Catherine Mackinnon's First-Wave Feminism Analysis

First-wave feminism sought for a loosened grip that men had on women and their lives, including property ownership, refusal to have sex with their husbands and other basic civil rights that were withheld at the time. This first-wave prefigured a second and third wave that would entitle women to have complete authority over their own lives and bodies. Catherine MacKinnon says in her article Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: An Agenda for Theory that “Sexuality is to feminism what work is to Marxism, that which is most one’s own, yet most taken away” (MacKinnon). In saying this MacKinnon believes that “central to feminist theory” is that women need to raise their consciousness and “confront the reality of women’s condition by examining

Echoing what Catherine MacKinnon states, Mrs. Forrester forfeits her sexuality, which is entirely hers to forfeit, in hopes that she can gain sovereignty in her own life following her marriage to a millionaire man that was murdered by another man. This cyclical male dominance in her life is indicative of the patriarchal oppression that women of the early twentieth century would have felt. A Lost Lady revolves around Marian Forrester’s sexuality and beauty, which are on display throughout, as she is described as an angelic “white figure” (Cather, 11) and “lovely, just lovely” (30). These descriptions come from Niel Herbert, a young male law clerk, that has been enamored by Mrs. Forrester since he was a young boy. Marian’s portrayal is sexualized early on as the young boys listen to her intently as she describes “I wade down there myself sometimes, when I go down to get flowers. I can’t resist it. I pull off my stockings and pick up my skirts, and in I go!” (11). This sexualization personifies the romantic idea of the West and the American frontier. Marian is married to Captain Forrester, the railroad tycoon, that has helped create a great American frontier and she utilizes his position to rise in society. Cather seems to believe that through wealth and power that women can gain