Themes

Objectification of women

One of the themes in the story “They’re Not Your Husband” by Raymond Carver is the objectification of women. The two men in business suits even refer to Doreen with pronouns typically used to refer to objects: “Look at the ass on that” (p. 22, l. 20), and later observe that “some jokers like their quim fat” (p. 20, ll. 24-25). “Quim” is a slang term which means “vagina” and comes across as derogatory and objectifying. Also, the remark implies that women are the possessions of men, as suggested by the use of the possessive pronoun “their”.

Throughout the story, Earl treats Doreen as an object. He uses her to increase his social standing. The solution for Earl to stop feeling inadequate is to get his wife to lose weight, so that he, as her husband, will be seen in a better light. Her importance is considered only in relation to her physical appearance, which Earl uses to further his own agenda.

Another situation which proves that Earl treats Doreen as an object is in the scene where he makes her undress and weigh herself: “At home he had Doreen take off all her clothes and get on the scale. He frowned when he saw the veins. He ran his finger the ...