In Cookie, Beauty’s father insists on changing Beauty’s hairstyle with primp and
twiddle even though Beauty hates the hairstyle.
‘You girls have to suffer a bit for your looks,’ he said, chomping, his tongue and teeth coated with tomato sauce.
‘I know Take her to the hairdresser’s Saturday morning, get them to primp and twiddle with
her hair, do it up fancy-
like.’
‘Well . . .’ Mum saw my desperate expression. ‘I don’t think we’d be able to get her an appointment at the hairdresser’s at such short notice.’
‘Oh, Dilly, why are you always so hopeless? Look, get Beauty along there when they open and
insist on an appointment. You could do with
getting your hair done yourself, it’s a bit’ – he made wobbly gestures with his hands
– ‘sort of tired.’ Wilson, 2016: 60 The quotation above shows that Beauty’s father decides the hairstyle that Beauty
should have to attend Rhona’s birthday party. He wants Beauty to have primp and twiddle because he thinks it is suitable for Beauty and looks classy. He still insists
that Beauty should go to the hairdresser and change her hairstyle even though Beauty and her mother try to stop him. He also insists that her wife should get a new hairstyle
too with the style that is already determined by him. This happens because Beauty’s father thinks that he has the rights to make decision over his daughter and his wife by
choosing the things that are ri ght and suitable for them. Men’s determination over
women’s rights to make decisions prevents women from getting everything that they want to have in their own lives.
b. Women Ways of Dressing Up are Determined
The power that men have allows them to take control over women in any aspects, including in the private aspects of women’s lives such as women’s ways of
dressing up. Ways of dressing can be categorized as individual rights that every people should have, but in patriarchal society women have no access to this rights.
Men decide the things that women should wear. They will choose the outfit they like then force women to wear it. They neglect women’s opinions whether they like or
dislike about the outfit. In Cookie, Beauty is forced by her father to wear something that she dislikes. It makes her feel uncomfortable. It is depicted in the datum below.
I stopped eating. Dad had taken me to one of his golf dinner and dances at Christmas.
He’d insisted on buying me an elaborate bridesmaid-type satin dress with gauzy puff sleeves and ruching and frills flouncing everywhere.
I looked truly terrible in it, like I was wearing an old lady’s eiderdown. Wilson, 2016: 59
The quotation above explains that her father insists on buying her a dress. He chooses a dress that is luxurious and feminine with frills, puff sleeves and ruchings from a
famous designer that costs quite expensive. Beauty does not like it because the dress is not suitable and lo
oks terrible on her. She says it looks an old lady’s eiderdown Wilson, 2016: 59. Still, her father still buys the dress for her and she does not dare
to contradict him because she does not have power to refuse it. Besides, the way women dress up is also determined by men. Men choose the
types of clothes that women can wear in the particular events. Men pick the outfit for women to show the power they have over women. In the novel, Beauty’s father
insists on choosing the outfits that Beauty should wear in every event she will attend, one of them is at Rhona’s birthday party.
‘Not my pink dress’ I blurted. Dad stopped eating too. And Mum.
‘What’s the matter with your pink dress?’ said Dad. ‘It cost a small fortune from Harrods. Don’t you like it?’
I forced a smile.
‘Oh I love love love it, Dad,’ I said. My voice went high and squeaky I was trying so hard.
‘That’s precisely the problem. It’s so ultra-gorgeous and glamorous that I’m terrified of getting it spoiled at the party. I could easily
spill juice all down it or tear one of the frills.’
‘Not if you’re careful,’ said Dad, but he nodded approvingly all the same. ‘I’m glad you want to look after it.
Still, no jeans, you don’t want to look like a dirty scruffy tomboy at this party.
How about your pretty blue blouse and your little white pleated skirt? You look sweet in that.’
It was my second-most-hated outfit. They would still sneer and snigger at me – but it was marginally better than the pink eiderdown outfit. Wilson, 2016:
60
The datum above sho ws Beauty’s father asks Beauty to wear the expensive pink dress
that he buys for her. He thinks the dress is good and suitable to wear for attending a birthday party. In fact, her daughter hates to wear it. Beauty pretends she likes the
dress in front of her father because she is afraid he will be mad if he knows she hates the dress. She lies by saying that she loves the dress and does not want to make it
dirty. He agrees with Beauty’s reason but he prohibits her to wear jeans and T-shirt even though the invitation says to wear casual outfit. Then, he suggests her, another
outfit which it is also an outfit that she hates. However, Beauty does not have any other options except following her father’s order.
From the explanations of the data above, it can be concluded that the authority and power possessed by men allow them to control women and take their rights by
determining what they do and even what they wear. Men decide and force everything
that they like to women without considering women’s feeling. It results in an unfair treatment towards women in the form of subordination.
3. Stereotyping
