Feminine in Parker's Here We

¶ … Feminine in Parker's Here We Are" Dorothy Parker's short story "Here We Are," which concerns the awkward and often bitter moments between a unnamed man and woman who have just been married and are on the train on their way to their honeymoon and...well, what married people do. Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with Parker's style or personality would not be in the least surprised by her unflattering portrayal of the couple.

Dorothy Rothschild Parker -- born Dorothy Rothschild on August 22, 1893 in Long Branch, New Jersey -- was known far more for her acerbic wit than her sentimentality (Gale 2009). One of the many repartees that is credited to her mind and tongue occurred when a young and beautiful starlet paused to let Dorothy Parker enter a room in front of her, saying "Age before beauty." Mrs.

Parker is said to have responded, fingering her necklace while passing, "Pearls before swine." This type of cutting retort does more, though, than simply illustrate Parker's cynicism and sharp tongue; it also reveals something of her thoughts and perspectives concerning gender, which also come through in her writing. Though Parker called herself a feminist in a 1956 interview, she has been accused of conforming too readily -- and perhaps too wholeheartedly -- with the patriarchal system that was (and perhaps is) in place in Western and even global society (Templin 355).

Other critics maintain that she consistently engaged "in a sophisticated critique of narrow gender roles and social pathology," and at times hid behind an "iron mask of femininity" -- a strangely androgynous image (Templin 355-6). Clearly, Parker's constructs of gender are not easy to ascertain.

This is also true of the two characters in "Here We Are." Her judgment of the two seems obvious at first, and her judgment of the two as a couple even more so, but a careful reading -- as well as some of Parker's biographical details -- shows that her feelings towards the woman might be especially negative. First, it is important to pint out Parker's judgment of the relationship.

The couple bickers on and off for the entire story, despite repeated admonishments of themselves for fighting and promises to each other not to fight (Parker). It is clear that Parker finds the relationship foolish, if not doomed outright. The woman even comments at one point that "we used to squabble a lot when we were going together...but I thought everything would be so different as soon as you were married" (Parker).

This couple, we learn, has never fully gotten along, and the story never provides any clear reason for them to have been married in the first place. Other than the almost monotonous near-references to the impending sex act that the two have been waiting for (or at least abstaining from) all of their lives, there is almost no common bond found between the two.

Yet despite Parker's clear portrayal of two foolish idiots -- the man as well as the woman -- in something resembling love, the woman still seems to get worse treatment. The man's foolishness comes through mainly in his repeated blunders into sexual territory, such as his comment that things will be different "after" (one of the most direct allusions to the traditional wedding night activity) and his naivete in his early mention of Louise (Parker). The woman's idiocy continues in a far more pronounced way throughout the story, however.

She too, has her near-blunders in almost mentioning sex aloud, but there are also details on the surface and in the subtext throughout the story that make it clear that the woman is the more foolish of the two. The only object of real interest in the story is the woman's hat, and this is a clearly emblematic symbol for both her femininity and the foolishness that is, in Parker's view, attendant upon it.

Parker did not have a very good relationship with any maternal figures; her biological mother died while Dorothy was still in her infancy and her step-mother sent her to a Catholic school (Gale). She did not get along well with the nuns either, and was asked to leave the school due to her precociously early displays of irreverent and especially cutting wit (such as referring to the Immaculate Conception as "spontaneous combustion") (Gale).

Though it is impossible to connect biographical details to the circumstances and characters presented in her works of fiction with any certainty, these female figures certainly had an impact on Parker's life. It is even likely that the female concept of sexuality struck Parker as incredibly ridiculous, and the hat is one way that is used to mock the way women think about sex in "Here We Are." The hat first and foremost is an article of clothing.

That is to say, it is something that is used to cover the body. This might seem obvious, but it is also important. The woman's initial reluctance to remove the hat shows her embarrassment and modesty in the new and frightening situation she finds herself in. When she does remove it, is a definite signal that she is loosening up and possibly even encouraging any advances.

She puts it back on again when she is preparing to depart the train, again signaling the modesty that must be shown in public and which at first she was uncomfortable dropping even -- perhaps especially -- in front of her new husband. It is also interesting to note that on both occasions, she enlists the man to first put up and then take down her hat (Parker). This is the closest either has come to undressing (or dressing) the other.

This brings out the hat as an overt symbol of sexuality. Not only is it an article of clothing, it is also a display of beauty, and one over which the woman obsesses. She is very concerned with the man's opinion of the hat, though it is quite obvious that he doesn't really care all that much.

The woman believes that her sexual attractiveness and femininity are tied up in her external and removable trappings, whereas the man's only real interest that can be ascertained from this brief glimpse into their lives is...well, you know. The hat is a symbol for the crossed communication wires, as it is the recurring physical issue that arises between them. And because the hat belongs to the woman -- and given that it is the woman who continues to obsess over the hat and the man's opinions.