Woolfs Advice for the Woman Artist :: Virginia Woolf, A Room of Ones Own

Women who want to escape the cross out woman author (as opposed to writer--the manly norm) leave had to write like one of the boys, de-sexing themselves. Super-feminine lady writers, if they stick to their good nook, will be both(prenominal) praised and despised for doing what comes naturally. But the woman writer who refuses these categories blows the scheme sky-high and incurs the ire of the gods. (Michele Roberts in The Independent, 1997)Perhaps more than whatever other late-twentieth century British woman writer, Jeanette Winterson has taken to heart Woolfs advice in A Room of Ones knowledge that a woman must have money and a elbow room of her own if she is to write fiction (4), only when Winterson has also, as Michele Roberts points out, incurred the wrath of the ethnical gods as a result. Winterson has used her literary and financial success to desexualise a life centered approximately her work and her concerns-- much to the fascination and horror of the British l iterary psychiatric hospital and popular press. Winterson challenges the established rules of writing, publishing, reviewing--in sum, the heathenish expectations for the woman workman in British guild--constructing her life in state to argue against, as Woolf does in AROO, two heathen myths that the artist female genitalia remain aloof from the material concerns undeniable for the production of art, and that gender and its bid sociable roles do not check the production of that art. Continually re-inserting her body, her gender, and her expectant into their portrait, Winterson wrestles with the British press and literary establishment for the right to construct her social role-- and live her life--on her own terms.In hobby Woolfs advice for the woman writer, then, Winterson has struck a nerve in British culture, and the populace response she elicits, I will argue, illustrates the persistence of gendered and class-based expectations for a woman artist in Britain today. Instead of tolerating Winterson as another Martin Amis or, in one reviewers comparison, excusing her fashion as comparable to gaga Papa Hemingways bravado (Faulks 9), the press presents Wintersons in spades un-feminine and nouveaux riche behavior with a combining of fascination and ire. Indeed, she is taken to task for the precise circumstances which have allowed her to recrudesce her art. Winterson may have garnered the proverbial L500 and a room of her own, but her self-presentation and her resulting theatrical performance in the British press move on us to revisit Woolfs advice and cultural analysis of the woman artist in a patriarchal society with a contemporary eye.Woolfs Advice for the Woman Artist Virginia Woolf, A Room of Ones declareWomen who want to escape the label woman writer (as opposed to writer--the masculine norm) have had to write like one of the boys, de-sexing themselves. Super-feminine lady writers, if they stick to their nice nook, will be both praise d and despised for doing what comes naturally. But the woman writer who refuses these categories blows the scheme sky-high and incurs the wrath of the gods. (Michele Roberts in The Independent, 1997)Perhaps more than any other late-twentieth century British woman writer, Jeanette Winterson has taken to heart Woolfs advice in A Room of Ones Own that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction (4), but Winterson has also, as Michele Roberts points out, incurred the wrath of the cultural gods as a result. Winterson has used her literary and financial success to secure a life centered around her work and her concerns-- much to the fascination and horror of the British literary establishment and popular press. Winterson challenges the established rules of writing, publishing, reviewing--in sum, the cultural expectations for the woman artist in British society--constructing her life in order to argue against, as Woolf does in AROO, two cultural myths that the artist can remain aloof from the material concerns necessary for the production of art, and that gender and its attendant social roles do not influence the production of that art. Continually re-inserting her body, her gender, and her capital into their portrait, Winterson wrestles with the British press and literary establishment for the right to construct her social role-- and live her life--on her own terms.In following Woolfs advice for the woman writer, then, Winterson has struck a nerve in British culture, and the public response she elicits, I will argue, illustrates the persistence of gendered and class-based expectations for a woman artist in Britain today. Instead of tolerating Winterson as another Martin Amis or, in one reviewers comparison, excusing her behavior as comparable to old Papa Hemingways bravado (Faulks 9), the press presents Wintersons decidedly un-feminine and nouveaux riche behavior with a combination of fascination and ire. Indeed, she is taken to task for the very circumstances which have allowed her to produce her art. Winterson may have garnered the proverbial L500 and a room of her own, but her self-presentation and her resulting representation in the British press encourage us to revisit Woolfs advice and cultural analysis of the woman artist in a patriarchal society with a contemporary eye.