Going To Bed Now: Dissociation Feminism and Implicit Critique in My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to examine how the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018 / 2019) by Ottessa Moshfegh, through the lens of dissociative feminism, can be interpreted as a critique regarding commodification of the body. To explore this claim, I discuss the protagonist’s dissociative feminist behaviour in contrast to her friend Reva’s femcel-behaviour. How the protagonist and Reva react to societal pressure in the form of beauty standards becomes the evidence of a critique that I believe Moshfegh is trying to tell throughout the novel. By examining how the two women are either showing approval or rejection of beauty standards either physically or psychologically, the theory of the docile body and culture industry is brought into the discussion. This leads to a discussion of why docile bodies are subjugated to beauty standards and if self-care routines are either done for the self or the observers’ gaze. I show evidence of how the novel criticizes a society that forces oppressive ideals upon women by discussing the thought process of the protagonist. This essay is therefore written from the perspective of the protagonist being the force against beauty standards and how through continuous dissociation, the protagonist is set free from societal norms, while Reva acts as a symbol for all the women that are mouldable. This essay analyses four passages that show how Moshfegh delivers an implicit critique through four distinct ways: dissociation, power, docility, and sedation. Finally, the essay shows evidence of how the novel on its last page creates a generalization of women, signalling that women must dare to break the patterns of oppressive ideals to become free individuals.