Gender Roles For Men And Women In Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain

Men have seemingly been the dominant force when it comes to economical jobs. However, in 1861, specific gender roles for men and women diminished due to the Civil War. As males traveled to the battlefront, women undertook masculine roles in order for society to continually thrive. Charles Frazier, the author of Cold Mountain, includes the tales women and men during the Civil War era, along with how the society's viewpoint evolved throughout the years. In this time frame, men are depicted anywhere between heroes, cowards, and casualties. Inman, the male protagonist of the novel, encounters men fit and unfit for the masculine roles expected by society. Due to the vast amount of soldier casualties, men were required to enroll in the war in 1863.

When first characterized, she is surprisingly complex. Frazier describes her feminine traits as “... a girl of sorts, a short one, thin as a chicken neck except across the points of her sharp hip-bones, where she was of substantial width” (66) and her masculine traits as, “... she was stable as a drag sled, low in her center of gravity but knobby and slight in all extremities” (67). By incorporating features of both sexes, Ruby is able to perform tasks that men and women alike have to complete. Once becoming acquainted with Ada, Ruby retells her upbringing which has influenced and educated her along the path through life. Her mother, similar to Ada, was nonexistent, and her father, Stobrod, was in-and-out of her life. Generally, Ruby would have to fend for her survival as a hunter and gatherer. Instead of learning in school, she educated herself through trial and error which is shown in her knowledge on how to efficiently run a farm. Black Cove would eventually thrive through the work dedicated to improving it carried out by women who, at the time, were seen as outsiders to farm labor. Although Ada and Ruby were motherless, they portray motherly traits. Women typically have wider hips which signify their fertility and ability to give birth to a child. As included in the epilogue, Ruby would eventually give birth to “... all boys, with full scalps of black hair and shiny brown eyes like little chestnuts set in their heads” (447). Ruby will not only act as a mother to her own children, but she will also provide a sense of care and protection to Stobrod after he is severely wounded. Ruby, although genetically female, was as strong and as intelligent as some men, yet was as feminine as some women. Through her characterization, Ruby is a stable front who keeps others