Margaret Atwood’s Dancing Girls in the Context of Ecological Feminism

Abstract

Margaret Atwood’s “Dancing Girls†(Chinese version) include 14 short stories, in which Margaret Atwood describes problems women may face throughout their lives, such as cheating in the marriage or in a relationship, conflicts between men and women, giving birth and aging. These inevitable problems are caused by various reasons. Ecological feminism advocates that women should combine ecological movement and women’s movement together so as to create brand-new social and economic relationship between men and women. Studying Margaret Atwood’s stories from a context of ecological feminism, the problems women face are inevitable in patriarchy where men control women and nature. However, the above-mentioned relationship hurt not only women and nature but also men, for the three factors are interdependent; men would not remain intact with the other two being hurt. Thus a harmonious relationship should be established among the three.