Public Health

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Gender Roles Transformation
In the short story “Shiloh and Other Stories” by Bobbie Ann Mason, it is correct to imply that gender somehow dictates how individuals adapt to changes around them. Leroy Moffitt and Norma Jeans, a married couple, who are the main characters whose gender roles change as they embrace vicissitudes within their marriage and around the town differently.
Both characters approach the aftermath of Leroy’s accident differently. Previously, Norma would always stay at home while Leroy is working as a truck driver, which is the ideal set up of traditional marriage. As Leroy undergoes physical therapy from an accident he was involved in, Norma works out as well to build herself up. She says “I would offer anything if I could build these muscles up” (Mason 1). She also appreciates the socio-economic changes in the town; “they won’t allow you to put up a chalet in any of the first-hand subdivisions,” compared to Leroy who still wants to live in the past planning to build them a log cabin “I am looking forward to building us a log house”(3). Norma works in a drugstore while studying. He states, “…first, you create a lead sentence, and then you split it,” (Mason 6). Leroy, on the other hand, stays at home and involves himself in drug use “Where do you always get this stuff?” (Mason 6).
Bobbie Ann Mason portrays Norma as a character that can embrace modernization, “I did not see her coming. I just stood here puffing away,” (Mason et al.

5) while still being a good wife, and obedient to her mother since she quits smoking. Mabel who as well prefers to hold on to the traditional way of life encourages then to go to Shiloh where she believes they can rekindle their love. Leroy still cannot accept that women can have better opinions than men “things you can do” (4). That is why he ends up rejecting all the jobs Norma suggests to him and always keeps on wanting to prove that he is the man “I want to build her a beautiful home,” (Mason et al. 7).
In Shiloh, Leroy thinks the reason Norma wants to leave is for some feminine reason. He connotes “is this one of the ladies’ lib things?” (Mason et al. 9). He does not notice Norma leave as it is only then that he realizes that he has been too rigid to accept the changes in their marriage and around town. Norma uses Shiloh as her transitioning point from the traditional world to her modern world. She complains about how Mabel and Leroy have always set standards for her “she won’t leave me alone- you won’t leave me alone,” (Mason et al. 10) and at the end, she exercises her chest muscles as a way of accepting her new life.
In a nutshell, Leroy and Norma gender roles keep changing throughout the story creating a gap between them that leads to their separation.
Work Cited
Mason, Bobbie A. Shiloh, and Other Stories. S.I.: Random House Publishing Group, 2011.
Mason, Bobbie A, Antonio Mauri, and Kosián Masoliver. Shiloh. Zaragoza: Tropo, 2012.