sexism?

[Eric Dean Rasmussen]

Please excuse me- I'm a newcomer to Pynchon -I've only read Vineland and 
only just recently. But in any case I've heard something along the lines 
that Pynchon's portrayal of Frenesi and, eventually, Prarie can be 
construed as sexist. The "who's he big white male to talk about a woman's 
obsession with power?" kind of thing. I myself have problems with male 
writers or any men, for that matter, claiming to undersand the "female 
psyche" whatever that obscure thing may be. But Pynchon's portrayal of 
Frenesi and Prairie made sense in their encounters with Brock Vond, much 
as Shakespeare's portrayal of Lady Anne is justified by the way in which 
we watch Richard III make love to her. I, for one, was tremendously 
titilated in both cases. And what's wrong with that? If women fight for 
equality with men -for equal oppurtunity to our own identities- doesn't 
it stand to reason that we should also be sexual human beings. Frenesi's 
breakdown of integrity is no different from a male character in a film 
noir being destroyed by a "femme fatale." Nobody says that portrayal of 
men is sexist -how can it be? It is produced, written, directed by 
men? The individual is hardly heroic, but who wants heroic? Heroes, as 
far as I'm concerned, serve only a didactic purpose. But Frenesi is not a 
picture of ALL THAT A WOMAN CAN ACHIEVE. Frenesi is simply a sellout and 
a slave to her sexuality, as most of us are, men and women.