Themes :

• identity
  • Norma
    • Norma dictates femininity to be precise and something that is a challenge. It is something to be careful about as there is an ideal image created. If Norma steps out of those boundaries of being a “woman,” she then is in danger of being recognized as a cross-dresser. 
    • Confidence, positive, strong, sophisticated: “To be a woman today is no longer a disability but a challenge to be met with careful preparation and planning.” pg. 6 
    • Norma’s perception of a woman is directly related to the idealised version of females in 80’s magazines. “Intoxicated by the heady perfume of feminine glamour” page 7. “Mascara improves the fair splendour of the look in a woman’s eyes” page 6
  • Roy
    • dictates masculinity, it sometimes is a challenge for him
    • cross dresses as Norma
    • doesn’t alway feel comfortable dressing as a man, prefers to wear skirts rather than pants
• relationships
  • Norma and Roy
    • Same person, but in her mind they are 2 different people’. Brother, sister — looking out for one another, ‘traditional’. Why? – because she passed away and Roy thinks that the younger sister is still there, feels guilty as he didn’t do anything to protect her from dying
  • Roy and Mary
    • Supposedly, the relationship between Roy indicates that they are an old school married couple “The first wig I ever had was one that Roy fashioned […]”- page. 7. Mary seems like their mother/caretaker; she is the one who had to raise them ” […] she takes her housekeeping very seriously, […]”. “MARY may not be familiar with all the nuances of refinement, but she takes her housekeeping very seriously, and lunch is at one o’clock on the dot” speaks about  page. 18. “Mary my housekeeper” page 3
• role of men and women in society
  • Women
    • should stay at home
    • do chores around the house
    • get pampered
    • support the house, children etc
    • “my entire day is filled with womanly pursuits and the house is alive with feminine appeal” page 3
  • Men
    • work
    • earn money for the family
    • talk about politics, important issues