People view marriage as a bond of love between a man and woman. In a marriage, it takes the commitment of both spouses to have a satisfied marriage. In the 1900's men and women have a specific set of norms that were appropriate for their gender that they needed to set their standards to in order to have a successful marriage. In Bobbie Ann Mason's short story "Shiloh", we have a couple that have completely switched their roles. Although, some readers might believe that the loss of Norma Jean and Leroy's child to be the reason of their lack of commitment in the marriage, the instability of gender roles have been an issue in their commitment to their marriage.
According to Wikipedia, A gender role is a set of societal norms which dictate the
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types of behaviors which are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their actual or perceived sex or sexuality. In the 1900's, the men would be the ones that work and brought income into the household while the women would take care of the house and the children. In "Shiloh", there is an opposite role switch with Norma Jean and Leroy. When Leroy suffers an accident on the highway, he lost his job as a truck driver. From that moment on, Norma Jean took over as the working individual in the household working at a Rexall Drug Store (46). This represents the circumstances that occurred in order for the role switch to happen. Some readers might not view the switch of gender roles as an issue, but throughout time it starts to become an issue.
James M. O'Neal and Marianne Roberts Carroll explains how there are five phases of the gender role journey which are acceptance of traditional gender roles, ambivalence of gender roles, anger, activism and celebration and integration of gender roles (194). In this quote, it shows how gender roles are integrated into our lifestyle. In the case of Norma Jean and Leroy, they became accustomed to the role switch for a while, but Norma Jean eventually nudges Leroy to get a job when she provides him with options for a job and Leroy says "Don't worry...I'll do something"(49). Leroy does not seem to put any importance on finding a job; instead, he focuses on building the log cabin. This supports how the instability of their gender roles has shown an absence of their …show more content…
commitment. The priorities of Norma Jean and Leroy have changed as Norma Jean not only works but graduated from a six week body building course and attends night school at Paduah Community College for composition classes.
Leroy on the other hand is still not making any progress in finding his potential, since he is focused on building the log cabin that his wife does not desire. Bobbie Ann Mason states how Norma Jean's knowledge in composition sounds intimidating to Leroy. This shows how the instability of gender roles start to become an issue between Norma Jean and Leroy. Leroy says to Norma Jean "what are you doing this for, anyhow?" She replies "It's something to do" and she stands up and lifts her dumbbells a few times. For readers it can be viewed as Norma Jean reaching her potential and accepting her growth. In this case it is not, since Leroy expresses that he feels intimidated about how Norma Jean has grown as a woman. It is apparent that Leroy is not quite comfortable towards the changes in Norma Jean's
priorities. Janell C. Fetterrolf and Laurie A. Rudman explains gender inequality regarding role income, support and perceived entitlement and they state " social scientists that studied domestic labor patterns in married couples have suggested that higher levels of resources relative to one's spouse such as more income or greater educational attainment, may be associated with lower levels of domestic work (220). We can connect Norma Jean's actions to this quote as she spends more time on her work and education. Leroy mentions that before the accident, he would come home and stay with Norma Jean and how she would cook him all of his favorites. Now, Leroy comments on how he sees things that he has never seen in her before like when she looks away when chopping onions and other little things she stopped doing (50). In this part of the story, the evidence suggests the lack of commitment that Norma Jean is exhibiting since her role change as the working individual in the household and her choice to strive for a higher education keeps her occupied. We see the amount of impact that the gender role change creates for Norma Jean and Leroy when Norma Jean tells Leroy that she wants to leave him. Norma Jean states "in some ways, a woman prefers a man who wanders" and then later states "she won't leave me alone...you won't leave me alone"(54-55). Looking at the statements that Norma Jean made to Leroy, we can see that Norma Jean has lost her commitment to Leroy as she claims that her mother Mabel will not leave her alone and neither would he. After all that Norma Jean has been able to accomplish, she does not see Leroy's support in what she does. Sonia Oreffice challenges the idea of how households decisions are analyzed based on a survey she conducted. She concluded that "The labor supply choices of married men and women are empirically analyzed by cultural background and balance of power, according to gender roles..."(182). This conclusion on Oreffice's research highlights how the instability of gender roles in "Shiloh" are connected to the loss of balance in power. With the switch of the gender roles, Leroy lost his power as Norma Jean grew in power within the household. Since their balance of power is not stable enough, it can be a reason why Norma Jean does not commit to the marriage as she did before. It has been shown that the instability of gender roles is the reason for the lack of commitment between Norma Jean and Leroy's marriage. Some readers might say that the loss of their baby Randy is the immediate reason for the lack of commitment in their marriage, but their marriage consists of an issue of responsibility and power. Those issues of commitment in their marriage throughout time resulted in the decision of Norma Jean's desire to end the marriage.
However, he makes little effort to find another alternative to make a living. Realizing that he had missed so many things in life when he was still "on the road," he wanted to enjoy the freedom he had now, and to take more notice of the things happening around him. He no longer wanted to "fly past the scenery". His wife, Norma Jean, however, fails to acknowledge Leroy's attitude. Expecting Leroy to assume the responsibility of caring for the household, watching him idle around, taking up needlepoint and crafting, agitated Norma Jean.
Leroy arrives home from a drive and finds Norma Jean in tears.” (Mason p. 50). Norma
Essentially, to acquire a healthy marriage, a few keys to success are commitment, good communication skills, trust, and patience. Without these qualities, marriages can immerse in negativity which often leads to divorce. In Bobbie Ann Mason’s “Shiloh” and Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”, a failing marriage seems to be the similar theme. Both short stories provide instabilities in their relationships and how they lack these fundamental qualities. In “Shiloh,” Leroy and Norma Jean deal with the loss of a child; the grief and unsupportive environment leaves their marriage questionable. In “Cathedral,” the nameless narrator becomes jealous when his wife, who is also nameless, invites an old friend Robert to stay the night after the visitor’s wife
The struggle to battle with the persistent grief of self-blame and lack of identity is a constant reminder to the barriers in relationships. Leroy grieves over the fact that he has lost his identity as a father and husband. Although he often thinks of Randy, the memories of him have faded. As a result, he latches on to Norma Jean but she doesn’t respond back. This causes him to feel like a failure of a husband. Norma Jean is grieving over the emptiness in her life. It was not the life she thought she would have. Her deceased son symbolizes her emptiness because of his death. She also feels emptiness towards her husband. For example, she feels very uncomfortable around him and always tries to find something for him to do. When Leroy arrives back home from his accident Mason implies, “he thinks she’s seems a little disappointed” (Mason 220), displaying Norma Jean frustrated with his lying around doing nothing but watching television and smoking pot. In addition, Norma Jean feels emptiness towards her mother, which is presented in the way her mother criticizes her. When tragedies occur in a family and self-confidence fades it can take over your life a...
The first conflict in this story is between Leroy and his distance from his wife for such a long time. Mrs. Moffitt has been trying to cope with her husbands’ absence by doing other activities such as: working out, going back to school, and visiting with her mother. Another conflict resides within Leroy himself. He has not been there for his wife and he is trying to make it up to her in any way he can. This couple has been through the loss of an infant child in addition to Leroy’s absence. This is another issue that is causing them to experience the conflicts they do. Mr. and Mrs. Moffitt do not speak of this lost child, which causes more conflict between their marriage together. Leroy, once being settled at home with nothing to do, began to work with his hands to construct or design objects. He wanted to build his wife a log cabin as he was making replicas out of toothpicks. I think him wanting to build this house is to prove to himself and his wife that he can still be productive and good for something. The relationship Leroy has with Norma Jean’s mother is quite different. Any time she comes around, he makes jokes instead of having real conversation with her. I think he makes the jokes to ease the tension and to not address real issues that are present. Leroy has also stated that all those years driving in the same neighborhood he did not take the time to notice how much it had changed.
... chapter in Norma Jean and Leroy's life now that they will be apart. There is nothing left in their marriage that can keep them together because according to Norma Jean it was over a long time ago.
...yle that is placed before her. She was rushed into a marriage just as fast as she decided she wanted out of it. With the pressure of expecting a child, and then coping with the absence of her husband for fifteen years, Norma Jean tried to make things work, working around Leroy. Finally, after awhile it seemed as though she was pushed to the limit, and she decided to do something for herself. Norma Jean probably did not have it in mind to grow apart from Leroy, but she had to find herself before she could completely love someone else. After she realized what she wanted, she understood that she could not find that in Leroy. Unfortunately for Leroy, he had found what he had been missing for all of those years, but it was too late for him to grasp it; the change had already taken place. Leroy pleads with Norma Jean to try to work things out and to start over again, but for Norma Jean, she had already begun to start over when he had left her alone for fifteen years. Looking back on the relationship, blame could never wholly be placed on one character. Over the years Norma Jean and Leroy had begun to go their separate ways by doing what was important to them; together they grew apart.
A part that someone or something has in a particular activity or situation, and 3. The part that someone has in a family, society, or other group (The New International Webster’s Dictionary). The particular definition of role that really fits in with the definition of gender role is “the part that someone has in a family, society, or other group”. This definition is the most accurate because gender roles are basically guidelines or behaviors for a particular gender that are deemed acceptable by society. Like stated earlier, gender roles in the 50’s were very strict and narrow-minded.
From the very beginning of the story, Norma Jean is portrayed as a woman continuously trying to better herself. She takes the opportunity of Leroy's rehabilitation from his accident to start bodybuilding. After the body building class is over, she takes a comp...
“A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally
First, the story that is told by Leroy reveals just how little he understands Norma Jean. He is lost in life at this point. The accident that has taken away his livelihood has also disrupted Norma Jean’s comfortable existence. After traveling for fifteen years he enjoys being home with Norma but “… he can’t tell what she feels about him” (805). Leroy “… thinks she seems a little disappointed about…” finding him at home all the time (805). He slowly begins to notice small details about Norma Jean. These revelations added together lead Leroy, and the reader, to understand that Norma Jean is preparing to leave the marriage.
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
Gender plays an important role in society. It points out men, women, their actions, and how they should behave according to society's perception
Gender Roles are expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. Gender roles apparent in work and in how we react to others. Gender Roles determine how males and females should think, speak, dress, and interrelate within the perspective of society. Normally, a boy is thought how to fix and build things; while girls learn how to cook, and keep house. Children are applauded by their parents when they conform to gender expectations and adopt culturally accepted and conventional roles. All of this is reinforced by additional socializing representatives, such as the media. The Hiraj’s of Hindu religion are looked upon for their gender and sexual
The concept of gender roles has been around since cavemen times, but those roles were based on the anatomy since males were stronger and taller, they went out to hunt and gather, while as females would just gather plants to eat. However, back in those times gender roles were based on anatomy not culture, as it is today. According to Appleby, “in U.S. culture, gender is the most remarkable feature of one’s identity. It shapes our attitudes, our behavior, our experiences, and our beliefs about others and ourselves” (pg. 60). When I was younger, every television shows I would watch from, cartoons, to seeing glimpse of my mother’s soap opera, started to create set rules and ideas in my mind towards masculine and feminine. Since than, it has influenced