In the landmark essay, "The Laugh of the Medusa", feminist philosopher Helene Cixous explores the subject of feminine writing. Her primary argument is that women should not shy away from writing, despite historical attempts to exclude them from this domain. The essay itself serves as an exemplar of what feminine writing could look like.
Cixous posits that throughout history, women have been discouraged from writing and when they did, their work was often dismissed as "nonsense". She encourages women to "write women", characters that are conceived and authored by women, not men. Women, Cixous argues, must reject the alienating images of themselves projected by men, images that have historically deterred them from writing and undermined their self-worth. Even when women did write, they often adopted a male perspective, leading to a deeply phallocentric narrative in Western literature.
In "The Laugh of the Medusa", Cixous suggests that women should engage in writing both at a personal and a historical level. On a personal level, writing enables women to reconnect with their bodies and feel comfortable within them. The censorship of women's writing, she argues, is akin to the censorship of the female body. Writing, according to Cixous, helps women reclaim their assets and pleasures which have been constricted, freeing them from guilt. On a broader, historical level, a woman's writing signifies her active participation in history as an agent of change.
Cixous also contends that women inherently possess the ability to nurture others without causing harm. This capacity for non-destructive love enables women to better understand other human beings, particularly other women.
As historical entities, women have always occupied multiple roles. This, Cixous believes, equips them with the potential to dismantle the unified, hegemonic, and organized narrative of history. A woman's personal history intertwines with national and global narratives, connecting all women. Cixous resists defining what constitutes feminine writing, as any such categorization will inevitably succumb to the constraints of the phallocentric system.
Cixous acknowledges that women cannot completely avoid using men's language, but they shouldn't be deterred by this. If women have historically been positioned as the antithesis of men, it is time for them to carve out a new position within discourse and make the signifier their own. For Cixous, any feminine text is inherently subversive. Women can write from a perspective that is inaccessible to men.
