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Caprice Anderson

Prof. Ditch

English 115

28 October 2017

Gendering Post War

World war II ended in 1945 but the damage and emotional problems it caused continued

on much after that. The novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel pie society by Mary Ann

Shaffer and Annie Barrows, consists of letters shared between many characters the year after

World War II. The war had a large effect on many parts of the world and the island of Guernsey

was one of those parts. The tragic event of this world war also changed the people by having

them perform differently. The characters in the novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie

Society were largely effected by world war II and some of those effects were conforming and

breaking free from prescribed gender roles. The way Juliet Ashton and Dawsey Adams conform

and broke free is through their language and actions throughout the novel.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a novel about a journalist that was

asked to write for the times and decided to write about the literary society she finds out about.

Her interest grew so much that she then took a visit to the people in Guernsey and grew a

relationship and then she ends up staying there. This well-known writers name is Juliet Ashton

and she is one of the main characters in the novel. Juliets character is appealing to everyone; she

is out-going, funny, and trustworthy. The story behind how the potato peel pie society came

about and then continued on is what made her interested in it. Juliet is a great example as to how

someone can break free from gender norms and play both roles. Throughout the novel she shows

masculinity in many situations. For instance, in the letter from Juliet to Sidney she talks about
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the day Rob Dartry moved in with her and why they did not marry. Mr. Dartry had removed

Juliets books and replaced them with all his medals, trophies, and rewards. She was so angry by

this and then says, all I could do is scream, how dare you! what have you done?! Put my books

back! This moment showed a lot about her character and how she broke free from prescribed

gender norms. She did not let a man come in and take over, she stood her ground and spoke up

instead of allowing him to move what was hers. women can actively challenge gender norms by

refusing to let patriarchy define how they portray and reconstruct their femininity. (Dr. Zuleyka

Zevallos, 2015) This perfectly describes Juliet, which is that she actively breaks free from gender

norms. She also throws the teapot during an interview, shes a famous writer, she doesnt just get

with a man for his money and looks which makes her independent. Throughout the novel The

Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society, Juliet Ashton breaks free from the prescribed

gender norms and demonstrates masculinity.

Juliet seems to show a lot more masculinity than femininity but she still has her moments

where she conforms. She first conforms in the beginning of the novel when Susan gets her all

dressed up and she felt more lively and beautiful because of her new looks, But Juliet is even

more beautiful in the inside. Juliet also conformed when it came to Markham Reynolds, in a way

she fell for his ways. The flowers, all the nice gestures, and his looks got to her. In a letter to

Sophie from Juliet about Juliet leaving to go to Guernsey she says talking about mark, it was

only as the boat pulled away, and I saw him standing on the pier, tall and scowling-and somehow

wanting to marry me-that I began to think maybe he was right. Markham wasnt the one for her

but she still questioned it. Soon after she found the one which is dawsey. In Becoming members

of Society by Aaron Devor, he says Femininity, according to this traditional formulation,

would result in warm and continued relationships with men, a sense of maternity, interest in
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caring for children, and the capacity to work productively and continuously in female

occupations (Devor 40). Juliet came pretty close to marriage with two men who werent for her

and thats possibly because the feminine side of her was looking for comfort and care from a

masculine man. Juliet is capable of being independent and masculine which is why she didnt

stay with Rob or Mark. Juliet conforms to the prescribed gender roles by demonstrating the

gender associated with their sex (female- feminine).

To break free from a prescribed gender norm is to not act out in the gender category you

were placed in since being in the womb. Dawsey is one of the original members of the potato

peel pie society. He is also the first one from Guernsey to write to Juliet and tell her a little about

the literary society. Dawsey is a pig farmer who also loves reading books which is why he

connects so well with Juliet. He is a strong man but also very nurturing, along with being shy at

times but eventually breaks from that. One of the ways he breaks free from gender norms is by

helping take care of Kit McKenna who is Elizabeths child, this shows a feminine trait which is

nurturing. Another way he broke free was in the letter from him to Juliet, he is telling Juliet

about the first potato peel pie societies meeting and where things went wrong because of John

Booker. Dawsey was trying to help drunk John out but the German officers heard them anyway

and in that moment dawsey froze. He didnt speak up, show dominance or bravery, he says I

couldnt think of what to domy mouth was dry as chalk and my mind was blank, so I just held

on to booker and hoped (29). Luckily Elizabeth came and she wasnt afraid of the Germans or

their pistols, she came up with some lies to help them get out of the situation. Dawsey being the

man according to society was supposed to play the hero role and demonstrate dominance. This

situation applies to Rhetoric for Radicals where Gandio says Masculine women are more

acceptable than feminine men (113). Dawsey is more judged for his feminine actions when all
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he was trying to do was help John and sadly got caught. He is a sweet, caring, and shy man

which is why he broke free from the prescribed gender roles plenty of times.

Although Juliet and Dawsey break free from their gender norms they also conform to

them at times. One way dawsey conforms to his gender norm and shows masculinity is his

leadership quality. He took it upon himself to write to Juliet then got the other members to tell

her more from their perspective. Without him Juliet would know nothing about the potato peel

pie society. And through his writing he is more outgoing and out spoken which is a masculine

trait to have. From the letter to Juliet from Amelia, she says about dawsey he was so busy

convincing me to write to you by the next post he forgot to be shydawsey has a rare gift of

persuasion. As the novel goes on he continues to show his masculinity especially because of his

love for Juliet. Dawsey has helped raise Kit Mckenna since before Juliet arrived. Although

taking care of a child makes you nurturing which is a quality associated with femininity, stepping

up to the plate like that was more masculine than ever. It takes a lot of courage to take care of

and raise a child especially one that isnt yours. Dawsey conformed to the prescribed genders as

much as he broke free from them.

Gender is a socially constructed norm that places you in a category of being feminine or

masculine. Some feminine traits include being polite, nurturing, and sensitive. Traits that are

associated with masculinity is confidence, less emotional, and tough. With being placed in these

categories comes gender norms. An example of one gender norm is the type of clothes someone

wears like the color, design, and the way it fits. What most fail to realize is that everyone can be

both masculine and feminine, which is breaking free from these gender norms. Throughout

composing gender the authors talk about how femininity is subordinate to masculinity. To go

deeper into masculinity and males being dominant mentally and physically, in Rhetoric for
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radicals Jason Del Gandio goes on to say, Masculinity is more valued than femininity

(Gandio 114). What he is saying by this is that masculinity is more acceptable, so a woman can

be masculine but a man cant be feminine. This is why it is okay for Juliet to be so masculine in

the novel, but Dawsey in a way was judged for being shy and compassionate. In my opinion

women are more masculine than men but people should be able to freely demonstrate both

genders without one being more valued over the other.

The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society is a novel that consists of letters

between many characters post World War II. Juliet Ashton and Dawsey Adams are two of the

main characters with great traits and throughout the letters in the novel these traits are revealed.

World War II made a huge impact on all the characters and shaped them differently. Although

they went through something tragic something good came from it, which was the creation of the

potato peel pie society. Gender norms are the rules that society created for the sexes that they

are expected to do and look like. These norms usually fall into the two categories which is

feminine and masculine, with masculine being dominant. Juliet and Dawsey are examples of

how a person can break free from and at times conform to these prescribed gender norms. There

is nothing wrong with being masculine and feminine, that helps society move forward towards a

genderless future. Other characters in the novel also did the same as Juliet and dawsey. WWII

had large effects that made the characters conform and break free from prescribed gender norms

and the way Juliet and Dawsey conformed and broke free was through their language and actions

throughout the novel.

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Works cited

Zevallos, Zuleyka. Sociology of Gender. The Other Sociologist, 3 Jan. 2016,

othersociologist.com/sociology-of-gender/.

Lorber, Judith. Night to his day: The Social Construction of gender. Composing Gender. New

York, 2013. 28-29

Devor, Aaron. Becoming members of society: The social meanings of Gender. Composing

Gender. New York, 2013. 40-41

Shaffer, Mary Ann, and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.

Gandio, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: a Handbook for 21st Century Activists. New Society

Publishers, 2008.