A common complaint with Kathy Acker's work, particularly Blood and Guts in High School, is that it is anti-male. This criticism, while valid, neglects to understand the methodology used to create a text in which patriarchal norms are no longer rampant. Despite its aim to remove a gendered voice, postmodern fiction still contains elements of predominantly white, male authority. Acker changes this connotation by creating a “female text” in which women's bodies and desires must be internalized in order to create a new type of characterization unburdened by the previous patriarchal structure. The absurdity of this technique makes the acts "unsexy": it differs from pornography since its purpose is not to excite or disseminate male fantasy. Acker blends vulgarity, hypersexuality, masochism, and ongoing attempts at self-discovery (and, ultimately, failure) to incorporate a sense of change or revolution that the reader can interpret. Janey's first-person diary narration (and perhaps Acker's autobiographical contribution) creates the allusion that there should be a strong emotional bond between reader and character, yet Janey remains a flat and unchanging character throughout the text . Why? As a piece where the perspective needs to be changed, Janey needs to be a flat character for the story to remain feminine. His identity is structured around interactions and responses to other characters (many of whom existed before this book). Indeed, Blood and Guts in High School is as much a plagiarism as Acker's Great Expectations or Don Quixote, as the underlying goal is to reappropriate postmodernism as feminist by deconstructing male role models through their interactions with Jane... paper... ...between the end of the story and the epilogue entitled “The World”, the voice must change due to the death of the main protagonist. This is where the Janey/Acker layering becomes particularly important. Without Janey present, Acker must use his voice to finish the story that Janey's body is physically unable to handle. Or is Janey really dead? His voice may indeed be present in the epilogue but only as a disembodied voice. Both Acker's and Janey's voices must pick up where the female body left off. In postmodern terms, female death translates into total death. Works Cited Redding, Arthur F.. “Bruises, Roses: Masochism and the Writing of Kathy Acker.” Contemporary literature: 281. Print. Brennan, Kelly. “The Geography of Enunciation: Hysterical Pastiche in Kathy Acker's Fiction.” border 2 21: 243-268. JSTOR. Network. May 20 2014.