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Z5160546
ARTS2121 ESSAY
How do both Caryl Churchill’s ‘Top Girls and Annie Sprinkle’s ‘Post-Porn Modernist’
Feminism is regarded as one of the most influential and important social movements
throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, with an overall goal of establishing political,
economic and social equality between the sexes. With its impact still reaching into
modern day 2018, feminism has transformed and progressed society on a global scale.
Originating with the first wave in the late 19th century, feminism has slowly evolved
over time to include its various and more contemporary forms that are now more
common. This progression and success of the feminist movement is clearly evident in
both Caryl Churchill’s ‘Top Girls’ and Annie Sprinkle’s ‘Post-Porn Modernist’. Churchill’s
1982 play explores both the early social and cultural issues and inequalities that
plagued that late 20th century and forces its audience to ask themselves, at what cost
can women find their success? On the other hand, Sprinkle’s “Sex Positive” (Sprinkle,
modern society whilst projecting the newer stages of feminism to endorse post-porn
feminist identity in the modern era. Both performances engage with the different stages
of the feminist movement through their various theatrical and technical devices and
both work to progress and significantly contribute to feminism today. This essay will
analyse both ‘Top Girls’ and ‘Post Porn Modernist’ through the feminist lens, exploring
how both works showcase different types and stages of feminism and discuss how they
Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls discusses various forms of female oppression and
time. We are given an image at the end of the play, which encompasses all characters
together in one shot, all displaying different behaviours and moods. By looking at this
image it is clear that Churchill touches on all types of feminism in Top Girls, however,
predominantly engages with both Liberal Feminism and Materialist Feminism as we can
see through analysing its diverse characters, storytelling as well as its contribution to
throughout the piece through its representation of its characters and their
within existing structures to secure eventual equality with men in a social, political and
economic sense, as opposed to major structural change that just places women atop a
capitalist ladder. It proposes the view that each individual is inherently equal and
should receive equal treatment. This ideology can clearly be identified in Top Girls by
studying the characters and their behaviours; particularly the character Marlene, who
appears to sacrifice so much in her life in order to hold a similar corporate position as a
man. Marlene embodies liberal feminism as she herself worked extremely hard, by
having “more balls” than any other men who would argue they are entitled to have the
job, to get to where she is within the necessary channels in order to achieve director of
the employment agency ‘Top Girls’. She passes her ideology and lifestyle onto others, in
the introductory scene of the play she is conducting a consultation with Jeanine at the
employment agency and advises her that the girl before her “left to have a baby so you
wouldn’t want to mention marriage there” as her plans could hinder her chances of
Sophie Giese
Z5160546
getting the job. However, Marlene does represent the individualistic aspect to the liberal
feminist front. Her efforts are only for her own benefit and not the benefit of the entire
female gender; as shown again in her scene with Jeanine, where she proposes that in ten
years all Jeanine can live up to is to be “secretary to a top executive”. This is additionally
shown in Marlene giving her only daughter Angie to her mother and leaving the
working-class family to chase her corporate dreams without any thought to how her
methods and goals of liberalist feminism in Top Girls. However, she is careful to note
that whilst liberal feminist ideologies can and have contributed to the progression of
gender equality there are sacrifices that might have to be made. This makes us ask
Similarly, Churchill’s use of plot in Top Girls engages with another form of feminism,
Materialist Feminism. According to Jill Dolan, the Marxist based concept of “Materialist
structures is also influenced by race, class, and sexual identification” (Dolan 2012).
that forces and creates gender roles and identity-seeing both material objects and the
patriarchy as the source of female oppression. Applying this more socialist lens to the
plot of Top Girls, we can clearly observe the Materialist Feminism influence throughout
the play; it’s representation of each character’s social classes and their ideologies, as
well as their combined behaviour as a gender clearly identifies this influence. The first
explains that “[in] The first scene, in which women of different historical periods and
unity among persons of the same sex, effected by the lack of ideological unity. The six
women at the dinner represent diverse cultural attitudes towards class, religion, family,
ethics, and gender”, therefore the materialist influence is shown in Act 1 particularly,
through the incorporation of these diverse cultures, time periods and classes present at
Marlene’s promotion party. Act 1 creates a sense of utopia by observing this same sense
of diversity in the characters, however this fades later in the scene. The characters share
stories and biblical passages, they then understand their sacrifices stemming from their
actions for their current positions. For example, Griselda’s fourteenth century marriage
required her to initially sacrifice her children and her freedom-the story that causes the
dinner to take a downward turn as it inspires anger from the other women present,
such as Marlene leaving the table. This is due to Griselda’s gender role and identity
being predetermined and expected from her oppressive husband. However, at this point
in the play we are also exposed to the progression of the feminist movement, as Nijo
tells a story of how she beat her oppressive emperor after he had mistreated her and
the other concubines, showing how women overcame the confines and expectations of
the patriarchy as other nobles “wouldn’t dare to step on his majesties shadow….and I
had beaten him with a stick”. Therefore, Churchill’s plot encapsulates the motives of
behaviors highlights both capitalism and the patriarchy as the source of female
Image of Post Porn Modernist- Image of the play and how this relates to the previous
image from Top Girls- how does this relate to the relate to the 3 Lines of enquiry (what
o Post Porn Modernist mainly focuses on Cultural and Post-Feminisms through its
spectatorship
Conclusion including brief link back to Churchill’s play and how they both encapsulate
Conclusion