ENG 200: Critical Reading & Writing Literature
In Vision Out of the Corner of One Eye, we are introduced to a short and poignant display of sexual assault. A woman on a bus is being groped by a man she is standing next to. The author lets audiences see through the eyes of a woman in situations like these. It’s a risky situation, we hope that no one will have to go through times like these. We are commonly told that the best thing to do is to remain calm. It’s the juxtaposition of the whole thing really. To remain calm when being assaulted, out of fear of what the man can do to you.
When reading the Dobie text, were introduced to feminist criticism. Defined as, “the premise that unites those who call themselves feminists critics is the assumption that Western culture is fundamentally patriarchal, creating an imbalance of power that marginalizes women and their work” (Dobie pg 104). The author, Luisa Valenzuela, conveys this ideology in her writing. The power imbalance that women face today in a patriarchal society. Dobie compares queer theory and feminist criticism as fundamentally marginalized in all aspects of culture. It has rooted itself in our ideology, religion, government, education, philosophy, economics, and literature. Feminist criticism and queer theory work to expose the ideology working toward an end goal of appreciating everyone fully. Valenzuela presents this in Vision out of the corner of one eye when we see through the eyes of a woman powerless to a man’s force.
In the end, she got her revenge. The woman in the story returned the favor to the man and put her hand in his pack pocket, as we later discover she stole his wallet. Personally, I think the man deserved a kick in the crotch as well, but to each their own. This shows the double standard. Men think its “okay” to publicly assault a woman and not expect any consequences after the fact.
When studying feminist critics, they are categorized into three groups: Study of Difference, Study of Power, and Study of Female Experience. Valenzuela provides an example of the difference of female writing from male writing. In the patriarchal society that we live in our human experiences are categorized into two groups, the male and female experiences. Since Valenzuela is a female writer, she is able to convey the female experience through her eyes when male writers do not share similar experiences. She describes the second-guessing from the woman on the bus. Questioning whether the man’s intentions were purely accidental, and then quietly moving away from him. Showing her silence in the situation and her attempts to avoid conflict are common female experiences that men do not experience. In hopes to reject the notion of male norms, the authors attempt to dismantle the gender stereotypes that were placed upon us. Common ones show men as intellectual compared to women as emotional. Breaking that barrier, the woman steals from the man showing her cunning intelligence. Allowing recognition of women’s abilities that goes beyond the norms.
The third aspect is the power aspect that women were pushed into. Feminist criticism and Marxism are commonly intertwined together. In marxism, the bourgeois is on top of the capitalist society ruling over the proletariat, the labor power. While feminist criticism transforms that definition and compares it to men on top of the patriarchal society placing women in the proletariat class. The Dobie text defined the study of power as, “the economic system is at the root of the inequitable relationship and thus attack both the economic and social exploitation of women” (Dobie pg. 117). In the story, we see the man take advantage of the woman beside him regardless of her rights and consent in a public setting.
When reviewing the text, we can see the misogyny presented in society. Misogyny is presented as the negative attitudes and behaviors presented towards women, the majority of the time being men as they see a sense of power over them. The dangers of the misogynistic behaviors in our patriarchal society harm innocent women who are caught in the crossfire of men’s actions. Although there are some men who assault women, not all display the essence of misogyny. Since everyone is different in their own way, they are molded and shaped by the environment around them otherwise known as social constructivists. Those who harm others were brought up in an environment where that was the norm, thus not seeing the negative consequences of their actions.
Valenzuela provides a short and concise piece on the realities of being a woman. The woman on the bus was not dressing provocatively, or actively talking to the man, she was taking a ride on the bus. Making the point of view from the woman’s perspective reflects the title of the story, Vision Out of the Corner of One Eye. As she can not make any sudden movements to provoke the man, she can only see him from the corner of one eye. Yet throughout this whole ordeal, no words are spoken to each other. The man does not speak to the woman before be assaults her and does not speak to her after. The silent, and seemingly endless, interaction adheres to the man’s morals. We can see from this that through the writing men hold themselves to be far more superior in both social and political positions, enough to possess a man to do such a thing to an innocent woman on the bus.
Maya Young 