Elaine Showalter and Feminism

Elaine Showalter, an American literary critic, feminist, and writer on cultural and social issues, is one of the founders of feminist literary criticism in United States academia, developing the concept and practice of gynocritics.[4] Showalter coined the term 'gynocritics' to describe literary criticism based in a feminine perspective. Her A Literature of Their Own is a typical example.
In her analysis of the historical development, Showalter presents three important stages of women's writing. First, the imitation of the mainstream literary tradition: second, the protest against the standards of this dominant tradition concerning social values and rights: and third, self-discovery which aims at a search for identity. Showalter identifies these stages as Feminine, Feminist and Female[3]. The Feminine period covers the years between 1840-1889; the Feminist period 1890-1920, and the Female period starts in 1920 and comes to the 1960s. It continues with its renewal of perspectives with the advent of the women's movement after the 1960s. Showalter's contribution to the feminist criticism centres on her rediscovery of the forgotten women writers falling into these stages.
Feminists‟ mission is to end all forms of exploitation & injustice against the women. They have a moral obligation to combat against tyranny and subjugation. In order to accomplish feminism's objectives it may be inevitable to oppose religion and economic exploitation, but not intrinsic. Their goal is only to oppose oppression, exploitation and injustice. Feminists advocate social, political & economical rights for women equal to men.