Patriarchal Oppression Illustrated in Mina Loy’s “Feminist Manifesto” Anonymous College

During the early 1900s, women were still considered inferior to men. They were struggling to show men that they had value, and that they were more than mere possessions. Mina Loy was an active feminist author who wanted nothing more than to crush the patriarchy and their traditional ways, which was the goal of most female writers during this period of Modernism. Her more aggressive approach to feminism got her noticed, and she had no problem voicing her opinions on marriage, which she felt was one of the biggest traditions that was holding women back at the time. Although her “Feminist Manifesto” was not published until 1982 (long after Loy’s death), it speaks volumes about the struggles that women were facing with the tradition of marriage put forth by the patriarchy.

Mina Loy’s “Feminist Manifesto” illustrated her strong views on the traditional rules that women were supposed to abide by during the early 1900s. She used an aggressive tone for its shock value, to get her message across. Loy was convinced that the biggest issue for women at the time was feeling that they were supposed to get married and feeling that they needed a man to make them happy. Women, she thought, could only reach their full potential when they learned...