Andy Cheng
Thor Polokoshko
English 1127
Feb 24 2016
What Does Gender Have to Do With Anything? The story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, evidently claims that men have more authority in society over women, in the sense that men are the ones working to provide for the family. In comparison to the men, the women are were distinguished as weak individuals who cannot hold on to their children. Also women are symbolized as worn out, which was represented by the clothes they wear. Additionally, men receive more respect from others such as their children in comparison to women as well as more control over their children as they listen to men without any hesitation. Throughout the short story, Jackson portrays men as the typical gender norm of being serious and assertive. This is perceived when the men are characterized as masculine individuals who only talk about work, and divert their attention on the event: The Lottery. The men in “The Lottery” have taken their role in society much more seriously than women, considering that men do all the hard work to provide for their family and take on events such as “The Lottery” with more importance. This is evident when the men are strictly talking about “planting and rain, tractors and taxes” (Jackson, 255), while the women “exchanged bits of gossip” (Jackson, 255). The different conversations between the two genders shows the readers that the men are the sole providers for the family since majority of their discussions are work related. Even during the times when the men are not working, they would continue to talk about work and taxes. Another example is when the men stayed “away from the pile of stones” (Jackson, 255) which the children collected. The men stayed away from the pile of stones because to them the Lottery was more about the event itself and not the stones. However, to the children, the whole event was just a game which was demonstrated by Bobby Martin when he “ran, laughing, back to the stones” (Jackson, 256). The lottery was of no laughing matter, but Bobby has been seen here laughing. The event is not just a game for the men; it is part of their tradition as they do not take this event lightly. The women in the story are seen as a weak and unimportant individuals that have no control of their surroundings. The sign of weakness by women were illustrated when “Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand” (Jackson 256). Here we see Bobby’s mother holding her son Bobby tightly; however, she is unable to hold on to him with her firm hold. Even grasping on tightly to Bobby, he was still able to break free of his mother’s hand, showing the weakness of the women. Additionally, the women are seen “wearing faded house dresses and sweater” (Jackson 255). The faded clothing symbolizes the women fading away or disappearing as they are seen as unimportant and unnecessary as they provide nothing significant back to their community. Faded items are tend to be seen as old and worn out, therefore are either hidden from others or thrown away. In the short story, another great example of gender division is how men have more respect from others such as their children because of their authority figure compared to the mothers in the way that they listen to their father without question. This is shown when the mother called out “four or five times” (Jackson, 255) before “the children came reluctantly” (Jackson, 256). It took a few times before their children responded and when they did, the children unwillingly came which shows a lack of respect for their mother. Another event that showed a lack of obedience for their mother was when “Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand and ran” (Jackson 256). Despite already being at his mother’s side, Bobby still decided that he could run off and disobey his mother. However, when “His father spoke up sharply, […] Bobby came quickly and took his place” (Jackson 256). The father did not need to repeat himself to have Bobby return back to the parent’s side. Bobby can be considered as an example of how the men have more power to control others and distinctly portrays the apparent lack of respect the women receive. The men in the story are portrayed as those with higher authority and are well respected from others. Evidently, the men are the ones that do the work to provide food for the family which was shown when they only discussed work. This shows the reader their dominant role and importance in society as if they were the only ones doing the hard work to help provide for their family and giving back to the community. Women are also portrayed as weak individuals as illustrated by Bobby’s mother. She is not able to hold on to her son and did not have control over him. Not to mention, the women were seen wearing old clothing, which represent them as being old and worn out, showing their insignificant in the community they live in. Furthermore, the men do not take events like the Lottery casually unlike their children who treated the Lottery like a game, especially when Bobby ran back to the stones while laughing. Not to mention, others, such as the children tend to show more respect for the men than the women. For instances when the mother needed to repeat herself multiple times before getting her child’s attention whereas the men can speak up once in order for the child to respond. “The Lottery” clearly demonstrates the different treatment received between men and women in society are based on their Significant to society.

Cited Work
Chopin, Kate. “The Lottery.” 1948 40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology 4th ed. Ed. Beverly Lawn. Boston; Bedford/St. Martins 2004. 255-256. Print.