First wave feminism..is it for every woman?

As we discuss The Awakening and the radical ideas of this novel (at least for the time period when it was released), we need to be more critical of our understanding of first wave feminism. In class a student mentioned that feminism had not even began by the time that this novel was released.  First wave feminism actually began around the time that Kate Chopin was born. The Seneca Falls convention for gender equality occurred in 1848— 50 years before The Awakening  was released. This does not mean that feminism was as popular as it is today, but it is wrong to think that there were no feminist groups before this novel came out.

Having that said, we need to move on from first wave feminism and begin thinking of critical race feminism. Kate Chopin writes about motherhood and how not everyone was meant to become a mom—this alludes to the pro-choice movement started by Margaret Sanger. She founded the first birth control clinic in 1916. First wave feminists idolize her, whereas critical race feminists critique the political strategies that she used. Margaret Sanger has been praised for her ties to the Eugenics movement and the KKK. People thought this was a political strategy to obtain rights over women’s bodies. However, women of color have faced forced sterilization and Margaret Sanger was known to have ties to the groups that pushed for Eugenics. The Awakening is rich in its understandings of sexual liberation, but it also follows first wave feminist rhetoric that focused on the reproductive rights of white women.

I would argue that while The Awakening follows some of the rhetoric of first wave feminists, Kate Chopin shows a fluid understanding of sexuality. As a gay man, I related to this story because I understood the social stigma behind different kinds of sexualities—for Edna it meant having sexual pleasure in a world that constricted her to the de-sexualized role of motherhood.

Her relationship to Adele Ratignolle was also an interesting take on relationships and friendship. Chopin writes: “Who can tell what metals the gods use in forging the subtle bond which we call sympathy, which we might as well call love” (p . 18). This was written about Edna’s affection to Adele and they are later on holding hands at the beach. A queer reading of this episode would imply that Edna might have allowed herself to feel romantic feelings towards Adele; this, however, was not further developed in the novel. But it’s an interesting episode that makes me wonder if Edna might have been bi-sexual.

I am interested to see the opinions of others on Edna’s role as a mother. Do people demonize her for not having nurturing feelings towards her children? Or do people see Edna as someone who was forced into the role of motherhood, and it is ok for women not to want to be mothers. 

-Ruben