Great authors have a reputation for being reluctant political allies. They adamantly insist on focusing on aspects of life that no ideologist ever bothers to address. Life never exactly conforms to doctrine, and their art appears to defy ideology completely or subversively in order to find methods to break free from its shackles. Woolf's attitude toward feminism provides readers with an essential example of this resistance. Though Virginia Woolf was extremely concerned about the difficulties of women, particularly literary women, she often disliked being associated with feminists. Instead, she pushes for the transcendence of sexual roles, urging readers to go beyond gender to gain a better knowledge of human existence. Woolf's thesis is echoed by Judith Butler's concept of 'Gender Performativity.
