Christianity Commons^™

Feminism In Peril: Contending With The F-Word, Melanie Springer Mock

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Excerpt: "I was thrilled.

My senior thesis, an essay exploring the theme of oppression in several women’s novels, had been accepted for presentation at a literature conference. In college, I had been more a “dumb jock” than a scholar, and so the acceptance represented for me not only personal transformation from athlete to intellectual, but also external affirmation. Perhaps I was a good student and writer after all.

But then the conference program arrived, and I discovered my essay would be included in a panel titled “Feminism in Literature.” My delight waned. “I’m not a feminist,” I wailed to my …