Gynocriticism or gynocritics is the term coined in the seventies by Elaine Showalter to describe a new literary project intended to construct "a female framework for the analysis of women's literature".
[5] Gynocriticism helped reclaim from obscurity a vast body of early female writings, often published in Virago,[6] as well as producing such feminist classics as The Madwoman in the Attic.
[8] Race, class, social interest, political inclination, religion and sexuality[3][5] all arguably come into play in the construction of identity.
[5] Separating out such properties would create a one-dimensional view of the female, yet if gender and identity are merely constructs then it becomes difficult to assign any inherent qualities of nature or language to found a critique.
[5] While the term is rarely used in third-wave feminism, the practices and canon establishment of gynocriticism continues to underpin feminist literary criticism.