Dorothy Allison's novel Bastard Out of Carolina tells the story of the "white-trash" girl Bone Boatwright and her "good, lazy, incompetent" family (3) . The novel explores some of the most common myths and realities plaguing the Appalachian region such as poverty, incest, and domestic abuse. Specifically, Allison confronts the institutional system of gender relations through all the characters she plays within the novel. Bone's mother Anney, her aunts Alma and Ruth, her stepfather Glen, and Boatwright's other aunts and uncles constantly address and live up to traditional gender expectations. That said, Bone and his aunt Raylene are the only characters to break free from these gender roles and create a better future for themselves. In Bastard Out of Carolina, Allison uses the aforementioned strong, independent female characters to challenge patriarchal gender relations and ultimately creates a new standard for Appalachian women in the postmodern era. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Certainly, most of the characters in the novel meet traditional genre expectations. Overall, women are there to take care of the home and children, while men are expected to provide and protect. However, Allison uses these characters to expose the physical, psychological and economic domination that women must endure under a patriarchal system. For example, after Anney marries dad Glen, she begins to deny her autonomy and expects her new husband to take care of problems that would otherwise be hers: “Glen has to deal with this… He has to do it, and I have to leave him ” (57). After all, Anney needs Daddy Glen “like a hungry woman needs meat between her teeth” (41). Within general gender expectations, Allison goes further by creating a distinction between Boatwright men and women Boatwright men exacerbate male gender roles through their drunkenness, rowdiness, and their inability to provide for their families despite it being their sole responsibility. Furthermore, regardless of their love towards their wives, Boatwright men will not “stay.” away from other women” and will have no respect for situations that “couldn't be handled with a shotgun or a two-by-four” (24, 10). what men did was just what men did,” even when he leaves them to take care of the house and children alone while the men are stuck in prison (23). In this way, Allison creates a cyclical pattern of female-male dependence in the novel that is only destroyed at the end by Bone herself. Even Bone notes that "[his] aunts treated [his] uncles like overgrown boys: rambunctious teenagers whose antics were more to joke about than to worry about" (23). Similarly, after Aunt Alma is betrayed by her husband, she tries but fails to survive independently of Wade and eventually returns to him, justifying herself with "I guess he's no worse than any other man" (91). Ultimately, Carpenter women carry the burdens of the family and do most of the work while Carpenter men do what they want: “Men could do anything, and everything they did, no matter how violent or wrong, was seen with humor and understanding. ” (23). That said, by incorporating established gender constructs into her characters, Allison manages to both reinforce and resist standards associated with gender roles and expectations. However, theAllison's reinforcement of these stereotypes does not suggest her agreement or conformity. Instead, this representation allows Allison to juxtapose the "standard" Appalachian woman with her alternative: a new role for women in postmodern Appalachia. Indeed, Allison's "weak" female characters are prisoners of the idea that nothing in their lives or families can ever change. For example, When Anney's first husband, Lyle Parsons, dies, Aunt Ruth refers to Anney's new permanent look of desperation and despondency as finally "looking like a carpenter," but Anney "no longer cared... what he looked like." (8 ). Likewise, both Aunt Ruth and Anney resign themselves to the same inevitable roles and futures experienced by most women in Appalachia. Aunt Ruth reminds the reader of the only goal for the women in the family: "Being pregnant was proof that a man thought I was pretty...the more children he had, the more he knew he was worth something" (230-31). Likewise, Boatwright women base their entire worth on something only a man can give them. However, as previously mentioned, Dorothy Allison's reinforcement of the stereotypical roles of Appalachian women does not imply her endorsement of these values. Instead, it creates a standard through these characters to expose the effects of a patriarchal system and, similarly, uses Aunt Raylene and Bone to demonstrate the potential that women have once they are able to discard traditional views of what it means to be feminine. Before Bone. he begins spending time with Aunt Raylene, who can't see past the patriarchal system. Feeling condemned to follow in her mother's and aunt's footsteps, Bone even wishes that "[she] had been born male" so that she could enjoy the seemingly endless freedoms that the men around her take for granted (23). However, Aunt Raylene's strong, independent, and self-confident character encourages Bone to transcend the stereotypical role of women in Appalachia. Aunt Raylene lives on the outskirts of town, separated from the close-knit community of her sisters, explaining to Bone that "out here where no one can mess around...the trash increases" (180). Ultimately, this phrase becomes a metaphor for Bone's eventual "rise" above standardized roles for Appalachian women. Aunt Raylene is the only character in the story "completely satisfied with her own company," an attribute she teaches Bone throughout the novel (179). Likewise, Aunt Raylene's relentless self-agency is what allows her to escape the patriarchal system perpetuated by her sisters: "I created my own life... out of pride, stubbornness, and too much anger" (263). Raylene, in fact, embodies the exact opposite values of her sisters. She smokes, freely uses foul language, has short hair, and wears "pants as often as skirts" (179). By isolating herself from her family and the strictly defined roles for men and women, Aunt Raylene becomes “something magical” that Bone has fervently sought (207). She tells Bone about her younger years working at a carnival, defending herself from a man who made unwarranted sexual advances towards her, and about her romantic relationship with another woman. For Bone, these cases represent a realm she had never considered before: the ability to live life as an independent woman in Appalachia, free from the confines of gender roles and expectations. Likewise, Aunt Raylene encourages Bone's independence by allowing her to help preserve fruits and vegetables and pick up trash from the river in exchange for money. Ultimately, Bone comes to the conclusion that she and Aunt Raylene are “like no one else in the world” (258). But perhaps the most important contribution Aunt Raylene makes to Bone is her newfound confidence., 1994. 69-85.
tags