A&P

“John Updikes “ A & P” Using Feminist Criticism Strategies”

            The thought of wearing nothing but bathing suits in a store can bring attention. How do you react when seeing someone with only a swimsuit on at a store? Sammy who works at the store saw three pretty girls who walked in with just swimsuits on. One girl was leading the group and her name was Queenie. Sammy thought that they were pretty and classy and that they were probably in the upper class.  A & P was written in 1961 so just think that things were way different back then. Upper class acted differently than lower class. Women tried to be elegant and wanted to be treated nicely. In 1961 women dressed differently and were mainly housewives. Men were more in control and would be more demanding.  Women now in days can wear what they like.  In A & P Queenie was the one that had her straps down. They were off her shoulders looped loose.

The girls were feminine and had clean skin. Queenie had good posture and she looked like she didn’t want to talk to anyone. The manager who is a guy comes up to them and says, “ This isn’t the beach.” He says that they need to come into this store with their shoulders covered. It seemed like they were not being ladies and they were not dressed like women. Men back then were in charge and the manager had the control and wanted to make sure he mentioned the rules to the girls. He talked to them in a demand way because they were girls instead of men. This was criticism to the girls. Sammy sees Queenie blushed and her voice changed. She mentioned that she was in the store to find one thing. She then said that they are decent. Kind of disagreeing with the manager. At this point she is talking back to the manager. After the girls left Sammy ends up realizing that the girls did nothing wrong and they were just customers. He ends up quitting and he wants to find the girls. There was criticism by judgment, looks, and gender. Men talked differently to women and it has changed now.  It seemed around this time that they wanted to be able to have equal rights and could dress however they wanted. Women should be treated the same and should be respected the same way as men. It seemed that the three girls were not afraid of what they looked like. Once the manager saw what they looked like he made sure he was right there and told them the rules. I am glad that things have changed throughout the years.