Feminist literature question: Can someone explain the sovereign "I" to me....

[Wetzelbill]

I have a marginal understanding of it from my Feminist Literary Theories class, but I was hoping someone could add some more depth to it for me.

The sovereign I is when an author uses an uncapitalized "i" when referring to themselves. Like: "i went down the street to see my friend." Feminist authors particularly use it, such as Ana Castillo in "The Mixquiahuala Letters." As i said, i was hoping someone could help expain it to me. :)

Haven't been in here for a loooong time. Nice to see you all, btw. :)

[ismnotwasm]

1. I'm not sure as far as literary use

But the "i" seems to stand for individualist feminism. It's used the libertarian feminist website ifeminist
http://www.ifeminists.net/e107_plugins/enews/enews.php

[Wetzelbill]

2. ahh thanks that helps

it is complex, I know. I had it explained to me in a class but then I started seeing the "i" pop up for what seemed like other reasons too. I sometimes use it myself for a certain reason, but I would rather know much more about it before I ignorantly used it consistently, you know? :)