Final answer:
Gender criticism explores not just the role of women in literature, but also the broader construction of gender and sexuality, including LGBTQ issues, showing how gender can be a social construct rather than strictly biological.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gender Criticism in Literary Evaluation
Gender criticism is a branch of literary analysis that expands upon feminist literary criticism. It does not solely focus on women's roles in literature but also explores the broader construction of gender and sexuality, including LGBTQ issues. This form of criticism engages with the debate between essentialism - the idea that differences between men and women are biological - and constructionism, which posits that gender is a social construct. Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn provides an example of this, especially in the scenes where Huck disguises himself as a girl, indicating the performative aspects of gender that Judith Butler discusses in Gender Trouble.
Feminist criticism moves through stages of patriarchal criticism, gynocriticism, and feminine writing, all the while pushing the notion that literature is a force reflecting and shaping gender attitudes. Gender bias in writing is another critical concern, with the recommendation that authors use inclusive language to avoid perpetuating biases.
Another key aspect of gender theory is intersectionality, which recognizes that people might belong to multiple oppressed groups simultaneously, affecting their experiences of gender and race.