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Andrea Valle
Professor Ditch
English 115
27 October 2017
Radical Gender Roles

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, an epistolary novel by Mary Ann

Shaffer and Annie Barrows, describes the character, Juliet Ashton, and her association with a

literary society on an island. The literary society started due to the German Occupation of the

Channel Islands during World War II and after months of Juliet corresponding with the members

of the society, she decides to visit the island of Guernsey. Through Juliets many encounters with

the societys members, we can see her performance fluctuate from masculine to feminine.

Gender is a social construct given by society to define what appropriate behaviors for males

and females are, whereas sex is a way to define people as male or female based on biological

characteristics at birth, such as internal reproductive organs. Many characters play significant

roles in Juliets life, with Dawsey Adams being one of them. Dawsey is another character that

can be seen performing both masculine and feminine behaviors. Both characters break free from

but also conform to prescribed gender roles through their use of language and actions.

The novel gives many examples of how Dawsey breaks free from and conforms to his

prescribed gender role. An example of when he conforms to his prescribed gender role is when

he acts as a hero to Remy. Remy is hysterical when confronted by a big dog that reminded her of

how the guards used dogs to attack women in the camps. After Dawsey sees her hysterical

reaction he makes a quick and smart decision by picking Remy up and carrying her out of the

situation to Juliets house (Shaffer, Barrows 254). This performance is very masculine because it

shows how Dawsey made a heroic decision and he did not let his emotions get in the way.
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According to Steve Craig in, Men, Masculinity, and the Media, he argues how the media has

constructed the way males believe they should behave and the negative effects it has on them.

Craig conveys his argument by giving an example of how super heroes can shape a males mind

into believing they should look and act a certain way. Craig goes on to state, Heroes present

images of goodness, power, control, confidence, success, and competence. Through popular

culture young boys learn these are the attributes to emulate (63). In todays society, males are

expected to take on the role of protector because women are considered too weak to fend for

themselves. This idea of males always saving the day and being the hero goes on to show how

males are expected to behave. Dawseys actions display how he conforms to his prescribed

gender role by showing a very masculine behavior based on how he emulates the same attributes

that are only socially acceptable to masculinity. Through his actions he represented confidence in

being able to care for Remy, control in taking care of the situation quickly, and competence in

successfully removing Remy from the situation.

Another example of how Dawsey conforms to his prescribed gender role is when he is

appointed as the leader in restoring the Big House (Shaffer, Barrows 251). This performance is

masculine because it conveys how Dawsey is going along with the idea of males needing to be

strong, tough, and work in manly jobs (Craig 63). According to Jason Del Gandio, in his

handbook Rhetoric for Radicals, he describes how society holds males above females. Del

Gandio further explains this idea by stating, Man is constructed as independent, superior and

foundational to humanity (115). This idea of males being superior and foundational to

humanity is significant because it shows how Dawsey conforms to his prescribed gender role of

being independent and helping his community. By restoring the Big House, Dawsey performs a

masculine performance and shows how the community needs his strong, tough, and superiority
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behavior to restore the building. His actions show how he is a foundational part of his

community and without him there would be no way to restore the building.

After looking at some of the ways Dawsey conforms to his prescribed gender role, new

ways in which he breaks free from his gender role and takes part in feminine performances can

be seen. Through Isolas private notes the events that take place in Dawseys home when Isola is

snooping around looking for clues that he likes Remy can be seen. Instead of finding clues that

he likes Remy, she finds a box that has Juliets handkerchief in it. This implies that Dawsey kept

the scented handkerchief as a keepsake to remember Juliet. In Roisin Parkins article, Gender

and Emotional Expressiveness: An Analysis of Prosodic Features in Emotional Expression, she

highlights the emotional differences that society expects from both females and males. Parkins

argues this by stating, There is a common assumption that has transpired over the years with

regard to women being more emotionally expressive than men (46). Her depiction of emotions

and how society believes women should be more emotionally expressive than males leads people

to believe that males should not be emotional, except when expressing anger. This is widely seen

in correlation with Dawsey when he performs feminine behavior by keeping mementos that

remind him of the emotions he felt for Juliet. By keeping Juliets handkerchief, he shows

emotions of love, caring, and the need for a relationship instead of the normal emotion anger,

which is encouraged by society for males.

The next character from the novel that breaks free from but also conforms to her

prescribed gender role is Juliet. Throughout the novel it can be seen how she does not comply

with the most appropriate gender behavior by the way she speaks to certain people and how

she presents herself as a very independent woman. This can be seen when Isola and Kit find

Billee Bee leaving town with all the letters from the members of the literary society. After Billee
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Bee is confronted by Juliet, she makes a last remark to Kit, calling her a brat. Due to her remark,

Juliet reaches her breaking point and slaps her. This shows a very masculine performance by

Juliet because of her aggression and violence. According to Aaron Devors article, Becoming

Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender, he describes how society thinks

masculinity should be performed. He describes this when he states, Persons who exhibit a

manly air of toughness, confidence, and self-reliance and the aura of aggression, violence, and

daring are seen as exuding masculinity (Devor 42). Juliets masculine performance can be seen

by society as not complying with gender norms. As opposed to how a female should behave,

according to society, Juliet should have calmly and gracefully confronted Billee Bee and told her

that she did not agree with her opinion of Kit. She also should have been more lady-like by

remaining poised and handling the situation rationally without lashing out. However, by slapping

Billee Bee, Juliet displayed aggressive, violent, and daring behavior, all examples of what Devor

describes as exuding masculinity.

Another way Juliet does not conform to her prescribed gender role is when she proposes

to Dawsey. In the article, Negotiating Courtship: Reconciling Egalitarian Ideals with Traditional

Gender Norms, by Ellen Lamont, she describes the traditional gender norm characteristics within

relationships. She describes these gender norm characteristics by stating, Men are responsible

for asking women out, paying for dates, determining when the relationship will shift from casual

to committed, and proposing marriage (Lamont 90). Based on Lamonts description of a

traditional relationship, she believes that males should be the ones to propose to females,

however, Juliet breaks this societal norm and proposes to Dawsey herself. This plays an

important role in how Juliet does not conform to her prescribed gender role of performing

feminine behavior because she took on the role of performing masculinity. She did this by taking
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charge of her relationship with Dawsey, determining when she wanted to be more than just

friends, and proposing to him.

Throughout the novel we have seen how Juliet is radical in her gender performance and

how she goes against gender norms. However, Juliet begins to conform to her prescribed gender

role, femininity, through her actions. In a letter to Sophie from Juliet, Juliet describes how she

wants to be a mother and adopt Kit. This behavior shows Juliet performing femininity and

conforming to her appropriate gender role. According to the article, From Women, Men, and

Society, by Claire Renzetti and Daniel Curran, they conclude that society has made it a norm for

females to take on the role of a care taker. They further explain this concept by stating, Girls

rooms reflected traditional conceptions of femininity, especially in terms of domesticity and

motherhood (Curran, Renzetti 80). This traditional view of females tells society that females are

expected to take on care taking roles and that their main purpose is to stay home to care for their

families. Juliet exhibits these characteristics because she wants to play the nurturing and

motherly role to Kit. By societys standards, she is conforming to her gender role because she is

going along with the traditional idea that a females main purpose is to care for and have

children.

Finally, Juliet shows how she conforms to her prescribed gender role when she becomes

jealous of Remy for getting all of Dawseys attention. Juliet illustrates behavior of jealousy when

she sees Dawsey and Remy arm in arm, buying suitcases, and having a good time together. After

Juliet sees this, she begins to get jealous of Remy because she is in love with Dawsey and she

wishes it could be her having a good time with him instead of Remy. Del Gandio portrays this

type of behavior in his handbook when he states, Women are expected to compete for mens

attention (114). This statement suggests that every female should always be trying to better
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themselves for the attention of a male, and when another female has the wanted attention it

becomes inevitable for jealousy behavior to occur. Juliet openly takes part in this feminine

behavior when she wants Remy to leave Guernsey in order to have all of Dawseys attention to

herself.

In conclusion, Juliet and Dawsey both break free from but also conform to their

prescribed gender roles through their use of language and actions. Dawsey can be seen

performing masculine roles when he behaves as a hero, is manly, and acts tough. He then breaks

free from his most appropriate gender role and performs femininity by being emotionally

attached to a keepsake from Juliet. Juliet conforms to her gender role of being feminine when she

decides to adopt Kit and when she performs characteristics of jealousy. She then shows how she

breaks free from femininity by performing masculine characteristics, which include her being

aggressive, violent, and proposing to Dawsey.

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Works Cited

Craig, Steve. Men, Masculinity and the Media. Thousand Oaks, SAGE Publications,

1992.

Del Gandio, Jason. Rhetoric for Radicals: a Handbook for 21st Century Activists.

Gabriola Island, BC, New Society Publishers, 2008.

Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender.

Composing Gender, 2014, pp. 35.

Parkins, Roisin. Gender and Emotional Expressiveness: An Analysis of Prosodic

Features in Emotional Expression. Gender and Prosodic Features in

Emotional Expression, pp. 46.

Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran. From Women, Men, and Society. Composing Gender,

pp. 80.