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The Edible Woman

The Edible Woman. A Comic-Satirical View of Women’s Positions in Society . General Question. Why does Marian cry in the Park Plaza and then run away from her friends? How is Peter presented in this scene? Why does she kiss Duncan (the man at the laundromat)?. Outline.

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The Edible Woman

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  1. The Edible Woman A Comic-Satirical View of Women’s Positions in Society

  2. General Question • Why does Marian cry in the Park Plaza and then run away from her friends? How is Peter presented in this scene? • Why does she kiss Duncan (the man at the laundromat)?

  3. Outline • Background:50’s and 60’s in Canada • Society and its stagnant conformity; • Examples of femininity • Marian’s interview • Examples of Masculinity: Peter and Len • Chap 9-10: Marian’s responses • Duncan and his views of cannibalism • Images of Food, Eating and Body

  4. 50’s in CanadaMyth of Domesticity • After WW II (1945) • Myth – 1) calling women back home Propaganda: “When will Mother be home again, doing what she does best, making a home for Daddy and me?” (Seen in magazines, sermons, political rhetoric, school textbooks & the doctor’s advice) 2) Women as submissive to and supportive of men, domestic and nourishing

  5. 50’s in Canada Reality of Women at Work • Post-War Reality – 1) many reluctant to give up their paychecks and independence; • 2) in 1947 ¼ of Canadian women in work force; • 3) poor white women, single mothers, native women, black domestic servants, etc. • 4) professional jobs were largely unavailable to women; their jobs were mostly factory labour, domestic service, sales and secretary;

  6. 50’s in CanadaMyth of Femininity • Sweet and sexy: • Sexiness = blond, long legs, cute curls, big breasts, etc.

  7. 50’s 60’s in CanadaChanges • More young women were allowed to exter universities. • 1950 -- 25 % women; • The new “single girl” phenomenon. Age of first marriage started to rise slowly. •  new definitions of “femaleness” and female sexuality in the 60’s. • Influence of The Feminine Mystique (1963) and the other American feminist ideas of autonomy and women’s rights.

  8. & Child birth: Birth control pills– began to be used in the States in 1960 Birth control advice from physicians considered illegal in Canada until 1969  abortion debate (pro-choice, pro-life) in the 70’s. 50’s 60’s in CanadaDomesticity

  9. Edible Woman: Plot Summary • Part I – sense of crisis, escape and compromise; • Part 2 – in between Duncan and Peter; fear of being consumed  developing anorexia; • Part 3 – solutions

  10. Society • Seymour Survey: 1) The fixed hierarchy in the office pp. 14-15; 2) stagnant, lack of energy; p. 11 3) controlling: Pension Plan; 4) Map – p. 19 • The landlady: conservative, keeping an eye on them, insist on “decency”

  11. Society (2) • Comic or grotesque episodes showing people’s exploitation and repression of others’ bodies. • pp. 17-18; • Quebec •  social cannibalism.

  12. Society (3) • What do you think about Duncan’s description of graduate school (pp. 101 - 103)

  13. Clara (chaps 3, 4)– ad beauty turned into a monstrously pregnant body. pp. 28—her body; 33 -- her past and present; 34 – her present passivity; 36 her views of the pill; Knows what she wants to do p. 9 Ainsley chap 5 Wholeness of life or cattle-breeding pp. 39-41 Maternity:Ainsley vs. Clara Marian’s nightmare

  14. More Questions • What do you think about Marian’s work? • What do you think about her relationship with Peter? • What kind of person is “the man at the laudromat”?

  15. Marian’s Work • “What else can you do with a B.A. these days?” pp. 10; 54. • Re-enforcing social order (looks for a proper district) pp. 43-44 • Encounters and is subject to the other fixed value standards: • puritan self-righteousness; • Male sexism

  16. Peter • A lawyer on the rise 56; • His room—weapons 58; (the other weapons—camera and his look 72;) • Needs Trigger to be his mirror image p. 23; • Uses Marian as support pp. 60; expects Marian to meet his expectations 63, 65; • Against female predator 65 • Peter on hunting 70-71 Marian’s realization of being used as “stage-prop.” 72

  17. Len Slank • Len: a womanizer esp. interested in innocent women 90 • Ainsley’s action p. 69 –performs the role of an innocent girl to get her “prey.” Another reason for Marian’s escape

  18. Chapters 9 - 10: Peter’s ways of controlling Marian • the fourth weapon—car; • Marriage  • Marian’s Responses • Marian sees him as a rescuer 92-93-94;

  19. Duncan • Not masculine, or complete as a subject – his body p. 47; • Marian’s is attracted to his ideas: • His interpretation of the ad-- pp. 51-53—reveals the relations between food industry and patriarchal ideologies of masculinity and consumption. • His self-criticism (of the grads’ life)—liquid confessing like “an uncooked egg” • His sharp perception of their mutual needs 105

  20. Images: Eating, Food & Predator/Prey • The survey company: rice pudding, beer, (later, tomato juice, meat cleaver, etc.) • Marian’s work: “licking” stamps • The pension plan will “feed off [her] salary” (18) • Work place as soup 11, as a three-layer sandwich 13; • One interviewee’s voice -- 45 • Ainsley escapes from Len as if from a “giant squid” 87 • The novel’s epigraph

  21. Images: Body • P. 19 the map like measles; • Clara’s body; • p. 85 – As Peter is watching her, Marian feels “limp as a damp kleenex.” • P. 106 – Duncan’s body like tissue paper, too. • Marian’s skull—”like a cantaloup” 86; • (Ainsley, like a mermaid)

  22. Reference • Silverman, Eliane Leslau. “Changes in Women’s Lives.” A Passion for Identity: An Introduction to Canadian Studies. 3rd ed. Ed. David Taras and Beverly Rasporich. Toronto: International Thomson P, 1997.

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