Underwear Identity Crisis Nicola Barker Analysis

An Underwear Identity Crisis

Have you ever gone through that stupid attempt to please someone? Even if that meant fixing their car to make them like you? Allow me to rephrase that, is it normal for a guy to let his lady lover to fix his car with her underwear, out in the rain, in a white dress? In the short story by Nicola Barker, G-String introduces a very modern approach on the expectations of women in society at large represented in an individual instance. This interesting and quite odd relationship between the main character, Gillian, and her partner Mr. Kip insights the question of, does giving up who you are a penalty to being of what society wants you to be?
As the story unfolds we begin to see the problematic situations that are imposed

In an array of behaviors, it is evident that she is not truly invested in Mr. Kip and that she is dating someone merely because she has to. If she is to remain single, people would look at her as if there is something wrong with her to not attract someone else. These actions are done due to the imposed standards for women in society, thus obligating her to do what she necessarily doesn’t want to do. In addition, this follows up on her appearance, in both the way she presents herself as a person and in the physical attributes she acquires, it is purely synthetic and these actions are all done to appease her lover. Gillian exemplifies the idea that when “men act and women appear. Men look at women.” So this leads “women [to] watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves.” (Berger 47) It’s not until the time that Mr. Kip invites Gillian to a Rotary club as his special partner. He does this in style by using his Aston Martin and dressing up for the occasion, it is then presumed that all he needed was the lady by his side. However, at this event he mistreats her and doesn’t pay her much attention. This demonstrates how she is used as an object. She is merely something else that he can use as an accessory. This form of objectification is subtle, however, still

Kip to the Rotary club and finds a dress she deems satisfactory for her lover but not her at all. What is claimed to make the dress look unbecoming on Gillian was the underwear she owned. This was a lie to her friend Jeanie to avoid admitting that it was really her body that made the dress look unfitting on her. Jeanie then provides the suggestion of using a G-string. A new, hip article of clothing the women were wearing nowadays, Jeanie pressures Gillian to purchase the item. After a bit of hesitation, she finally gives in to buying the G-string. This hesitation was something more than just simply deciding to be daring and wild, but rather a decision of identity. Gillian could either have admitted to the dress looking the way it did due to her body or continued to fake her way through life and use the G-string. The G-string resembled much more than just a new trend, but rather in respect to modernization. With the choice provided in front of her, Gillian had to decide if she were to change who she was to the fast-paced evolving world or stay true to herself. Unfortunately, due to the pressures of Mr. Kip, Jeanie, and all of the other women using the G-string she loses the battle of character and falls into the conformity of the underwear and does this from “shame and social pressure” (Women and weight). In the story, Gillian even admits to her want to be the person society wants her to be and not the person she really is. “Gillian wanted