Feminism In John Updike's A & P

In his short story A&P, John Updike comments on the difficulties men face in order to be a feminist while conforming to societal views of masculinity. At the time of the story, history is at a crossroads of women's’ subjugation in dominant culture and the upcoming feminist revolution. Sammy, the main character and narrator, begins his journey trapped in a youthful ignorance formed by the dominant culture regarding women. As the story progresses, Sammy faces a difficult decision: embraces misogyny or feminism. Throughout the passage on pages 150-151, Sammy constantly shifts between viewing women as objects and as human beings in his internal battle between staying a close-minded misogynist or becoming a budding feminist.

In hindsight,
Sammy acknowledges their presence by listing the items that surround them. Sammy comments, “they came around out of the far aisle, around the light bulbs, records at discount of Caribbean Six or Tony Martin Sings or some such gunk you wonder they waste the wax, on sixpacks of candy, and plastic toys done up in cellophane that fall apart when a kid looks at them anyway” (150). At a glance, Sammy appears to be classifying the girls within the list of useless and unwanted items. With closer analysis, however, Sammy recognizes the girls as separate entities for the “gunk” that fills the store through the sentence “they came around out of the far aisle.” Sammy could have seen the girls in conjunction with the objects, but he begins to see them as human beings. Even with this growth, he is once again limited by the masculine gaze as he continues to focus on their bodies. Sammy chooses to focus on one girl in particular, the girl paying for the jar of herring. As she comes up his lane, he notes that “I wonder where the money’s coming from. Still with that prim look she lifts a folded dollar bill out of the hollow at the center of her nubbled pink top” (151). This line could be taken as he is doing his job by making sure the girl actually has money to spend, but his focus on the style and color of the suit top leads to the idea that Sammy’s intent is not a virtuous one. In fact, the idea of virtue is completely defeated by the statement, “the jar went heavy in my hand” (151). This action is a more socially acceptable form of Sammy’s mouth dropping open in awe over her breasts. Given that he is lusting over one part of her being, he stumbles from his potential feminist awakening by making her an object once