Riviere's Womanliness as a Masquerade

 

Riviere's Womanliness as a Masquerade

Joan Riviere was a British psychologist, a close friend, and colleague of Melanie Klein. She wrote her own highly influential papers on female sexuality and other topics, particularly Womanliness as a Masquerade (1929). In this paper, she deeply evaluates an area of sexual development in which femininity can be a mask used to hide rivalry with and hatred of men. Here, she explores fraudulent femininity in some women, not overtly homosexual but not entirely heterosexual. In this paper, she is trying to analyse the roots of this homosexual development in women.

Riviere's gives the idea that women who wish for masculinity may put on a mask of Womanliness to get free from anxiety and the retribution feared by men. She provides a clear explanation of this through a case study to support this claim: she says that Womanliness is assumed and worn as a mask both to hide the possession of masculinity and to avert the counterattack expected if found guilty of the crime. The essay holds its importance for it erases the difference between genuine Womanliness and masquerades. Another issue is the question of 'the essential nature of fully developed femininity.  Masquerade and Womanliness are used as a device to avoid anxiety. Therefore they should not be seen as primary modes of sexual pleasure. Suppose we sketch the early libido development of Womanliness as a mask. In that case, we can find that the womanly woman's reactions to both men and women lie in the little girl's response to her parents during the oral biting-sadistic phase.

Riviere depicts some clear examples of individuals who had problems with their relationship with a man due to their tattered relationship with their father. In some cases, Womanliness could be used as a mask to hide the possession of masculinity and avert retribution. It is as much as a thief will look into his pockets and ask to search to prove that he is innocent.

The article was deeply, deeply mind-striking. It wonderfully gives the idea of gender as fabricated. But Riviere also illustrates that women have absolute masculinity. Also, she is assuming masculinity to be inherent. We can use Riviere's article to consider a critical topic: the role of femininity in human society. Here the ideas given by Riviere are suggestive of femininity existing to impress and please men. If any woman is forcing her femininity to be more accepted by men, we r made to think that gender exists for that purpose.

It is also necessary to take into our consideration the fact that men and women are genetically different. There are specific environmental influences like genetic factors from parents and experiences at childhood that contribute to forming one's personality. Our perspective is getting built through all this. Even though there are some factors yet human beings are of two gender- male and female. Also, we have to consider the masculine nature of women. But in my perspective, gender identity will reflect the individual's personality and is what we are in the fulfilment of human life.