Stephen King radical feminist??!!
No, but he mostly tried. Stephen King credits his wife Tabitha for a lot of the ways he’s thought about women characters he’s created, and I think the start of the 90s more or less begins his sober phase in his career, being an alcoholic and drug addict, and working under various levels of intoxication in the 1970s, but especially the 1980s. And then in the 90s, he also wrote several novels that at least in their log line and elevator pitch sound like he’s taking on various “women’s issue” du jour — domestic violence in Rose Madder, women’s justifiable(?) anger in Dolores Claiborne, abortion access and protection in Insomnia, and consent, sexuality, and abuse in Gerald’s Game.
We are served a fraught opening section in which our lead character is being handcuffed to a bed frame in a lake cabin by her husband in a light bdsm game. Over the next few minutes the mood sours, and while Jessie, the wife, decides she doesn’t want to be handcuffed anymore or to have sex with her husband, Gerald’s mood intensifies and he seems to be convincing himself that Jessie is acting the part in the game, or flat out intends to rape her. Jessie sees both possibilities and as her moves toward her, she kicks him in the crotch, which apparently triggers a heart attack and he hits his head and dies. She’s still handcuffed. And the novel goes from there.
This novel is at times quite good, and at times quite bad, and throughout there’s the question of whether or not the narrative can support the setting and intensity. It mostly can and does especially through the use of flashback and hallucination, and some not so great narration from within the perspective of a stray dog, and through a maybe supernatural presence in the cabin.
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Geralds-Game-Stephen-King/dp/1501144200/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=gerald%27s+game&qid=1575048584&sr=8-1)