Women In Alan Sillitoe's The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner

The rise of a new woman, contrasting and disregarding the stereotypical contraints, created a moral panic around many, in particular the men in Britian during the 1950s. The media played an important role in shaping 1950s British society by reinforceing the idealistic image of the domestic Goddess that women were expected to aspire to be. Advertisements were often shown praising new technology that aided women in becoming the perfect housewife and slogans that focussed on pleasing men or encouraging husbands to purchase the products, such as 'she 'll be happier with a Hoover '. The media obtained a regressive outlook and sought to discourage women from combining employment with their home duties. The media embarked on creating a negative attitude

Throughout the novel she is never named and only referred to as 'mother ' or 'whore ' by her own son, which demonstrates the common mindset of men in the 1950s. However, Smith 's mother helps move along the identity of women, opening up a chance for a new independent life. She representats the disloyalty towards what the working class stood for and is described as being extremely materialistic, spending the pension money she receives from her husband 's death on new clothing and house furnishings which does not comlpy with the idealistic image of the 1950 's female. The image of the perfect housewife and caring mother is nowhere to be seen in Sillitoe 's description of Smith 's mother, instead we find her with 'some fancy-man upstairs ' which automatically carries negative connotations to the audience. Despite a seemingly negative depiction of a female character here, Smith 's mother is evidently conflicting against the social norms and idea of the domesticated female of the 1950 's, making her a direct representation of a new kind of

The main characters, Jo and her mother Helen are not the typical 'straight-laced ' characters that were often seen in the kitchen-sink dramas of that time and represented with strong, independent personalities that aided the development of the new woman. Helen is a single mother who believes desperately that she needs a man to make her life easy and uses her sexuality to get ahead in life, dragging her daughter through her own disastrous relationships one after the other. Despite Helen 's apparent need for men, she does not confine herself the expectations that society and her own daughter have for her. Remarkably, Helen seems to be in control of how she takes advantage of the men in her life and to what extent she depends on them to use her. It is clear that she only sees men as way to find financial satisfactio and is open about her interest for the contents of their pockets over an emotional relationship. She even admits freely that Jo’s own father had “not much going on upstairs” and was a half-witted fool, but handsome and nice. Helen is a great example of how women choose the lives they live and take control into their own hands. However, Helen is also represented as a selfish character, in particular neglecting her stereotypical motherly roles. She is determined to enjoy life yet whilst