Blank Feminism: Reading Bret Easton Ellis’ "American Psycho" in a Post-Feminist World
Open Access
- Author:
- Zinger, Kara Dean
- Area of Honors:
- English
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Rosa A Eberly, Thesis Supervisor
Rosa A Eberly, Thesis Supervisor
Janet Wynne Lyon, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- postmodernism
post-modernism
postfeminism
post-feminism
rape
violence against women
Mary Harron
Bret Easton Ellis
feminism
American Psycho
violence
banned books
satire
misogyny
anti-feminist
antifeminism - Abstract:
- Bret Easton Ellis’ novel <i>American Psycho</i> is notorious for its gruesome descriptions of rape, murder, and torture, particularly against women. After its controversial publication in 1991, many literary critics, prominent feminist leaders, and mainstream readers alike chose to simply dismiss Ellis as a deviant amateur and the novel as trash unworthy of further review; however, nearly twenty years later, the <i>American Psycho</i> franchise of books, films, and even an upcoming Broadway musical adaptation is still going strong. In this paper, I explain how <i>American Psycho</i> has firmly established its literary merit and transcended its original criticism of being nothing more than misogynist pulp fiction. I examine how Ellis goes about constructing violence in the novel (particularly against his female characters) and show that this violence is not merely gratuitous or pornographic but complexly crafted with a sophisticated satirical agenda. I also discuss how this very deliberate construction can be read in support of traditionally feminist ideals despite the overwhelming criticism leveraged against it claiming otherwise. Finally, I show how <i>American Psycho</i>, though at first seemingly anti-feminist itself, is a product of an emerging form of feminism borne as an adaptive and activist response to the underlying anti-feminist attitudes of post-feminism.