"The moment I inject discourse from my u. of d. into your u. of d., the yourness of yours is diluted?You are, essentially, in my power" (Barthelme, 52). Barthelme's Jane, in just two statements, expresses the single most common characteristic of postmodern feminist writing ? subversion of gender hierarchy. Barthelme's writing is not strictly feminist, yet his novel, Snow White, does focus on the male/female binary opposition and one particular female's quest to overcome it. Fellow postmodern feminist authors Bobbi Ann Mason and Grace Paley in their texts Shiloh and The Pale Pink Roast, also write stories revolving around strong female characters aiming to overthrow the dominion of man over woman.
Donna Haraway, in her text, A Cyborg Manifesto, chooses a very different method for eliminating the gender hierarchy. Haraway eliminates gender. "A cyborg is cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism" (Geyh, 604). The cyborg ? a sexless, neutral creature ? is Haraway's ideal being. Haraway asserts that even if the feminist objective is met, even if gender hierarchy is successfully subverted, the problem of one gender having power over another will not be solved, just reversed. The cyborg, a being unbiased and free from any preconceived notions about gender and sex, ensures that power is equally distributed among all beings.
Bobbie Ann Mason's and Grace Paley's characters Norma Jean and Anna are a world away from Haraway's cyborg. Subversion is their goal, nothing more. Barthelme's Snow White, on the other hand, is more like a cyborg than perhaps even Barthelme himself realizes. Snow White, in many ways embodies Haraway's cyborg; and, in other ways practices typical postmodern gender subv ...