Curtis Sittenfeld's Gender Studies

“It’s difficult to remember that she’s not attracted to him.” But why does she have to remind herself that she is not attracted? Why not just say what she means? At first glimpse, Curtis Sittenfeld’s Gender Studies short story seems to portray a sexual encounter between nearly forty year old Women and Gender Studies professor, Nell and a twenty-seven year old shuttle driver, Luke. The story gives the impression of a naughty one-night stand. It is not outrageous for a one-night stand to appear in this twenty-first century Western culture story. But, it is Nell’s lack of emotional control and responsibility in the story that we scrutinize. Quickly we could conclude: ‘Wow Nell made a dumb mistake while intoxicated’. Or think: ‘Nell was being floozy

The fact that Luke is “divorced” and Nell is newly single, shows us that, no doubt, they have desires for intimacy. However, Nell never admits to herself that she is attracted to Luke. For instance, when they first meet, she makes note of Luke’s “shiny orange polo shirt”, “nearly black hair” and his “pale white pockmarked [skin]”. This shows she is, physically, checking him out. Then, she tries to play off imagining him “performing oral sex on her” as a common thought to “flint across her mind.” Her excuse for the thought is blaming him for kneeling to close to the “zipper on her pants”. Nell is being insincere with herself by not admitting her attraction for Luke. Her insincerity is a result of the shame felt by desiring Luke. Afterall, he is a shuttle driver while she is an “elitist asshole” university professor. Also, their age gap of “fifteen or so years” where (Nell is senior to Luke) is creating, yet, another reason for her to feel superior. She even finds “it’s difficult to remember that she’s not attracted to him.” The fact that she needs to convince herself of this proves that she is not being true to her feelings. All in all, Nell is not sincere with herself nor takes the blame for her actions because she allows her emotions to overpower

She always thinks it is the fault of something other than herself. For instance, Nell states that she feels “powerless not to be [an elitist asshole]”. In reality she does have the power, just chooses to believe it is not her fault and she cannot help it. She also compares her sexual desires to “heroines of romance novels” who “have no choice but to submit…(and) are absolved of responsibility”. Really, Nell is responsible for her actions but believes her emotions are too strong to fight. Furthermore, the story focuses on these aspects of fault and sincerity in characters other than Nell. That being said, she is not the only one who thinks in the aforementioned ways. To elaborate, on the radio in the shuttle, “the Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump” is being discussed. This discussion sets the story up to make connections between Trump and the characters. Here, we are set to consider that the potential leader of Nell’s country is the definition of someone who never feels he is at fault. Also, believes he is not responsible for his actions, has no emotional control and has no intentions of sincerity! The pattern continues with Nell’s ex-boyfriend who “had been eating meat” while he and Nell are supposed to be vegetarians. He has no intentions of being sincere because he hides “eating meat” from her and only confesses when she reveals she “was eating a B.L.T [at lunch]”. Of course, lets not forget the ultimate act of her