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摘 要

分析《紫色》中西丽与莎格的同性恋情对于女性实现自身人格独立的重要性。从女性同性恋情角度切入，运用女同性恋女性主义的相关理论，解读同性爱情本质。阐释同性恋不是病态的关系，而是和异性恋一样，正常而美好的。对如今同性恋饱受歧视的现状，增加大众对同性恋的理解和接受度。

关键词：《紫色》；女同性恋；关系本质；个体意识

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………1
2. Literature Review…………………………………………………………2

2.1 Research Abroad………………………………………………………………2

2.2 Research at Home…………………………………………………………......4

1. Basic Characteristics of a Female Homosexual Relationship Based on the Color Purple……………………………………………………………….5

3.1 The start of Celie and Shug’s lesbian relationship………………………..5

3.2 Shug’s opinions about family and work……………………….........6

3.3 The power distribution between Celie and Shug……………..…..…….7

3.4 The author’s attitude towards heterosexuality…………..……….…..8

4. The Progressive Significance of Lesbian Relationship…………..…….8

4.1 Lesbian——a free form of living…………………………………………8

4.2 The fade of role boundaries in lesbians…………………..………………9

4.2 The Significance of Lesbian Literature………………….……………….11

5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..11

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………...13

1. Introduction

Lesbian feminism flourished as a cultural movement in the 1970s and 1980s among North America and Western Europe. It came into being for the reason that the feminist movement advocated women’s independent, resisted the oppression and restraint under the patriarchal ideology. The goal of lesbian feminism is to get rid of the traditional image of “a virtuous wife” and “a good mother” and challenge the conventional female roles which were forcefully shaped under the patriarchal society, and finally make every woman reborn as an independent thinker and actor with free individuality.

Walker gave us a detailed definition of feminism in his famous Critical Anthology In Search of Our Mother"s Gardens, in which emphasizes the four characteristics of feminism: anti-sexism, anti-racism, afracentrism and humanism. The Color Purple is a novel of anti-sexism.

Alice Walker is one of the most outstanding black women writers in American literature history. Influenced by the development of feminism, her masterpiece—— the Color Purple, used the unique form of epistolary style to describe the black woman Celie, with the help and guidance of her homosexual partner Shug, escaped from the dark hell of male abuse and finally got her renewal. At the end of the story, we can see that Celie transformed into an independent and confident new woman with love, money, friends, work and freedom.

In many cases, when we talk about homosexuality, we just considered it as a kind of clammy and negative phenomenon without thinking what homosexuality actually is. How does a lesbian partnership established and developed? How does the roles play and power distribute in this kind of relationship? How does their sexual behavior look like? Is there any difference between homosexuality and traditional heterosexuality? What influences does this kind of relationship have on the realization of personal self-worth, etc. In face of current cultural background, I hoped the public will have a more rational and objective understanding of homosexual groups through this simple research. People need to know that lesbianism is not just a rebellion or criticism of traditional male centralism, but a common self-choice of women for both sex and lifestyle to live a comfortable life just as heterosexuality brings.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Research abroad

Due to the development of Lesbian feminism, most foreign researches on the Color Purple focused on the perspective of "Womanism"——the necessity of gathering women to support each other and fight for their freedom. While some others talked about the lesbian relationship.

Some scholars stated that the homosexual love between Celie and Shug is not pornographic, but more reflects the warmth, care and mutual help between women. Of course, the author was not intended to promote homosexuality. The protagonist was once in the position of a sexual slave in heterosexuality, it was through homosexuality——the most extreme form of same-sex love that she arose the consciousness of self-identity and finally got love and support. This kind of love and support was crucial to Celie’s pursuit of a happy and independent life.

Celie and Shug’s homosexual relationship not only reveals the strong accusation of the traditional heterosexual-dominated social order. Moreover, it opens up a road of self-liberation for oppressed black women and makes female comrades have the sense of self-identity. Barbara, a black feminist critic, pointed out that the homosexuality of Celie and Shug in the Color Purple is "liberating and nature (Ling 08)."

Some lesbian feminists believed that heterosexual love in the Color Purple is the most basic mode and cause of male oppression. They emphasized that the only way to liberate women is the segregation which excludes men (Hoaglandamp;Penelope 23).

Feminist distinguished different lesbians into two groups: one contains sexual relations and another refers to a kind of woman friendship. Therefore, some critics give them a more eclectic definition: The generalization of lesbians stands for a kind of collective life style to resist patriarchy. This kind of relationship is factually an abnormal variant of sex-oppression. And in most scholars’ researches, they considered Celie and Shug’s relationship as a kind of woman friendship.

Researches which were generally conducted by radical feminists such as Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Monique Wittig and so on, they think that lesbianism is more a political identity than a sexual identity. Only when heterosexual sexuality abandoned can the theory of male supremacy fundamentally change. Anyway, before the Queer theory came into being, gay men and lesbians studied the reasons for the oppression of homosexuality in the framework of a grand narrative. They all pursued political appeals based on the stable status of homosexuality and sought ways to change the status quo.

American poet Rich’s masterpiece——the Compulsive Heterosexual Love and Women, which praised as the classic article of lesbian feminism, claimed the concept of the continuum lesbian. In the article, it described the combination of women as an act of resistance to patriarchal rights. The concept of the continuum refers to the experience of women"s identity within a broad continuum described by each woman"s life and the whole history (Liu 305). The continuum lesbian refers not only to the sexual experience between women, but also to the sharing of inner life. It also included the provision and acceptance of material and political support in the form of women"s experience.

In heterosexual system, women can only rely on men to survive both economically and emotionally. The tragic situation of Celie reflected the marginalization of women in the traditional male-dominated society. Celie was not a natural lesbian. It was the oppression and violent domination of men in heterosexual relationships that pushed her into homosexual love. Just like one of the representatives of feminist Beauvoir said," As a form of compensation, homosexuality is neither a natural destiny nor a state of indulgence. It is an environment in which homosexuality exists (Simone 148)."

French feminism holds the view that women are regarded as the exchangeable goods by men. Whether in the field of the Color Purple or in the field of social life, women are goods only. Homosexuality is a way to subvert this order. When women lose their subjectivity and turn into instrumental objects, they lose their voice and power. Obsessive heterosexuality is the main target that Lesbian opposed. In Walker"s novel, homosexual love can not only unite women but it can also dispel the central position of heterosexuality and thus provide a diversified form of society. Although they think lesbian is an extreme form of power movement, but it is also an effective resistance to patriarchal oppression. Obviously, Celie"s victory was inseparable from her identity as a black lesbian. So, some French feminism think that lesbian is women’s helpless choice in the social reality at that time. However, it also reflects women’s struggle spirit in their pursuit of freedom and independence. Only by gender discrimination and racial elimination can women truly achieve independence.

Radical lesbian feminists believed: "Different sex is the most basic model and root cause of male oppression of women, they emphasizing that the separatism that excludes men is the only way to liberate women (Hoagland 21)."

Foucault believed that the reason why homosexuals are not tolerated in normal society is not because of the unique pleasure and sexual behavior of them, but due to their consequences. In other words, normal people can forgive homosexuals’ physical impulses, but what they can’t forgive most is the happiness of homosexuals and their impacts on the quality of life. Foucault pointed out sharply that the society, where heterosexual hegemony prevails, "People have a common fear that homosexuals will develop a strong and satisfying relationship, even if they have completely different ideas about interpersonal relationships with others. It is expected that homosexuality will create a relationship that so far has not been tolerated by many people…… It is possible that when homosexuals learn to express their feelings in different ways and develop a new way of life that is different from the institutionalized lifestyle, changes will occur in the existing daily order on a larger scale (Foucault 271)."

2.2 Research at home

Compared with foreign studies, domestic scholars’ researches on the Color Purple not only started late but also seemed to be conservative and single. They tended to analyze Walker"s ecological feminism consciousness from the heroine black girl Celie, starting from the relationship between man and nature, man and woman, harmony and unity, thus to examine the female"s survival and future destiny in a feminine perspective. To illustrate the view that women are the embodiment of good, loving and harmonious. They also gave special attention to the survival situation and the fate of women in the novel, connected nature and women with the ecological perspective of female tendencies, and praised natural women who are in harmony with nature and female cultural virtues. Most researches showed deep anxiety and sympathy to the fate of women in an unbalanced state, and criticized the male-oriented cultural traditions and discourse patterns, showed advanced vision and clear ecological female consciousness.

Lin Shuming wrote in his paper, "Homosexuality is resistance act of masculinity. It"s also a kind of criticism to the traditional order (Lin 78)."

In a Chinese scholar Nan Fan’s book, he pointed out that, "In the 1980s, radical feminism theorists had realized that there was a close relationship between feminism and lesbian movement. Lesbianism had been regarded as the most important and even the only political option for thorough feminism (Nanamp;Liuamp;Lian 204)." In Celie’s homosexual relationship with Shug, Celie recognized herself as a new woman who dare to resist male oppression and eventually gained economic independence and became a liberated, self-reliant woman.

Whether Lesbian is a vibration of feminism or just a way for the oppressed women to get out of the control of the male power system, different people have different ideas. I’d like to talk about Lesbian relationship in a detailed way. As far as I am concerned, lesbian is not a resistance to patriarchy or the only way to exclude men to realize freedom. Instead, it is a nature and spontaneous act that of great holy and pure.

3. Basic Characteristics of a Female Homosexual Relationship Based on the Color Purple

3.1 The start of Celie and Shug’s lesbian relationship

At the beginning of the novel, Celie said frankly, "I never look at those men. That"s the truth. But I look at those women (Alice Purple 5)." When Celie firstly saw Shug’s picture by chance, she was attracted by Shug’s charming appearance immediately. Celie even came up with the mind that, "I would be really grateful as long as I could see her with my own eyes." Later, Shug came to live with Mr.???, taking nourishment to regain her health. When Celie saw Shug, her heart began to beat with tension and excitement. Celie felt embarrassed about her sloppy and ugliness, but she could not control her eyes to watch a woman for the first time. It is Shug’s personality, freedom and confident that deeply appealed Celie. When Celie bathed Shug, she had a strong sexual impulse. When Celie first saw Shug’s thin, black body and black-plums-like nipples, she thought she was a man (Alice Purple 35). After Celie’s meticulous care, Shug recovered. As a reward, Shug wrote a song and sang for Celie, which made Celie feel the presence of self for the first time. Under the encouragement of Shug, Celie summoned up her courage to stand in front of the mirror and learn to appreciate her beautiful body slowly. Shug let Celie begin to know her female body by intimacy behavior such as touching Celie"s body. In the process of Celie"s contact with men, Celie never realized the essence of the relationship between sexes, but obediently became the object of male sexual desire.

At the age of 13 and 14, Celie was repeatedly raped by her stepfather and gave birth to two children, and then forcibly sent to Mr.??? as his wife. In fact, she became a servant to help him do housework, took care of his children and also as a physical tool to vent his desires. Facing this situation, at first, Celie chose to endure silently. In the sex with Mr.???, Celie even thought that his genital organ was an "ugly frog". When talked about sex, she felt itchy too. So, it is of great surprise that when Celie first say Shug’s nude, she felt short of breath. When Celie and Shug talked about Mr.???, Shug was surprised at Celie"s words and felt that Celie was still a virgin, because Celie never really felt the beauty of sex. Shug actively guided Celie in the relationship between the sexes. After the repressive life from Mr.???, Celie received motherly care from Shug. It can be said that Shug gave Celie sexual enlightenment and sexual liberation. Celie realized that life wasn"t that bad and could be restarted through sexual liberation. Celie"s self-consciousness gradually came to life.

3.2 Shug’s opinions about family and work

Since same-sex couples could hardly assign family support roles based on gender, how do they get along with each other? To some extent, lesbian relationships can be classified as heterosexual marriages. I just mean, to a certain extent.

Celie has been a laborer since she was sensible. Even when she married Mr.???, her father said to her husband that she was capable of doing any work and would not ask you for anything. So that was the reason Mr.??? married Celie. For a long time, Celie has always been responsible for housework. On the contrary, in Celie and Shug’s family, they would like to distribute housework fairly. Celie preferred to do what she could do while Shug earned money outside. When Celie offered to accompany Shug to take care of her diets while Shug went to her shows, Shug said, "You are not my servant. I took you here not to make you a babysitter for me. I brought you here to love you and helped you stand up as a person. I wanted you to be a free and independent person."

Here, I would like to mention the topic of egalitarian marriage. In the work Women and Gender written by Mary Crawford and Rhoda Unger, it explained how to have an equal relationship: "During marriage, wives and husbands must be willing to combine their work and family responsibilities regardless of the social pressures to play a more traditional role, thus they can have an egalitarian relationship." Women who attach more importance to work and make limited payments for their husbands and children are often considered to be cruel and selfish, while men who do housework and take care of their children are considered to be weak and unmanly. This stereotype of work and family roles for women and men is a major stumbling block to real egalitarianism. We, as women, have to recognize that this notion itself is an unequal thing. And, in a large part, homosexuality is related to the lack of a clear definition of the roles of both sides, so the importance of work or career interests on either side of a homosexual relationship is more likely to be fair and equal than heterosexual marriage.

Just as they balance their roles, lesbians share housework and business on the basis of preference, ability and time. Each side adjusts her responsibilities appropriately to the other"s working hours through negotiation. Compared with women who traditionally choose to be housewives, lesbians tend to have jobs and independent spiritual life. In a homosexual relationship, equality is of vital importance.

3.3 The power distribution between Celie and Shug

Shug is a woman with great beauty, high social status, high income, but she did not feel that she had more rights than Celie. On the contrary, she felt that everyone was equal. She regarded Celie as the person she loves. She did not feel that she is inferior to Celie because Celie is ugly, uneducated and old. Instead, Shug encouraged her, helped her and supported her. So in this chapter, I want to talk about the power distribution of a same-sex partnership.

Sociologists have come up with the view that in the distribution of power, the abundance of resources determines the size of the rights of same-sex partners. During a traditional relationship, who is younger, highly educated, with higher income level and social status has more rights. Of course, I am not saying that this view is wrong here, but as far as equalitarianism is concerned, what they need most between two same-sex couples is equal treatment. And, at this point, Shug can be viewed as Celie"s life guider.

3.4 The author’s attitude towards heterosexuality

The female homosexual’s attitudes toward heterosexuality in the Color Purple are of great comprehension, which is the most valuable point. Lesbian relationship is free for both girls in love. From the characteristics of female homosexuality, we can see that although the homosexuality of Shug and Celie promoted the awakening of Celie"s female consciousness, had a strong impact and criticism on the traditional patriarchal society. However, the author does not completely advocate homosexuality among women, nor does it become exclusive of heterosexuality in the novel. There are beautiful heterosexuals in the novel. For example, black missionaries Colin and Nettie’s pure and noble heterosexual love relationship.

4. The Progressive Significance of Lesbian Relationship

4.1 Lesbian——a free form of living

The beginning of a lesbian’s partnership is similar to a heterosexual one. They often start with friends and develop into a relationship with love and then to sexual intercourse. Social psychology research shows that homosexuals have similar interpersonal attraction with heterosexuals in love. Appearance, communication, personal characteristics and so on are some important personalities that matters when Lesbians choose their partners. From this we can see that, there is no obvious difference between lesbian and heterosexuality when it comes to sexual attraction.

Lily Feldman proposed a compromise one to define lesbianism, which talks about a relationship between two women that maintains strong emotions and love. Perhaps more or less there will be no sexual relationship at all. The common form is that the two women spend most of their time together and share most of their life happily.

During a homosexual relationship, there is no link between oppression and being oppressed in the distribution of power. To get rid of the traditional sense of oppression and sanctions is not to throw ourselves into the oppression sanctions of another relationship. This is the idea that this book wanted to express through homosexual love. We can notice that same-sex relationship among women leaves both sides of the relationship with great freedom. Finally, women play down and put aside the classification of race, gender, homosexuality and heterosexuality, just to focus on people themselves. Lesbians are not only the combination of body love and spiritual love among women, but also the symbol of the awakening of women’s individual spiritual consciousness. Ultimately, what people want to seek is equality without any additional conditions. Homosexuality can be called as a channel in this book. We can expect lesbian couples to have a more equal balance of rights——a more egalitarian sexual relations than heterosexual couples. Unlike most heterosexual couples who believe that men should be family leaders. The ideal conditions of lesbians are "two powerful women coming together on a completely equal footing".

4.2 The fade of role boundaries in lesbians

From the novel, we can notice that when Celie asked Mr. ??? why he liked Shug, Mr. ??? said, "She is more masculine than most men in doing things. She is upright, frank, fair-minded and honest. She can fight even sky crumbled. And most importantly, she always lives her idea life and does what she really wants to do." Shug does not like a man, but she does not like a woman (woman is obedient) too. She adheres to her beliefs and won’t be overwhelmed which makes Shug unique. In fact, we do not have to make a compulsory distribution of the roles in a lesbian relationship. In Celie"s mind, Shug has a very feminine temperament. When she bathed and saw Shug’s nude, she feelt "good" about everything about Shug. Can you say who is "husband" or who is "wife" here? The answer is obvious. Most Lesbians actively reject gender roles.

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