The Reprimand Analysis

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The Reprimand is a “phone play” about two women having a conversation over the phone in an office type work setting. Right there the play is suggesting that woman work in offices because they do not possess the ability to do “hard” labor. A man’s body is stereotypically perceived as much better adapted to hard physical work, and the central and massive part of him is formed by the chest. Stereotypically, a man has broad shoulders and strong arms, and much stronger muscles than a woman and projects an image of strength. Woman, on the other hand, stereotypically possesses a body that is structured for motherhood, and their massive and central body is constituted by the womb. “Rhona: … we need to talk about what you did in the meeting this morning. Mim: My God, what? Rhona: That…show more content…
Not only are Mim and Rhona trying to seek approval from their superior Jim, the indirect comment about Rhona’s weight makes Rhona’s assumed overweightness to be that she is worried she will not be taken seriously in the workplace by Jim. The play perceives looks being connected to performance in the workplace a major competition for validating approval from their boss. “Rhona: He should respect you. But from what I’ve observed, I think-because you are an attractive woman-that he still uses you for window dressing. Especially when you’re working with me. You know what I’m saying? Mim: Well, if that’s the case Jim is a jerk” (Anderson 1355). These quotes from the play show that Rhona is clearly jealous of Mim’s appearance. Rhona is making a reference to how beauty effects the way a male boss looks at his female employees. The play is suggesting that attractive women are not smart. Here, Mim is being used by Jim as a window dressing to cover up Rhona’s assumed unattractiveness, while Mim outweighs the smart aspect of the duo. Although I don’t agree with this assumption,
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