The Laugh of the Medusa:
Summary and Analysis
Overview
Within this essay, Cixous expands on the relationship between language and gender through her discussion of Ecriture Feminine. She attempts to forge a new way of writing, one that is directly feminine and powerful at once. This piece is loosely structured and avoids linear progression, which Cixous does for two reasons. Firstly, the flowing and open style of writing is meant to reflect the ways in which women experience sexuality. Secondly, Cixous aims to incorporate multiple viewpoints and avoid enforcing a singular perspective. She forms her arguments around key ideas, but they flow together very naturally in order to present more than one opinion on feminine language.
The Title
Though many of us are familiar with the Greek Myth of Medusa, Cixous utilizes the figure for what she represents, as opposed to the specifics of her actual story. Historically, Medusa has been interpreted as being a
representation of female genitalia, where her open mouth and the surrounding "hair" presents a terrifying image of womanhood. Her beautiful face is paired with the hideous snakes, making her both an object of desire and disgust. The distinction of her curse is also relevant to this interpretation, as turning men to "stone" is equivalent to an erection. Jacques Lacan, a french intellectual and theorist, promotes the idea that women lack some key ability to utilize language because they lack a penis. Cixous directly refutes this idea through the title, re-imagining Medusa's lips into a laugh and calling her to fill the absent void of her mouth with language. By rejecting the former interpretation of Medusa, Cixous is in turn rejecting the systematic classification that female words and bodies are inferior to a man.
"To Break Up and To Destroy"
Cixous divides her essay into two parts. The first one involves breaking up the preconceptions of language in order to later destroy them and forge a new way of writing. Cixous argues that writing itself is a phallocentric tradition that ultimately caters to male needs. This is because the language surrounding female narratives is often: 1) written by men and serves to obscure or reproduce negative images of womanhood, and 2) weaponizes the female body in order to maintain control over women's autonomy. Instead, Cixous insists that in order to destroy this notion, a woman must "seize the occasion to speak" and "write her self" (Cixous 1527). As she states later on in the essay, "a woman without a body, dumb blind,
"We will rethink womankind beginning with every form and every period of her body"
- Hélène Cixous
can't possibly be a good fighter. She is reduced to being the servant of the militant male, his shadow" (Cixous 1527). It is up to women to regain control of the narrative surrounding their bodies in order to enact real change. Writing is the tool that must be used in order to regain the freedom that women have historically been denied.
"To Foresee the Unforeseeable and to Project"
With this second point, Cixous aims to expand upon the idea that female writing will be intrinsically feminine. This is where "Ecriture Feminine" comes into play, as Cixous presents the interpretation that in order to truly empower women, we first must develop a writing style that both reclaims and celebrates the female body. With the idea of the "New Woman", Cixous calls for the exploration of female sexuality and therefore the creation of a new writing style that does not follow the norms of phallocentric-dominated discourse. Cixous projects her ideal version of the modern woman, one who regains control of the discourse that surrounds her. Cixous also discusses the libidinal economy of Ecriture Feminine, as she argues that female writing will not be structured around the capitalist format of investment and return. Instead, writing will provide pleasure through the act of giving and communication.