A&P Female Criticism

Throughout the short story A&P, John Updike refers to women in a stereotypical men’s point of view. The three girls that walk into the store are characterized in a demeaning way. The way that Sammy refers to the girls is judgmental and sometimes even rude. For example, the first girl he sees, the one in the green two piece, he refers to her as “chunky”. He also goes on to describe girls in this way, “You never know for sure how girl’s minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)…” (Updike 599). We also see the typical pack of girls. There is the leader, and then her two followers. The leader is confident, walks with her own sort of persona that seems to show she thinks she is better than others. Her two followers on the other hand are complete opposites and they seem almost lost, and are very submissive. This is the stereotypical group of girls that are seen all over movies. We also see female criticism in the way that males talk to females, or the way they talk about them in their heads. First off, the way Sammy described the old lady as a stereotypical mean grouchy lady that will jump on anything you do wrong and raise hell over it. The way he describes her is very judgmental. Then finally when the girls get to the cash register and Lengel comes out he talks to the young girls very disrespectfully. He handles the situation in the wrong way by saying, “girls this isn’t a beach” (Updike 602). He could have simply let them buy their one item and maybe mention the store policies instead of saying it in a sarcastic snobby way. Also he goes on to say, “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (Updike 602). This is not the way a middle aged male manager should talk to these girls, and when Sammy sticks up for them about Lengel embarrassing them, Lengel says, “It was they who were embarrassing us” (Updike 603).

            All of these examples show the ways that John Updike incorporates female criticism into his story. It is probably unintentional the way he writes about women, and could just reflect his personal thoughts on women, and the thoughts of women during this time period.