The 1950s were about more than just poodle skirts and rock and roll. It was the beginning of a time where domesticity was idealized in the media; encouraging women to stay at home and take care of the family while their husbands go to work. Valerie Taylor challenges this idea in her 1959 novel The Girls in 3-B, in which three young women, Annice, Pat, and Barby, explore the paths of independence, sexuality, and marriage after newly arriving in the booming city of Chicago. Each path leading to the dangers and limitations of a male-dominant society. The Girls in 3-B bring a new perspective of the challenges women face during this era, representing the unvoiced fears women may have had during this dynamic time period.
In the beginning of the novel, Taylor first introduces the idea of…show more content… Annice for example, displays very serious sexual feelings for a young, carefree man named Alan after shortly meeting him at her professor’s party. This affection for Alan later affects Annice in more ways than she can imagine. Annice even tells herself beforehand, “If I’m not careful I’ll end up doing whatever he wants me to, she thought, scared and thrilled at the same time. No matter what it does to me” (55). Unfortunately, Annice becomes blinded by love after going out with Alan and “Go[ing] All the Way with him” (55), and starts skipping classes, and then later her own job. Alan takes advantage of Annice’s passion for him, controlling her like a marionette, without her even having the slightest clue. Annice comes to realize that after weeks of unprotected sex with Alan, she was pregnant with his child. It was this point in time that Alan had already disappeared into Mexico, possibly knowing that she was already pregnant for a while. It can be said that it was because of Alan’s allure and bohemian lifestyle that had led to Annice’s dismay and in a way costed her young