Debbieland and the narrator

“Debbieland” can be quite difficult to interpret. I was originally confused about the narrator’s gender. At first I believed that the narrator was male, but after reading the story an additional time I concluded that the narrator was female. According to the narrator’s gender the story can either be viewed as dominant/ patriarchal or subversive

If the narrator is viewed as male, the reading can be interpreted as dominant/ patriarchal and the story can be perceived as anti-feminist. From the very beginning of the story the narrator portrays hate towards Debbie. His feelings towards her proceed further into abuse and harassment. Further, this anti-feminist notion is illustrated when he states “Long ago we gave up on our mothers. All of us, even though some of us don’t have mothers at all. Our mothers died, our mothers left. Our mothers changed from into a toad. Our mother became presidents of companies or jumped of buildings .Our mother gave up everything for us. One of us has a father who beats the mother. We cheer him on.” Even thought their mothers strived to provide as much service as possible, they still despised their mothers. They even supported the father who abused his wife. Also, when the narrator and his friends abused Debbie, they were confident in the fact that she will never report them to authority. He says “She will never tell on us. She will never be a rat.” Perhaps, men in general are confident in the fact that their authoritative role in society will prevent their wrong doings from going public. For example, former President, Bill Clinton, might have been quite sure that his scandal with Monica Lewinsky would never go public. He might have believed that she would refrain from speaking due to his significant role in the world. At the ending of the story the narrator realized that Debbie’s name is not really Debbie. Her name is actually Ann. This situation can illustrate that most men ignore the genuine identity of a women, such as their names, and emphasize mainly on their physical aspects, such as their skirts.

If the narrator is perceived as being a woman, the story can be interpreted quite differently. Perhaps the narrator, through her vicious tactics, might be striving to deliver a specific message. Even though women are abused, neglected, and treated as the second sex, they still continue living with the same conditions. They undermine their ability and conform to the rules of society. Instead of Debbie reporting her assaulters to authority, she adapted to the situation and received sympathy for it.