Red Dogs Red Dog Research Paper

State of Feminism in Red Dog Red Dog Throughout history women have struggled and strived to gain equality and rights. In Patrick Lanes Red Dog Red Dog, lack of respect and mistreatment of women was obviously apparent; however, history and lack of authority left society believing that a woman’s only placement in life is her sexual being. Not only does it become apparent that men were disrespecting women, but women were withholding the same attitude and lack of appreciation for themselves. In return this led to even more of a reckless unstable environment. It is due to customs and lack of knowledge that both men and women in Vernon at this point in time are oblivious to the fact that a woman’s self worth was determined by pride for
It becomes evident throughout the novel that many of the female victims in the town of Vernon are lacking this attribute. On several occasions women were physically, emotionally, and verbally abused by the male figures that surrounded them. Many women were accustomed to this, most likely having seen females from history to present being treated in the same fashion. Lane sets the desolate tone of female negligence early in the novel by giving firm portrayals on views of women such as Crystal at Tom and Eddy’s party. “She had the curse of coming from nothing, all her plans a map leading her someday into a beat-up trailer worse than the one she came from, pregnant, with two bawling kids and bruises on her cheeks” (Lane 53). It is identifiable that Crystal as well as many of the other women’s fortune will not improve because this is where they come from, this is what they are taught, and this is what they know. To an extent, men seem to be granted permission to use and exploit women without any concern from the
One may wonder why women allowed male figures to disregard them in these ways. The somewhat destitute being of Vernon at this time allowed for regulation and authority to have little impact on society. Drugs, violence, and sexual acts were all accessible and made visible to the public. “A woman he'd seen a few times at the bar downtown was bent over the hood of a pickup, her skirt up around her waist, her panties around an ankle, the man behind her flashing the white moons of his ass.” (Lane, 30). If only authority was more prominent at this time, perhaps law enforcement would have a greater impact on the profane actions women and men in this society were undertaking. It is plausible that Vernon’s people are just as vulnerable and annihilated as the environment they live in. It was only a few decades earlier that women became legally considered as ‘persons’ in Canada. “In the 1920s five Alberta women fought a legal and political battle to have women recognized as persons under the BNA Act. The landmark decision by the British Privy Council, the highest level for legal appeals in Canada at the time, was a milestone victory for the rights of women in Canada” (Monroe). The strenuous efforts and laws enforced did not appear to have an effect on the society of destitute Vernon in the