Pynchon-- Feminist?

Could Thomas Pynchon be considered a feminist writer?

                When I first asked myself this question my answer was simple, hell no!  After reading his negative portrayal of Oedipa as this pathetic tragic hero with her incessant failure in every realm of this novel, I thought to myself, this man must hate women.  Pynchon’s hatred of women can be traced to Oedipa’s character’s inability to make any new steps in her quest without the input of a male, and her feeling of insignificance in situations where her sexuality is irrelevant; “Despair came over her, as it will when nobody around has any sexual relevance to you” (Pynchon 94).  Furthermore, at least three of the males she encounters in the novel have either sexually propositioned her or have some sexual history with her (i.e. Mucho Maas, Metzger and Nefastis).  I continued to feel this way throughout the text until I took a step back and examined the satirical nature of the narrative.  In doing so I realized that Pynchon is not so much writing a social critique of women in general, rather Pynchon is mocking the lifestyle of the white suburban housewife.  Following that train of thought I was able to develop an argument which supports Thomas Pynchon as being a feminist.  Undoubtedly, Oedipa is portrayed as this pathetic joke throughout the novel, but one must remember her characterization is as the epitome as a white suburban housewife in the ’60 (sans children).  In making fun of Oedipa, Pynchon is in fact showing what a mockery the female “housewife” prototype is.  The novel as a whole can be looked at as almost a cautionary tale to women, saying that if you continue to mindlessly follow the societal gender roles of the 60s than your life will be just as pointless as the roundabout droll of this plot.  The reoccurring theme within this text is that nothing means anything; therefore, with the central focus of the plot being a 60s housewife, the life of a housewife in 1960s white suburbia is an endless circle of pointlessness, confusion and overall disappointment—all in all a life in which nothing means anything.