A Critique of Twentieth Century Feminist Criticism

Feminist criticism arose in response to developments in the field of the feminist movement. Many thinkers such as John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft raised their voice against the injustice done to women in every sphere of life. As this gained momentum throughout the world, feminist also awakened to the depiction and representation of women in literature which is one of the influential medium of socialization and culture. They argued that woman and womanhood are not biological facts but are given social constructs. One is not born a woman, but becomes one through culture and socialization. At first, feminist criticism was reactionary in the nature in the sense that they exposed stereotypical images of women in the literature. These images of women were promulgated by the male writers. These images of women were what men think of women. Gradually, feminist criticism moved from this phase to more constructive work. They unearthed many women writers that were either suppressed or neglected by the male literary tradition. In this way, they created a separate literary tradition of women writers. Feminist critics divided this tradition in such phases as feminine phase, feminist phase and female phase. They also studied the problems faced by female creative writers. They used theories from post-structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis to study the nature of female creativity. They also realized that there is an innate difference between male and female modes of writing. Feminist critics also exposed the sexiest nature of man-made language. They also exposed phallic centrism of much of the western literary theory and criticism. They also started to study the language used by the women writers. Simon De Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter and Juliet Mitchell are some of the feminist critics discussed in this paper.

Anthecological features of Lonicera japonica Thunb. in the environments of Southern Uzbekistan

Background. Identification of spectacular ornamental perennial lianas for urban landscaping in southern cities is important for modern urban greening programs. The aim of this work was to study flowering peculiarities of Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb.).Materials and methods. The target material was honeysuckle plants growing in the environments of Southern Uzbekistan. Observations were conducted in 2019–2020 using conventional approaches.Results and conclusion. The inflorescence of L. japonica is an open dibotryoid, with flowers arranged along the lateral axes of the first order. Flowers are bisexual, zygomorphic. Blossoming of flowers in inflorescences occurs acropetally. The flowering period is almost 150–170 days (starts in April and lasts until the end of August). Dichogamy in the form of proterandry is observed in honeysuckle flowers. The male flowering phase comes the first. It starts 1.5–2.0 hours after the opening of the corolla and ends with the drying of the stamens. The corolla turns yellow 36 hours after the blooming of the flower and the stamens begin to dry out. This is the female phase. Over the next 84 hours, the pistil begins to dry out slowly, but the corolla of the flower lasts up to 96 hours. The duration of the female flowering phase is 60 hours. L. japonica is of considerable interest for vertical landscaping of urban communities. Plants remain ornamental for a long time. Studying this species as an essential oil plant is promising, since it contains a significant amount of germacrene D.

A preliminary study on the size structure and sex ratio of orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides Hamilton, 1822) harvested from Kwandang Bay, Sulawesi Sea, Indonesia

Orange-spotted grouper is one of the coral reef fish has the economic value and exploited by local fisherman. Information about the size structure and sex ratio are urgent to formulate a policy for sustainability. This research aims to analyze the size structure and sex ratio of the orange-spotted grouper in Kwandang Bay. The research was conducted from December 2016 to November 2017. Sampling is carried out twice a month for one year. The total sample of orange-spotted grouper used for the analysis of the sex ratio was 149 individuals. Sample of orange-spotted grouper collected from fish landed and middlemen (grouper traders) at the Kwandang Fishing Port. Data analysis applying chi-square. The results show that males bigger than females. The sex ratio of orange-spotted grouper is 87.25 % female, 7.38 % male, and 5.37 % hermaphrodites. Orange-spotted grouper dominated by females and undergoes a gonad differentiation to male (protogynous hermaphrodite). It is concluded that The size of the male orange-spotted grouper is larger than that of the female grouper. The caught orange-spotted grouper is dominated by the female phase and undergoes a differentiation of the gonad from female to male (protogynous hermaphrodite)

Intraspecific Seasonal Variation of Flowering Synchronization in a Heterodichogamous Tree

Heterodichogamous reproduction in plants involves two flowering morphs, reciprocal in their timing of male and female sexual functions. The degree of synchrony in floral sex phase, within and between individuals of each morph, determines the flowers’ potential fertilization partners. Complete within-morph synchrony enables across-morph mating alone, whereas unsynchronized floral sex phases may allow fertilization within a plant individual (geitonogamy) or within a morph. We documented the disruption of flowering synchrony in the heterodichogamous Ziziphus spina-christi towards the end of its seven-month flowering season. This desert tree has self-incompatible, protandrous, short-lived (2-day) flowers that open before dawn (‘Early’ morph) or around noon (‘Late’ morph). We counted flowers in the male and female phase on flowering branches that were sampled monthly during the 2016–2018 flowering seasons. In 2018, we also tagged flowers and followed their sex-phase distributions over two days at the start, middle, and end of the season. The switch to the female phase was delayed at the end-season (November-December), and 74% of the flowers did not develop beyond their male phase. Differences in male-phase duration resulted in asynchrony among flowers within each tree and among trees of both flowering morphs. Consequently, fertilization between trees of the same morph becomes potentially possible during the end-season. In controlled hand-pollination assays, some within-morph fertilizations set fruit. The end-season breakdown of synchronous flowering generates variability within morphs and populations. We suggest that this variability may potentially enable new mating combinations in a population and enhance its genetic diversity.

Male flowers of Aconitum compensate for toxic pollen with increased floral signals and rewards for pollinators

Many plants require animal pollinators for successful reproduction; these plants provide pollinator resources in pollen and nectar (rewards) and attract pollinators by specific cues (signals). In a seeming contradiction, some plants produce toxins such as alkaloids in their pollen and nectar, protecting their resources from ineffective pollinators. We investigated signals and rewards in the toxic, protandrous bee-pollinated plant Aconitum napellus, hypothesizing that male-phase flower reproductive success is pollinator-limited, which should favour higher levels of signals (odours) and rewards (nectar and pollen) compared with female-phase flowers. Furthermore, we expected insect visitors to forage only for nectar, due to the toxicity of pollen. We demonstrated that male-phase flowers emitted more volatile molecules and produced higher volumes of nectar than female-phase flowers. Alkaloids in pollen functioned as chemical defences, and were more diverse and more concentrated compared to the alkaloids in nectar. Visitors actively collected little pollen for larval food but consumed more of the less-toxic nectar. Toxic pollen remaining on the bee bodies promoted pollen transfer efficiency, facilitating pollination.

Nectar and pollen production of Helianthus tuberosus L. – an exotic plant with invasiveness potential

In Central Europe, Helianthus tuberosus L. is a late summer/autumn bloomer (August/November). The disc florets produce both nectar and pollen. Floral reward is available in male-phase flowers (pollen and nectar) and in female-phase flowers (nectar). The floral reward is attractive to a variety of insect visitors (honey bees, wasps, flies and butterflies). The season of blooming as well as the total sugar yield (25.4 – 47.4 kg ha−1) and pollen yield (57.8 – 212.7 kg ha−1) indicate that H. tuberosus is important in the enhancement of food resources for pollinators. The generative reproduction in H. tuberosus is impaired (the species does not set seeds/fruits). However, due to its attractiveness for a variety of pollinators in both rural and urban areas, the spread of H. tuberosus should be monitored. Moreover, its propagation needs to be attended with restrictions.

Accurate position exchange of stamen and stigma by movement in opposite direction resolves the herkogamy dilemma in a protandrous plant, Ajuga decumbens (Labiatae)

Herkogamy is an effective way to reduce sexual interference. However, the separation of stigma and anther potentially leads to a conflict because the pollen may be placed in a location on the pollinator different from the point of stigma contact, which can reduce pollination accuracy. Floral mechanisms aiming to resolve this conflict have seldom been explored. The floral biology of protandrous Ajuga decumbens was studied to uncover how the herkogamy dilemma can be resolved. Flower anthesis was divided into male, middle, female and wilting phases. The positions of stigma and stamen were dissimilar in different flower development stages. We measured the distance of the stamen and stigma to the lower corolla lip at different floral phases, which was the pollinators’ approaching way. The pollen viability, stigma receptivity, pollen removal and pollen deposition on stigma were investigated at different phases. During the male phase, the dehisced anthers were lower than the stigma, located at the pollinators’ approaching way, and dispersed most pollen with high viability. As the flower developed, the anthers moved upwards, making way for pollen deposition during the female phase. Meanwhile, the stigma becomes receptive by moving into the way and consequently was deposited with sufficient pollen. The position exchange of the stamen and stigma created a dynamic herkogamy at the floral phase with different sexual functions. This floral mechanism effectively avoided sexual interference and maintained pollination accuracy. In Ajuga, the movement herkogamy might be of adaptive significance in response to the changes in the pollination environment.

Characterization of a protandrous hermaphroditic reproductive system in transitional and female phases of Norileca indica — morphological, histological and ultrastructural approach

The present study explores the reproductive system of Norileca indica during its transitional and female phase at morphological, histological, ultrastructural and histochemical levels. The paired and symmetrical hermaphroditic reproductive system of N. indica in the transitional and female phases lies dorsally in the thorax on either side of the gut, each consisting of a three-lobed testis (with lobes t1, t2 and t3) followed by an ovary and then a vas deferens, which opens into the paired penes located at sternite 7; the oviduct, arising laterally from the ovarian lobe, opens into the gonopore located on the 6th pereonite. In the transitional phase, the gonads show a presence of germ cells at different maturation stages: spermiogenesis in the testes has already halted, while the ovary undergoes active vitellogenesis. Spermatophores are frequently seen in the vas deferens but seldom in the testes; the size of the oocytes then is 250-1200 μm. The gonadosomatic index (GSI) and nucleocytoplasmic index (NCI) range over 0.090-0.198 and 0.46-0.11, respectively. In the female, oocyte size increases to 1500 μm; the GSI ranges 0.019-0.235 and the NCI from 2.40 to 0.09; testes and vas deferens are not prominent. This paper discusses the possible role of protandrous hermaphroditism in the reproductive life of N. indica.

Linking pollinator efficiency to patterns of pollen limitation: small bees exploit the plant–pollinator mutualism

Seemingly mutualistic relationships can be exploited, in some cases reducing fitness of the exploited species. In plants, the insufficient receipt of pollen limits reproduction. While infrequent pollination commonly underlies pollen limitation (PL), frequent interactions with low-efficiency, exploitative pollinators may also cause PL. In the widespread protandrous herb Campanula americana , visitation by three pollinators explained 63% of the variation in PL among populations spanning the range. Bumblebees and the medium-sized Megachile campanulae enhanced reproductive success, but small solitary bees exacerbated PL. To dissect mechanisms behind these relationships, we scored sex-specific floral visitation, and the contributions of each pollinator to plant fitness using single flower visits. Small bees and M. campanulae overvisited male-phase flowers, but bumblebees frequently visited female-phase flowers. Fewer bumblebee visits were required to saturate seed set compared to other bees. Scaling pollinator efficiency metrics to populations, small bees deplete large amounts of pollen due to highly male-biased flower visitation and infrequent pollen deposition. Thus, small bees reduce plant reproduction by limiting pollen available for transfer by efficient pollinators, and appear to exploit the plant–pollinator mutualism, acting as functional parasites to C. americana . It is therefore unlikely that small bees will compensate for reproductive failure in C. americana when bumblebees are scarce.