Invisibility of Women - Literature analyses of “The Women Men Don’t See” by James Tiptree Jr. in compare and contrast to “Invisibility in Academe” by Adrienne Rich
Introduction
The two literary texts analyzed in this essay are centered on the subject of feminine rights, power, and gender equality. James Tiptree expresses disdain for male domination in his story ‘The Women Men Don’t See’. He is concerned with the blatant disregard for feminine rights and identity flaunted by male dominance. On the other hand, Adrienne Rich writes an account of the feminine struggles in the 19th and 20th centuries. In her article ‘Invisibility in Academe', she is concerned with the state of gender inequality and the consequent psychological effects on young women growing up in such a toxic cultural environment.
James Tiptree is a renowned female writer – Alice B. Sheldon – who writes the story from a patriarchal standpoint. The story explores the feminine attitudes, powers, and desire as seen and perceived by a male-biased society. The protagonist in the story, Ruth Parsons, represents the feminine values as seen in the eyes of the antagonist in the story Don Fenton. However, Adrienne Rich takes a different approach to the subject that eventually culminates to the same opinion of the patriarchal system. Unlike Tiptree who believes it is impossible to escape the patriarchal system, – maybe only in fantasy – Rich thinks the ‘invisibility' of women is ‘artificial' and can be undone. To put it simply, Rich believes that feminism can be used to amplify women’s’ power and visibility in the society. Tiptree, on the other hand, believes women will become ‘visible’ if they abandon the patriarchal system and beliefs.
“The Women Men Don’t See" by James Tiptree Jr. is a feminist science fiction short story. It suggests that women’s rights and power that were ignored by the patriarchal society should be visible by using different literature techniques. By Comparing and contrasting to the article “Invisibility in Academe” by Adrienne Rich, both texts speaks in one voice of the Feminist, but they both exhibit a different approach towards female gender invisibility. However, their purposes for writing these works are both to make women more visible.
Background Information
In the majority of many and different cultures and social set-ups in the world, men dominate the world. Women are expected to be weak, sensitive and soft in contrast to the powerful and aggressive men. In contemporary cultures around the world, a woman is still considered as someone who should always be supported by men, helped by men and be ruled by men. However, women no longer want to hide in men’s shadow anymore: they want a seat at the table of power and exercise command equal to that of the men. They want to be considered as powerful as men do. Tiptree employs various literary techniques to make it possible for the reader to see the women that men do not see. Tiptree’s work displays sharp contrast to the article “Invisibility in Academe” by Adrienne Rich, in that both texts speak in the voice of a Feminist, but approach the subject of invisibility from different perspectives. However, their purpose of writing is united: to make women more visible.
The use of metaphors and similes has been purposefully employed in Tiptree's story to build on the patriarch’s viewpoint of women in the society. The metaphor mother hen has repeatedly been used in the story to portray Ruth as being protective of her daughter Althea. When Don observes Ruth keeping the daughter at arm's length from the men, he believes ‘[he has ] Mrs. Parsons figured [out]now; [that she is] Mother Hen protecting [her] the only chick from male predators (6). This comment expresses Don’s criticism of Ruth’s behavior. Ruth is the mother Hen and Althea is the chick. The male predators, in this case, are the men – Don and Esteban. The metaphor refers to the men as sexual predators and Althea as unblemished by men's influence. In the story also, Don compares Ruth to "suiters", "aliens” and “animals”. Therefore he sees Ruth in many different lights but will not resort to the simplicity of referring to her as a woman or seeing her as such either. When Don first meets Ruth, he compares her to her ‘Ventura two-suiters, [which] like [her], [were] small, plain, and neutral’ (1). In fact, through Don’s patriarchal perspective, Ruth is portrayed as a soft, gentle and weak woman who can be handled by him like a “[suiter]”. When Ruth asks the aliens to take her away, he thinks she is “as alien as [the real aliens]” (25). Don classifies her as an ‘alien’ just because she chose to leave with them. He does not seem to come to terms with why ‘a woman [should choose] to live among unknown monsters, to say goodbye to her home, her world' (29). Ruth’s behavior, according to Don, is therefore like that of an alien to him, and when Ruth and her daughter finally leave with the aliens, he says they are ‘like two opossums’ (28). The opossum is an animal that looks like a big mouse with white face and two black small eyes. Similarly, the description of the aliens is also white skin with “black hollow dishes with vertical stripes” on their face (23). Thus, at that moment, Don thinks even Ruth's appearance is also transforming to an alien. Through this comparison Don makes of Ruth, it is evident that he sees Ruth as an object, an animal and even an "alien" but never as a woman. Ruth also thinks that all women are opossums. In her comment to Don, she compares the invisibility of the opossum to that of women: they are all over but are barely noticed. The writer uses this comment to show the extent of feminine invisibility.
Don’s perception of Ruth as an alien symbolizes how patriarchs view feminists in the contemporary settings. Ruth and Don are the protagonist and antagonist of this science fiction story respectively, and both of them symbolize actual people in the real society. Ruth is a very calm, independent and strong woman who does not need a man’s protection and expresses disdain for male domination – ‘Women have no rights except what men allow us’. She symbolizes the powerful feminist in the story and contemporary society. The feminist is against patriarchy since it does not consider their ‘so-called rights’ and views them as ‘property’ (20). Feminism believes that women are a soft power that never relies on the application of violence and would never accept domination by men: just like how Ruth treats Don in this story as she never abides by his instructions. In fact, she does not argue with him at all: always smiling when Don expects an excited reaction. She only relents when Don gets persistent: but even this ‘is delivered in a gray tone’ (20). In contrast, Don is an aggressive and arrogant man prone to violence. He represents the patriarchal society that always sees women regarding sex, weakness, and softness. In his mind, a woman is born to be dominated by men. Any woman who does not abide by the patriarchal system is alienated from society through negative connotative name labeling; ‘opossum’, ‘suiters’, ‘alien’. In worse case scenarios, the women in question get hurt as is seen in the story when Don carelessly discharges his weapon and ‘shoots [Ruth]’ when she refuses to stay with him in preference to leaving with the aliens (23). Leaving with aliens also has a deeper meaning. If Don is the patriarchal society, then getting away from him means escaping from the patriarchal society. When Ruth goes with the aliens, she says she does not “want to come back” (27): that shows how much she wants to get away from Don, almost like running away. However, this also symbolizes the inevitability of escaping from the patriarchal society since aliens are a fantasy used to create unrealistic hope in the story. So the conflict of interests between Don and Ruth is like gender conflicts between men and women in contemporary societies: sometimes they are against each other, but they can't get away from each other.
Rich’s article expresses a similar concept to that in Tiptree story: both texts demonstrate the invisibility of women and the efforts women employ to be visible. Even though both authors are feminist, they suggest two different approaches to dealing with invisibility. Tiptree suggests that women should escape the masculine world and be secluded from any influence of male patriarchy. Rich, on the other hand, suggests that women should stand up for what they believe in and make themselves visible to all in the world. Both authors, however, agree on the pain of being treated by a patriarchal society as invisible. Tiptree, through his protagonist, Ruth, comments how women are invisible. In the conversation, they can both recall a common person they know – a Mr. Wittig. However, Ruth laments that Mr. Wittig ‘wouldn't remember [her].' Even though Don assures her that maybe it’s her fault for not trying to be memorable, it is weak at best, since he also barely remembers the lady who worked faithfully for him for so many years. Rich also laments that despite the fact that “invisibility may seem a small price to pay," it has significantly negative psychological effects on the women. She further reiterates that keeping women’s ‘private lives private’ is a big task considering that those in the power of authority construct the social fabric of the society excluding women (198-199). Similarly, Tiptree hides her female identity to get the same respect and attention in the science fiction field as men. Rich describes this as “painful and dangerous” (199). It is so unfair for women to hide their strengths and opinions at the expense of men. This loss of self-identity makes them a question and doubt their abilities are culminating in ‘psychic disequilibrium (199): women end up feeling as though they do not exist and hence, invisible. However, once they reveal their ability, men perceive them as aliens.
Conclusion
Tiptree’s story describes a strong woman who stands up against the male patriarchy. The story is written from a male’s perspective. However, the story explores a majority of the events in a female context. By employing the use of literary devices such as similes, metaphors, and symbols, the author has successfully described the characters in the story to the reader. He has also developed the theme sufficiently to endorse his beliefs. The antagonist in the story represents the male patriarchal contemporary society while the protagonist has been used to represent the feminist in our society who has no voice and no stake at power. The author, through the protagonist, suggests the inevitability of running away from the male dominance in the society. He also expresses major concerns that both parties would only end up getting hurt if either decided to part ways. Rich also recognizes the fact that both genders should not exist without each other. She also shares Tiptree’s belief that women are just as capable as men. However, she believes that women should exercise their power to make themselves visible as opposed to propagating male dominance by ‘building their closets.' She, therefore, urges women to stand up and fight for their rights and to refrain from relying on the male patriarchal system to bestow it upon them. By comparing and contrasting Tiptree’s story to Rich’s article, both texts illustrate the invisibility of women, their rights, and strengths: however, both authors have a different approach towards a solution. Both authors have nonetheless succeeded in making women visible to their audience. The invisibility of women is a major issue since it affects more than half of the world’s population: that is women. Making women visible is therefore not just about making more people concerned about this critical issue, but rather endorsing the fact that women can just be as good as men.
Works Cited
Rich, Adrienne. "Invisibility in Academe." Rich, Adrienne. Blood, Bread, and Poetry. New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 1986. 198-201.
Tiptree, James. "The Women Men Don't See." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction December 1973: 1-29.
