Ayn Rand: Feminist? Probably Not.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand was undoubtedly one of the best pieces of literature I have ever read, although I do not really care for Ayn Rand herself. I have a great interest in the dynamics of Rand's characters. They are abnormal; nobody could ever be as self-assured as Roark, no woman could ever be as intentionally self-destructive as Dominique, and even Toohey's outlandish manipulations seemed slightly far-fetched. In spite of these inhuman qualities, Rand still managed to present her ideal characters as human. Dominique was the most important female character of the novel, and really the only female main character. She was educated, beautiful, coveted, destructive, and cruel. Her purpose within the novel is to counter all of Roark's successes, through direct or indirect manipulation. She was motivated to destroy, whereas Roark was motivated to create; in part establishing Rand's ideology that women are inherently bad. Dominique was someone that I could aspire to be, not entirely, but in part. She was well-spoken, strong-willed, and intimidating. Whether Rand had intended to or not, Dominique had power. She was a perfect example of a modern day feminist in that she was educated, likable, and did not allow others to control her. I kind of admire her apathy. Since feminism is the ideology of women and men being equal, Ayn Rand would have wholeheartedly rejected the movement because she believed that certain humans were superior to others. Truthfully, Dominique might have rejected the feminism movement as well because she always had to go against what the rest of the world rallied behind. Rand had to make Dominique unattainable and cold so that she could be someone Howard Roark admired.

During one of her interviews, Ayn Rand remarked that women should have their own "male hero" to admire (hers was a serial killer), and within The Fountainhead this is presented through Dominique's unfounded obsession with Howard Roark. She closely followed his work in order to prevent him from success, wrote about his buildings, and waited for him. Dominique liked pain, and she saw Roark as the chief executive of pain. She cut herself up after Roark's bomb, demanded that he "destroy" her, and made fully conscious decisions to say the wrong thing to the wrong audiences throughout the novel. Why was she like this? Precisely because Ayn Rand saw women as inferior to men; and although Rand had progressed past the "housewife" archetype, Dominique could never have achieved successful status without her father, Wynand, Roark, Keating, Toohey, or other prominent men to aid her. Dominique had the potential to be the greatest feminist character of the century, but this was destroyed under Objectivism.