FEMINISM AND METAPHOR - FRIEND, FOE, FORCE

For several years now, feminists from different academic disciplines h ave been considering the role of metaphor in feminist discourse. Some contend that because metaphor has often been used as a weapon to dispa rage women, metaphoric language is unsuitable for feminist use. Others contend that metaphoric language exerts a force that can empower femi nists. This article sketches a brief history of metaphor as it has bee n used against women in order to inform those unfamiliar with this fac et of its history. I argue that metaphor is inherently subversive in a patriarchal, phallocratic system, and as such it can be used by femin ists as a most powerful tool. To support my position, I demonstrate ho w Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde, through metaphoric language, reconstr uct a worldview vastly different from the traditional phallocratic vie w. Finally, I contend that the problems confronting feminists are not linguistic per se, but rather stem from the intent or the motive of th ose persons who use metaphor as a weapon with which to debase and degr ade women.