Ree survives by rejecting and
following traditional gender roles when it is advantageous to her. Much of the time,
the she operates in a liminal space between the two. For example, Ree “nearly
always wore a dress or a skirt, but with combat boots” (Woodrell 20). Her
dresses and skirts were mostly hand-me-downs, representative of the traditional
gender roles that were passed down in her family and her community. The combat
boots, on the other hand, are utilitarian and enable Ree to do chores that would
traditionally be reserved for the men of the family. She has taken over the
role of her father and is forced to provide for her family, which has thrust
her into a traditionally male role and enables her to adopt traditionally
masculine traits, like her stoicism. Her mother is almost just as absent as her
father is, so Ree acts not only as the father of the family, but also as the
mother. In the novel, she teaches her brothers stereotypically feminine things,
like cooking and washing their mother’s hair, and stereotypically masculine
things, like shooting and fighting, so they will be able to survive if she
leaves for the army.
However, she tends to reject
traditional roles more often than she follows them. Ree tells Uncle Teardrop, “I
ain’t lookin’ to marry” (Woodrell 168). In a society that forces marriage after
a pregnancy, and many women depend on their husband for survival and defer entirely
to their husbands, like Victoria does, this is certainly not the norm. Instead,
Ree gets a job working for the bail bondsmen. Ree’s friend Gail acts as a foil
for her, especially in the context of gender roles. While Ree gets a job and
declares she won’t marry, Gail returns to the trailer to be a wife and mother.
When Harold was reluctant to help skin the squirrel, Ree “pulled him down the porch
steps” and told him to “get your goddam fingers in there’n yank out them guts,”
while Gail “bent to kiss his cheek” and called him a “brave little rascal”
(Woodrell 107). Ree expresses her feelings for her family through harshness and
tough love, not affection like the motherly figure of Gail does. This dichotomy
is exemplified later, when “Ree carried the shotgun” and “Gail carried the baby”
(Woodrell 154). Gail, in addition to acting as a foil, is also Ree’s only love
interest in the story. In a small, rural community in the Ozarks like theirs, these
kinds of feelings for a person of the same sex would not be ascribing to any
kind of traditional role.
I really like this post! I think commenting on and pinpointing Ree’s transitory states regarding gender roles serves to further illuminate potential messages of the work, which, I admit, I am still a little unsure of. I believe that Ree’s relationship with traditionalism and gender play a large part in those potential messages, though. It is such a central part of the story and her character; her reactions, though perhaps not changing the plot, flavor the entire narrative; for example, I doubt Ree could have done anything to stop Teardrop from going after her father’s murderer, but it is still extremely significant that she did not even try to. How she acts speaks volumes about what her culture finds acceptable or unacceptable, which in turn helps us understand the story and what the author is saying even better. I can’t decide whether this text is trying to be feminist or not (I’d argue that it is definitely not feminist, based on Ree’s characterization), but Ree definitely eschews traditional feminine ideas that her culture subscribes to, which in itself carries progressive connotations different from, say, Aloma from All The Living. At the same time, though, her actions regarding gender feel a little…off, to me. They feel very much like a man’s vision of what a strong female is; it’s very focused on the male gaze. I’m not sure! I think this analysis is a really good conversation towards realizing what the author actually means in this work.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that Ree seems to utilize gender roles to accomplish her daily goals, blending into the community with her traditionally feminine attire, while assuming a traditionally masculine role to teach her brothers how to survive in the hostile environment of the Ozarks. I also agree that she has a typically masculine personality, whether it is using the guns, wearing the combat boots, or her stoicism. Her feminine traits appear only as needed, with filling in the gap left by their mother and her traditional clothing.
ReplyDeleteOn this point, I think it is interesting how Woodrell portrays the intimacy in the novel between Ree and Gail. Their interactions are described as, “each being the man and woman, each on top and bottom, pushing for it with grunts and receiving it with sighs” (Woodrell 87). This furthers the argument that Ree appears to utilize both traditionally masculine and feminine roles. She is able to assume either role as is advantageous to her even in the intimate points in her life. I believe her usage of both gender roles in refreshing to see from Woodrell, as I would not have expected a white, male writer to accomplish this as gracefully as he appears to. While the analysis of gender roles is still relevant, I hope that in the future, gender roles will be a figure in the rear-view mirror and people will simply be viewed through the identity they shape for themselves.
I enjoyed your analysis of Ree’s adherence to and rejection of gender roles. I agree that she generally operates between traditionally masculine and feminine traits and roles, at times even mixing them. As you stated, Ree wears more traditionally feminine dresses at the same time as she wears more traditionally masculine boots. I think that this constant contrast emphasizes the many roles Ree is forced to take on both in her family and in the community– she is, in a sense, both the man and woman of her household and must perform tasks traditionally delegated to the people holding each of these positions.
ReplyDeleteI found your description of the contrast between Gail and Ree to be very interesting, as I hadn’t considered how they are foils on nearly every level. Ree has a tendency to reject traditionally feminine behavior– including marriage and affection– while Gail is the complete opposite. I found your comparison between Gail carrying the baby and Ree carrying a shotgun to be especially potent. It clearly represents the different roles they each take on in their family and what they consider to be most important. I find it interesting, however, that at their core they are nearly the same. They are both very family oriented and truly care for those they are looking after, even if they show it in contrasting ways.