Response to John Updike’s A&P, Essay Example

The story presented by John Updike in the story A&P specifically points out on the essence of gender bias and the power struggle that exists between men and women. Relatively, as it could be seen through the notes of the story, the women, bring dressed in such sexually provoking attire imposes a sense of control over the men. The reaction of the men as these women enter the premises specifically identifies such power. Being enticed by such appearance, the men were likely presented to be at the mercy of the women. The power of the female characters have been further established through noting that they did not acknowledge any of the attention they were given by the men, understandably, by doing so, all that the men can do is to look at them and think about them or at some point fantasize over them.

Such power, however, was responded to by Lengel as he acknowledged their presence and tried to shame them by saying that they are not appropriately dressed and that they should know how to carry themselves properly especially when it comes to going to public areas like that of the store. Queenie, the seemingly strong character compared to the other women, responded to such offence with a strong indication that they are dressed decently, and that it was the men who should mind their manners.

Considerably, Sammy and all the other men were under the control of these women. Their attire, the way they carry themselves and how they defend such a behavior in dressing proved to be a strong distinction on how they view themselves apart from what others think. The desires of the men are noted by the women in the story as merely controlled by who they are as individuals and not by what the way the women dressed provoked them to think.

In a way, the story provides more than just an indication on how men respond to women’s behavior. It defines the distinction of gender bias especially when it comes to identifying the being of a person. Most often than not, in the society that people exist in today, the way one dresses says a lot about him or her. The assumption of decency among individuals becomes highly related to what they wear. Nevertheless, as noted in the story, some women, try to redefine themselves and argue that it is not the dress that should define them but the way they carry it; a sense of decency [as defined by the women in the story] depends on the behavior and not on the outside appearance of t a person. While this could be considered true, it could not be denied that the behavior of humans towards each other connote a distinctive impact on how others are likely to think of another based on outside appearances.

Although [it could have been unintentional on the part of the women] to incite sexually provoking desires on the men, it was evident how their clothing affected the thinking that these individuals had towards them. True, they may have not acted on it, but still, the image remains in the minds of those who saw them hence developing personal connotations that they could not control.

Observably, this story has a strong relation on the current situations that women face today. Media, for instance, present them as objects of desire. Their position in the society as the primary presenter of products for men makes them the object of attention. As if selling ‘sex’ to the market, women are often belittled because of such connotation. On the other end, there are women who do not directly feel offended because of such connotations that they present themselves to be subjected to such courses of definition. Dressing themselves in clothes that specifically define their sexuality through accenting the curves of their body, they seem to care less on what others think or at some point even enjoy the attention they get from men, may it be negative or positive. It is because of this that liberalization among women indicates the pros and cons of being a woman living in a highly modernized society that has low distinction between what is moral and what is not.