tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281037623847496564.post455168708424321101..comments2023-10-25T05:32:37.447-04:00Comments on The Comics Section: Family Circus: Since Grandma has been here we haven't sent Daddy out for fried chicken or burgers even ONCE!Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00900524204429831341noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281037623847496564.post-61961834125378881122009-12-12T17:17:47.203-05:002009-12-12T17:17:47.203-05:00In focusing on the generational conflict aspect of...In focusing on the generational conflict aspect of this story, you're ignoring the larger, overarching theme, which is how being subject to patriarchal rule turns women who should be allies against each other.<br /><br />What we see here are three generations of women who have a lot in common. None of them have ever held a job or had to worry about their financial security. They all were born and raised (or will be raised) in a securely white, upper-middle-class middle-American suburb where there are no concerns of violence, fear, or loss.<br /><br />But what this little vignette really demonstrates is how these three women compete for the affection of Bill, with Grandpa acting as a symbolic stand-in here or, in a more general sense, for the approval of the patriarchal power structure.<br /><br />Thel's lacklustre homemaking is normally acceptable in the absence of anything to compare it against. In the presence of another woman, though, who is perceived as being superior in all ways (being that she comes from an older, more oppressive time, and thus has bent her will more completely to the patriarchy, thus making her "better"), Thel is forced to use all her skill in an attempt to win favor. Can't have Bill making unfavorable comparisons of his own wife! <br /><br />Dolly, as you mention, is perfectly willing to attack and humiliate her mother. This is merely the opening salvo in what will ultimately be a decades-long struggle for superiority with her mother. "You send dad after food; I would never treat my father that way, because I take after Grandma," she seems to be saying. What is saddest about this is that, again, the basis of the perceived superiority is, in reality, who can defer the most and make themselves most inferior to the man of the household.<br /><br />It's clearly not a battle Thel can win, since she's already established a precedent of expecting Bill to obtain food on his own. She's got a lot of digging to do to make up for that blunder.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09254417948332004153noreply@blogger.com