Final words on Feminism

After doing my book report and being able to discuss feminist philosophy in class, I wanted to make a final point on my views in respect to that. I have had the time to see the philosophy from many perspectives: from non- feminists, radical feminists and equality feminists. I believe there is no feminist philosophy; however, I do believe there is a way to look at things from a feminist point of view when the matter is philosophical. I personally identify as an equality feminist; I believe in women's rights and changing the world for women. However, I also believe in delivering that equality to other repressed groups and people who suffer. I think from that alone I look at certain issues with that lens. However, I do not believe that there is a purely feminist way to look at things. If so, there would be issues that would be hard to recover and analyse depending on what kind of feminist you are.

I am proud to say I am a feminist who believes in looking at philosophical issues pertaining to others in a open minded sense. If you become closed minded and too narrow I believe you lack the ability to truly understand many things. After reading that book on different feminists, I believe that there are issues philosophically that I would take a feminist perspective on, like issues dealing with reproduction, health and personal rights; however, I do not think that there is a sole feminist philosophical perspective for everything.

Mental illness in literatrure

If any form of expression has a way of presenting the raw truth about mental illness it is literature. I know we spent a good amount of time in class talking about mental illnesses from a philosophical and scientific perspective; however, as an English Major with a Literature concentration, when I have come across the discussion and representation of mental illnesses it has been through books.

Some of my favorite books have been memoirs about the writer's mental illness, their battle with it and more often their hospitalization. For example, one of the books I really enjoyed is Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel, who details her life as a manic depressive student at Harvard University. She has an interesting approach to describing her illness; she refers to it as a "black wave" that covers her. However it is all very honest and blunt truth. Another writer who talks about living with borderline personality disorder in a more abstract manner is Susanna Kaysen, the writer of Girl Interrupted. All of the methods she uses to talk about her illness are metaphors like, "swallowing a dark secret". I found her description of her illness to be rather emotional and philosophical in the sense that throughout the book she analysizes her illness and other patients in a manner that relates it to the self as a whole.

I think literature is another major source to understand mental illnesses.