International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology, 2022, 4(3); doi: 10.25236/IJFS.2022.040308.
Xiao Yao
Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510420, China
Common oppression became the base for sisterhood in women writing during Second-wave feminism despite huge discrepancies. Written at a similar time, Top Girls (1982) and The Handmaid's Tale (1985) both present the problems of universal female solidarity. This essay will first explain how the differences sabotage sisterhood in both stories and how women's reactions to them further entrench those differences. And then, it further discusses the seemly unity both authors create by focusing on the pain in motherhood and finally concluding that the approach of reaching sisterhood with shared victimization in maternity is just another implication of patriarchy and that we should adopt a brighter and more diverse way of building solidarity.
Top Girls, The Handmaid's Tale, Sisterhood, Motherhood/ Maternity, Shared Victimization, Human Differences, Female Solidarity/Unity, Common Oppression, Second-Wave Feminism, Women Writing
Xiao Yao. The Problem of Substituting Differences in Sisterhood with Shared Victimization in Motherhood. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology (2022), Vol. 4, Issue 3: 48-51. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2022.040308.
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