American Literature – THE SEXES – Dorothy Parker

Lead-in

WOMEN is the MOST complicated creature in this whole universe. Most people would say
that.
But is that really the case? Or is it simply because we don't understand the fundamental
differences between the sexes?

Today, we're gonna explore this question by taking a look at Dorothy Parker's short story, "The
Sexes.".

So, let's dive into it and see if we can finally understand the mystery of women!

Author

Summary

Hi, today we're gonna talk about The Sexes by Dorothy Parker.

The Sexes is about a conversation or nearly an argument between a young man and a girl.

The story begins with a girl in a fringed dress sitting on a sofa and the man with a scenic cravat
looking at her nervously.

The girl was trying to express something, but she didn't want to say it directly. She was just
examining her handkerchief with great care.

Then, the conversation started.

The man offered the girl a cigarette, but she declined politely.

Then, he apologized for only having a certain kind of cigarette and offered to go out and get her
some.

The girl said she didn’t need them, and thanked him

but in a sarcastic tone. She seemed to mean something.

Her attitude now annoyed the man, but he still tried to keep asking her the reason.

However, the girl didn't say it, she told him that there was nothing, but her real feeling still in her
sardonic voice.

Then, the man accuses her of being funny, and they are not having a good time lately.

But the girl kept saying sorry and other words in the same sarcastic way.
The man continued by mentioning their previous phone conversation where the girl had been
apparently snotty to him. Because of this, he had couldn't do his work.

But one more time, the girl still denied this.

The conversation continued with both of them misunderstanding each other's intentions and
feelings.

Until, the young man thought he should go and he suggested leaving

The girl told him to do whatever he wants. However, this time she decided to mention another
girl's name - Florence Leaming – the girl at the party the previous night.

Now the conversation is all about Florence

The girl accused the man of talking intimately with Florence

The man's reason for this is that because Florence came up first, before he even saw anybody
else at the party. Then, he was trying to talk to the girl.

However, she ignored him by simply saying. “Oh, how do you do.”

By that, the man was stucked with Florence Leaming later on.

Then, in his reason, he also added his feelings about Florence Leaming, and they were mostly
negative comments about her.

Now, the girl felt pleased because of the man's comments about Florence Leaming.

Now the conversation turned into gossiping about Florence Leaming's bad things.

The man knew he was on the right track, so he added a few compliments to the girl in the hope
of making her happy again.

The girl finds his comments amusing and finally denies being upset.

In the end, the girl taking off her pearl beads and the story ends with the two reconciling and
having a happy time together.

Type of Character:

THE MAN: ROUND CHARACTER

A round character is one who is complex and well-developed, with both strengths and
weaknesses. The man in "The Sexes" is clearly not a one-dimensional character. He is shy and
insecure, but he is also kind, sensitive, and admiring of the girl he is with.

A dynamic character is one who changes or develops over the course of the story. The man in
"The Sexes" undergoes a subtle but important transformation. He starts out feeling awkward and
unsure of himself, but by the end of the story, he has become more confident and assertive.

The man has these feelings:

 At the beginning of the story, the man is described as being "nervous" and "awkward."
He seems to be at a loss for words, and he glances nervously at the girl from time to time.
 By the middle of the story, the man has become more relaxed and confident. He is able to
hold a conversation with the girl, and he even compliments her on her dress.
 At the end of the story, the man is even more confident and assertive. He is able to stand
up to the girl's friends and defend their relationship.

CHARACTERIZATION (handout 1)

1. A combination of anger and confusion

- He was confused and angry because the woman continuously … what he truly meant, which
was the most loveable intenetions, with something negative.
- He was also confused because he knew that he had done something wrong, but she refused to
… his questions. As a result, he kept asking her about it:

“Ah, honey, won’t you tell me what’s the matter? Ah, please.”
“There’s something the trouble. Is it anything I’ve done, or anything?”
“Won’t you tell me what I’ve done? Have I done something to hurt your feelings, honey?”

- He showed anger when his partner metioned Florence Leaming, possibly because he was …
that she found out that he expressed interest toward that woman, even maybe just slightly.
“I don’t want to go up to Florence Leaming’s!” he said. “What would I want to go up to
Florence Leaming’s for? She gives me a pain.”

2. Guilty
- The man showed his guilty when being accused of flirting with another woman, even though he
denied that.

CHARACTERIZATION (handout 2)
- A slightly flirtatious men, although through the woman point of view, it is not just slightly.
“You started making such a fuss over Florence Leaming. I thought you never wanted to see
anybody else. You two seemed to be having such a wonderful time together, goodness knows I
wouldn’t have butted in for anything.”

- He talke behind Florence back “She’s got a terrible nose…” which is not very nice and … even
if it meant to sooth his lover anger.
- When he discovered what made the woman upset, he immediately figured out the way to calm
her down, which was compliment her.

 He understood and cared for his lover.

1. Loses his composure easily:

“Will you for God’s sake stop thanking me?” he said.
“I did not swear at you!” he said.
“My god” he said, “all I saind, I simply asked you if I couldn’t go out and get you some
cigarettes. Is there anything in that to get up in the air about?”
 Her attitude during the prior phone call as well as during their meeting pushed him on edge.
He lost his composure when she was acting like everything was normal.

2. Desperate and emotionally dependent.

2.1. Desperate
“I don’t want to go any place! Ah, won’t you tell me what’s the matter? Ah please.”
“Will you stop talking like that?” he said. “Will you, please?”
“Honest, honey, I didn’t mean it. I don’t know how I came to say a thing like that. Will you
excuse me? Please?”
 He is constantly begging for the reason behind her attitude.
2.2 Emotionally dependent.
“Won’t you tell me what I’ve done? Have I done something to hurt your feelings, honey? The
way you were, over the phone, you had me worried all day. I couldn’t do a lick of work.”

 The conversation on the phone prompted him to be so tense and anxious that he could not any
work. He

2.3. Somewhat observant.

“I don’t want to go up to Florence Leaming’s!” he said. “What would I want to go up to Florence
Leaming’s for? She gives me pain.”
 After the woman has mentioned Florence Leaming, the man started to notice the problem that
made her act “funny.”

“My God,” he said, “this what’s-her-name came up again, and there I was, stuck.”
 The man started to be more sensible by referring to Leaming as “what’s-her-name.”

2.4. Clumsy with his words and actions.

Acts entitled.
“You’ve been funny all evening.” He said “Hardly said a word to me ever since I came in.”
 The man is acting like she is supposed to greet him with excitement, while he is in the wrong.

Describes her as snotty.

“You know,” he said. “That’s the way you were talking over the telephone today, too. You were
so snotty when I called you up, I was afraid to talk to you.”
 He was not careful with how he decribed her.
2.5 People pleaser
“Florence Leaming! I think she’s terrible. Know what I think of her? I think she’s a damn little
fool. That’s what I think of her.”
“Why, she can’t be pretty in the same room with you.”
“She’s got a terrrible nose,” he said. “You’ve got a beautiful nose. Gee, you’ve got a pretty
nose.”
“And beautiful eyes,” he said, “and beautiful hair and a beautiful mouth. And beautiful hands.
Let me have one of the little hands. Ah, look atta little hand! Who’s got the prettiest hands in the
world? Who’s the sweetest girl in the world?”

 The man is clearly breating and degrading Florence Leaming as well as showering the woman
with compliments.

2.6 Not dedicate to the woman:

He could not work out what was the reason behind the woman’s attitude until it was clearly said
to him.
He lost composure and spoke loudly to her.
He did not put the woman as a high priority.

2. The man
a. Character:
The man is a round character:
- He is a protagonist and a round character: smart, caring & patient.
 He is willing to go out to buy cigarettes for thw woman: “Because if you haven’t, it
wouldn’t take me a minute to go up to the corner and get you some.”
 He keeps asking if there are any problems with the woman: "…won't you tell me
what's the matter?", "Is it anything I've done, or anything?"
 When his lover gets angry, he says what the woman wants to hear and gives her
spectacular compliments to cool her down: "Florence Leaming!
I think she's terrible." "She's got a terrible nose", "You've got a beautiful nose.”…

- He is cranky & easily gets confused:

 When he is unusually treated by the woman, he cannot keep his temper and say
things upsetting her: “You were so snotty when I called you up. I was afraid to talk
to you.”
 He is messed up when she constantly says unreasonable and annoying things: “I
didn’t say that! I didn’t say it, “I’m sore at you? I can’t understand what put that idea
in your head. Why should I be sore you?"
b. Characterization: indirect.

Look “The young man with the scenic cravat”  He is from the middle class and
cares about his appearance.

“Want a cigarette?”  His effort to converse with the

woman.

“Because if you haven’t, it wouldn’t take  He is willing to go to any length for

me a minute to go up to the corner and get a woman.
you some.”
“Do you want me to go out and get you
some cigarettes, or don’t you?”

“Will you for God’s sake stop thanking  The woman’s “over” polite thanks
me?” perplexed him.

Speech
“What’s the matte?”  He genuinly cares about the woman
“I don’t want to go any place! Ah, honey, and repeatedly inquires if he has done
won’t you tell me what’s the matter? Ah, anything wrong.
please.”

"There's something the trouble. Is it

unything I've done, or anything?"

"Won't you lell me what I've done? Have

I done something to hurt your feelings,
honey?”

Action “…glanced nervously down the sofa at the  He is apprehensive and makes lots
firl in the fringed dress.” of attempts to talk with the woman.
“The young man cleared his throat,
without necessity or success, producing a
small, syncopated noise.”

He says negaitive points about Florence  He knows exactly how to

Leaming and keep praising the woman to temporarily make an angry woman
make her happy become calm.

The contrast between woman and man in speech:

Man Woman
Start the talk in order to break the ice between Reply as if she doesn’t know him and use
them. sarcasm to annoy the man.

Beg her to tell him the reason for her anger. Pick up dirt in his word to incriminate him.
 Go straight to the problem.  Avoid answering the question directly and
want him to figure out the reason himself.

Compliment the woman so that she would Feel happy to hear his compliment but doesn’t
forgive him. show it
 Use sweet words to ease his lover.  Pleased when hearing the sweet words but
 Cares about his lover still hide her feeling.