to familiarize themselves with alternative ways of perceiving the past and current reality.
A topic not yet covered in this essay is women writing works under masculine names or using gender-neutral stereotypes. Indeed, someone may disagree with the presented arguments in favor of the need to hear female voices in literature and the cultural space in general. History knows cases when women created works of literature under male pseudonyms. The Brontë sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are famous poets and novelists. Like many contemporary female writers, they initially published their poems and novels under male pseudonyms: Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. The most successful writer of this century, JK Rowling, adopted gender-neutral names to ensure Harry Potter’s appeal to male readers. In modern market realities, such use can be economically justified, as indicated in the article “Why do women write under men’s names?” published on the BBC website. However, the usage of pseudonyms reinforces patriarchal and misogynist views.
The publication of works under the name, for example, of a woman’s husband, is also fraught with danger. For example, Tim Burton’s film Big Eyes tells the husband’s story, who appropriated the authorship of his wife’s paintings. It is necessary to realize that the desire to hide creativity behind a man’s name is the path of unconscious support for the patriarchy. Certainly, for security reasons, such denial of authorship is possible. However, still, women should speak out in public, exhibit their work and declare their importance as individuals.
Thus, women should be guaranteed the opportunity to speak about their experiences openly. Therefore, it will be possible to conduct discussions that include a new look at the current crucial issues. Freedom to speak and write will give way to unprecedented initiatives to eradicate sexism and, more globally, patriarchy. The most important among literary genres will be autobiographical works that focus on women’s unique experiences.