Themes and message

The main themes of the short story “Open Or Wrapped” by Lynne Rees are personal boundaries and the sexual objectification of women. Through this story, the author criticises male behaviours towards women and shows how difficult it is for many women to establish boundaries with insinuating, pushy men. The story shows us how, in many ways, we continue to live in a world dominated by men, in which women are often the vulnerable targets of sexual harassment simply because of the way they …

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Personal boundaries

The theme of personal boundaries is explored in the short story through the plot and the main character. Francine is a young woman who ever since her teenage years has struggled with men’s and boys’ open and implicit sexual advances.

As a teenager, boys pinched her nipples and uncles touched her with the pretext of tickling her. As a young adult, men who come to …

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Sexual objectification of women

The story is also about the sexual objectification of women, which refers to women being treated as an object to be looked at or used sexually, without being considered as an individual person.

This is what happens in the short story, as almost all the male characters mentioned only seem to care about the fact that Francine is attractive (with large breasts). The boys in school used to pinch her nipples and uncles hugged her inappropr…