The Skylight Room: A comment on Gender and Language

The following is an analysis of "The Skylight Room". Short story by O. Henry, from the turn of the 20^th century. http://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-skylight-room

Even though the author of this short story probably had no gender discrimination issues in mind when he wrote the short story “The Skylight Room,” the clear evidence of the inherent gender-wise discrimination present in his culture.

The story starts off with a Mrs. Parker, showing someone around a set of apartments where they may possibly live. The job of Mrs. Parker, which seems to be taking care of the apartments, is a job that seems to be inherently feminine when thought of. Mrs. Parker represents a sort of motherly authority, and she is put up as a nagging figure (“If you survived Mrs. Parker’s scorn”) who does not really have any real authority over the men that own the rooms. Right on the very first paragraph the author already creates a sexist image that places men on top by saying “the merits of the gentleman who had occupied them for eight years.” Right off the start he creates a hypothetical male character that has a higher status than the nagging-authoritarian Mrs. Parker.

All of the other female characters in the story also make use of this negative comparison. Even the main character, Miss Leeson, is rather objectified and does not have much depth to her. For starters she is a typewriter, a job that is inherently feminine, but she is also represented as a character of not many brains and just looks. The fact that she decides to name a star Billy Jackson is proof of that. She is also reduced to a simple object of beauty, by dedicating a large part of the narrative into how she would captivate all the men on the stairs while the other two ladies sobbed on the edges of the stairs.

The character that seems to have the most depth is the writer, Mr. Skidder, who is a man. However, the author still makes use of negative masculine views, such as the “forty-five, fat, flush and foolish” Mr. Hoover, who seems to fall in love with Miss Leeson for no apparent reason other than plain beauty. Mr. Hoover, who comes across as a disgusting character, actually asks Miss Leeson to marry him, but she is unwilling and runs away into the safety of her room, which is a rather feminist act to occur because it means that she was standing up to the man.

We can see that from the author’s perspective, even though there seem to be inherent gender roles and discrimination, it is not as strong as it could be. Being written in the turn of the 20^th century, in the United States, right when the Feminist movement was about to start, meaning that women had already reached a point in society where they could stand up for their rights, that is understandable. It shows how at that time genders were not really as discriminated and men did not reduce women to any kind of stereotype intentionally. However, his writing still reveals that there is an inherent “masculine superiority” in his culture which is still not completely gone.