Gender Politics and Individual Freedom in John Irving's "The World According to Garp"
Gunesh Mammadova 
Abstract. This article examines how gender relations are constructed, where they break down, and where they are covertly restored in John Irving's The World According to Garp (1978). The analysis draws on Raewyn Connell's model of gender relations, Anna G. Jónasdóttir's concept of "love power", Kim McKay's narratological approach, and Evan Carton's notion of the "politics of the self". The novel's relationship to feminism is assessed against the critical background of Janice Doane and Devon Hodges, and of Kim Loudermilk. The article concludes that the novel neither promotes feminist ideas nor polemicizes against feminism; rather, it is a collection of contradictions that reflects the most radical version of each line of thought. This study analyzes John Irving’s novel The World According to Garp through close reading and a multidisciplinary theoretical framework. Methodologically, it draws upon Connell’s hierarchy of masculinities–alongside the dimensions of labor, power, and cathexis–and Jónasdóttir’s concepts of emotional labor and "love power". By clarifying the terms sex, gender, and gender identity, the research systematically evaluates the contradictory social position of the protagonist and the novel's gender dynamics.
Keywords: John Irving, "The world According to Garp", gender politics, hegemonic masculinity, love power, metafiction, feminism