A & P Blog # 7

In John Updike's A & P, women are depicted as haughty and clueless, in a way. For example the woman that Sammy referred to as a "witch" who watched the price closely, was rude and gave off the impression that she was better than Sammy. Another example is how Queenie walked down the aisles, she walked with her back straight and head up; Sammy made the comment about not knowing what was going through girls' minds as Queenie's feet hit the ground a little too hard.
In this piece the role women play would be considered a major role. The women's actions help tell the story and the culture at the time. It was not acceptable to go into stores without your shoulders being covered or even shoes on.
 The girls or "Queenie" comes off as dominant with the way her posture is set as she strolls through the store with her followers, but as the manager confronts her of her lack of proper clothing, she turns into the submissive role.
The women's role play a major part in this story. Without them in the story there would be no purpose. Sammy would have still been working at his boring job, dealing with the usual customers that he disliked. The women showing up in the story showed him about breaking the rules the consequences and the fun of them.
Sammy's attitude towards women is that they are clueless, but the pretty ones are nice to look at. Sammy couldn't take his eyes off of Queenie and her followers. Sammy saw the women as beneath him along with every other customer in the store, even though his class would be considered the same or less.
The male characters in the story talk down to the women. The manager scolded the girls for not wearing proper clothing, Sammy's thoughts went to "is there even a mind in there or a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar."
The females all talk with a female authority to the males. Example the older woman the "witch" spoke to Sammy as if she were his boss. Queenie spoke to the manager as if she were going to flirt her way out of the predicament, using her female sex appeal.