What is feminist myth criticism, and what does it tend to examine?

• A. It studies the strength of male heroes.
• B. It focuses on economic systems in myths.
• C. It dismisses myths as irrelevant to gender.
• D. A critique that analyzes gender representations, women’s agency, and patriarchal structures in myths; it reinterprets female figures and questions male-centric narratives.

Answer: (D)

Feminist myth criticism focuses on how myths depict gender, especially women’s roles, agency, and the power dynamics within patriarchal social structures. It often reinterprets female figures to reveal alternative readings and to challenge narratives that center male experience. This approach is the best fit because it directly analyzes gender representations and how women are positioned within myths, rather than simply celebrating male heroes, examining unrelated economic details, or treating gender as irrelevant. It explicitly looks at gender representations, women’s agency, and patriarchal structures in myths, and it invites rereading female figures to question traditional male-centric storytelling.