Feminist Feminism The Street By Ann Petry Essay

Looking at this from a feminist theoretical lens, liberal feminism plays a major role throughout the novel The Street by Ann Petry. Women are being seen as sexually objectified throughout the novel. In other words, â€Å"women are being viewed primarily as an object of male sexual desire.† (Wiki, 2016) Martha Nussbaum (1995, 257) has provided several ideas pertaining to the act of treating a person as an object, which includes; the idea of giving the person no self-worth, stripping them of their freedom and showing ownership over them. (Lina, 2015) Rae Langton adds to this by saying the treatment of the person by their appearance, removing their freedom of speech and identifying them as a means to use their body/body parts. (Lina, 2015) I know that there were many events leading to the rise of feminism such as, the first women’s right convention in 1848 which was held in Seneca Falls. Which outlines the grievances and sets the agenda for the women s rights movement. (WHMN, 1920) In 1917 Arkansas allowed women to vote in the primary elections, and in June, woman picketers were arrested with charges for obstructing sidewalk traffic. They were released in November, because of the public outcry and the inability to stop the National Woman’s Party picketers’ hunger strike. (WHMN, 1920) It is because of these strong, independent and determined woman that we have all the rights that we as woman have today. John Storey explores the emergence of feminism in ‘Western society