Gender Roles In The Whole Town's Sleeping

Even before a child is born, processes of gender socialization begin as parents prepare for their child’s arrival. In society, gender is used as a detrimental mechanism to exploit how certain masculine and feminine traits are perceived as stereotypical. The concept of stereotypical gender roles is nothing new and studies show roles have been around 40,000 or 50,000 years back. Gender-specific traits originate from local culture and traditions, children learn what constitutes male and female behaviour from their friends, family, and the media. The short story, The Whole Town’s Sleeping by Roy Bradbury focuses on three middle-aged women Lavina, Francine, and Helen going out late whilst there is a serial killer “the lonely one” on the loose.

Whilst on the walk to Helen's house, Lavina and Francine come across a body in the ravine. Eliza Ramsdell upon discovering the body Francine turns to Lavina and asks “hold me Lavina hold me, I’m cold” seconds later Francine sobs. Through her actions, Francine can be characterised as a stereotypical submissive female that needs a masculine presence to hold and comfort her. However, it’s only Lavina and Francine, no masculine presence so why would Francine ask Lavina to hold her? This can be revealed through the intricate relationship between the pair much like a boyfriend, or girlfriend situation. Lavinia’s first reaction on the other hand was to suggest “we’ve got to forget this. It's not good to remember”. She then proceeds to tell Francine “We need to laugh. We’ll go to the show as if nothing happened”. Through the actions of Lavina it’s clear she is trying to behave masculinely, rather than processing the trauma and crying like Francine, Lavina is trying to suppress the trauma and not appear weak or feminine. So because of this chain of events in the relationship even though Lavina is a woman she appears masculine enough to be a shoulder for Francine to cry

While Lavinia tries her best to appear masculine throughout the text sometimes faking isn’t enough. On her way home, passing through the ravine Lavina is startled by a presence that causes her to lose her façade. “Don’t turn, don’t look if you see him, you’ll not be able to move! You’ll be frightened, you’ll freeze! Just run, run, run.” Through the inner monologue, we can see Lavina is no longer calm and masculine like she was when she discovered Eliza no. She’s now appearing panicked and feminine. Lavina is at war with herself her masculine side fighting to remain dominant but losing. Knowing that if she looks back her feminine side will freeze rather than fight like her masculine side. No matter how hard Lavina tries to break gender stereotypes she will always be seen as a weak female. Which is revealed through her damaging relationship with herself. Lavina runs home and makes it inside making. Sure to lock and slam the doors. When she calms down, she returns to her more masculine traits, realising that if a man were chasing her that he would’ve caught up to her by now. When “behind her in the black living room someone cleared his throat”. Through the actions of the lonely one in Lavinia’s house, it shows him conforming to gender