Gender Dynamics in the Workplace

Many of the conflicts that Belle confronts throughout the novel are related to gender dynamics in the modern workplace -- specifically, the corrosive and abusive power that man can and do wield over women. Belle's company, Feagin Dixon, is representative of Wall Street culture at large, where men are allowed to act as if they are essentially members of a fraternity, such as playing keep-away with a woman's personal belongings (11-13), or holding a birthday party in the middle of the training floor, handing a male coworker a cup full of Viagra (208). Men within their company also exercise their power by physically harassing the women in the company with unwanted touching, such as when King McPherson aggressively touches Belle (171).

In addition to these corrosive personal attacks from men towards women, the men within the company frequently use their inherent power to limit...