Queer theory, explained through Eudora Welty’s Moon Lake
Moon Lake, by Eudora Welty, narrates the adventures of a group of girls during a summer camp, exploring their desire of discovery and their transition to adolescence, which is also related to the expression of their bodies and their public behavior.
Moon Lake, then, is an important space of socialization where orphan and wealthy girls interact with each other, despite of the notorious differences between them; and to explore new territories guided by their curiosity.
As Welty describes the girls, it is possible to notice what Judith Butler considers as the social construction of the bodies, as socially accepted characteristics are attributed to the girls to associate them with softness and delicacy. In the story, gender roles are clearly defined and associated with men and women, being reproduced from a young age in order to model a set of characteristics associated with being a lady. In the same way, Loch Morrison, the camp guardian, is instantly related to the typical descriptions ascribed to manhood, such as energy and power; and it is noted that the author highlights the isolation of this character, explaining the separation of physical and social spaces Here comes in conflict the figure of Easter, an orphan girl that does not always follow the standards of behavior and constantly challenges this parameters, causing some controversy through their body performance by having conducts that are considered ‘manly’. In order to control and restrict these behaviors, Easter receives what Judith Butler would call social punishment, as a mean to control her body performance according her assigned gender: Easter must act like a girl, and she is not allowed to carry knives or to dress differently from all the girls. This events put Easter in a constant internal conflict, as she rebels against the impositions of the camp’s organizers, but at the same time tries to hide some of her real interests, which she then shares in a more private sphere. As she conceives herself, she might feel a closer relation to Loch Morrison attitudes than the other girls’ behavior. Nina is one of the other girls in the camp, and she tries to maintain a close relation to Easter, as she admires her courage to express herself differently that the other girls. In Nina’s behavior it is possible to observe the fragility of this feminine identity, as she is permanently considering possible scenarios in which she would go against her expected behavior. Here, the figure of the forbidden swamp comes to action, as it is portrayed as a …show more content…
As described by both Butler and Sullivan, gender is not a manifestation of biological functions, but instead a consequence of the social establishment of conducts that are determined and repeated until they became rules and standards to determine what to expect from a woman and a man.
In this situation, queer theory critically challenges the cultural construction of gender in order to explore the process by which identity is created.
Moon Lake, then, is a story that allows to observe the social interaction and process of establishment of gender identities in an important space of interaction as a summer camp, and the constant struggle in a small social space to maintain this designed identities in order not to alter the internal dynamics and not to generate any controversy by the incorrect display of the established roles of men and
Moon Lake, by Eudora Welty, narrates the adventures of a group of girls during a summer camp, exploring their desire of discovery and their transition to adolescence, which is also related to the expression of their bodies and their public behavior.
Moon Lake, then, is an important space of socialization where orphan and wealthy girls interact with each other, despite of the notorious differences between them; and to explore new territories guided by their curiosity.
As Welty describes the girls, it is possible to notice what Judith Butler considers as the social construction of the bodies, as socially accepted characteristics are attributed to the girls to associate them with softness and delicacy. In the story, gender roles are clearly defined and associated with men and women, being reproduced from a young age in order to model a set of characteristics associated with being a lady. In the same way, Loch Morrison, the camp guardian, is instantly related to the typical descriptions ascribed to manhood, such as energy and power; and it is noted that the author highlights the isolation of this character, explaining the separation of physical and social spaces Here comes in conflict the figure of Easter, an orphan girl that does not always follow the standards of behavior and constantly challenges this parameters, causing some controversy through their body performance by having conducts that are considered ‘manly’. In order to control and restrict these behaviors, Easter receives what Judith Butler would call social punishment, as a mean to control her body performance according her assigned gender: Easter must act like a girl, and she is not allowed to carry knives or to dress differently from all the girls. This events put Easter in a constant internal conflict, as she rebels against the impositions of the camp’s organizers, but at the same time tries to hide some of her real interests, which she then shares in a more private sphere. As she conceives herself, she might feel a closer relation to Loch Morrison attitudes than the other girls’ behavior. Nina is one of the other girls in the camp, and she tries to maintain a close relation to Easter, as she admires her courage to express herself differently that the other girls. In Nina’s behavior it is possible to observe the fragility of this feminine identity, as she is permanently considering possible scenarios in which she would go against her expected behavior. Here, the figure of the forbidden swamp comes to action, as it is portrayed as a …show more content…
As described by both Butler and Sullivan, gender is not a manifestation of biological functions, but instead a consequence of the social establishment of conducts that are determined and repeated until they became rules and standards to determine what to expect from a woman and a man.
In this situation, queer theory critically challenges the cultural construction of gender in order to explore the process by which identity is created.
Moon Lake, then, is a story that allows to observe the social interaction and process of establishment of gender identities in an important space of interaction as a summer camp, and the constant struggle in a small social space to maintain this designed identities in order not to alter the internal dynamics and not to generate any controversy by the incorrect display of the established roles of men and