The power struggle between men and women in this story is witnessed primarily through interactions where the woman falls short of what the men want. This makes women, like Hazel, easily replaceable in men's lives. Women only command power when they are liked, so Parker creates women who have no plausible way to gain power other than to be agreeable and well-liked. The reader sees how detached Hazel seems from the other women in this story. She can't understand why they can be sad, but when she looks sad she is told to smile and how no one wants to hear about other people's problems. In fact there are only three women that Hazel has conversations with in the story. The first is her neighbor who lives across the hall while she is married to Herbie. In Mrs. Martin he finds an escape from his trapped and unsatisfying life. They drink and play cards with a group of men called "the boys". This seems to be the only real friend she has in the entire story, even though they have a falling out over the men in their lives. The next woman is Mrs. Miller who, after an exchange in the bathroom, leads Hazel to the pills she will use in her suicide attempt. The final character is Nettie, the black waitress who brings Hazel back to life after she attempted to take her own life. This seems to be a way for the author to explain the tension between women at this time. All the women in Parker's story try to maintain the appearance that society has assigned to them. Some might have thought this would bring women together, it actually made them further separated because they were all afraid to show the crack in their "good sport" personalities. Even if the story takes place in... middle of paper... ....the ideals to which women of the time were held. Instead of focusing on the power women felt after winning the vote, it demonstrated how powerless some women still felt in their lives. It painted a clear picture of the difficulties a woman would feel if she were trapped in the position of being happy all the time. How feelings like that can lead to emptiness, alcoholism and suicide attempts. Dorothy Parker was a woman before her time and she still leaves us today by revealing the ideas and statements she made. Works Cited Lansky, Ellen. "Women's Issues: Dorothy Parker, Katherine Anne Porter, and Alcoholism." Literature and Medicine (1997): 212-230.Parker, Dorothy. "Big Blonde." Parker, Dorothy. The portable Dorothy Parker. Penguin Books, 1976. 187-210.Simpson, Amelia. "Black on Blonde: The African Presence in Dorothy Parker's 'Big Blonde'." University literature (1996): 105-117.