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Tales Of The City Critique

Tales of the City is a novel that allows us to draw historical evidence from an interesting format.   The characters from the book are useful in depicting the historical developments of their time.   Characters such as Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, Anna Madrigal and Mary Ann Singleton allow for the opportunity to make assumptions about their sexual preferences and convictions.   Their lives hold extreme importance since it represents a scenario of what sexuality meant during times those times.   Although, our societies basic understanding of sexuality has altered since the turbid 1970's, this novel gives a coherent perspective that enables us to dissect one of the major shifts in our sexual history.    
Mary Ann Singleton would help represent one of the transformations that women faced in the second half of the Twentieth Century.   The battle over purity raged for many years.   This ‘war' in a sense, forced women to suppress their sexual urges and instead live a life of pure, gentle, and passionless life (IM).   It is odd to consider the fact that the ‘new' womanhood that began to form embodied in large part a new sexual expression (Lecture).   Women were looking for the chance to, "Turn their backs on their mothers and become flappers (Lecture)."   They became involved in a rebellion against this sheltered lifestyle; by seeking amusements, sexual experience, and searching for their new sexual image.   Mary Ann greatly displays this schism.   After moving to San Francisco, we see a young impressionable woman who still holds some of the beliefs of her ‘mother.'   Evidence can be drawn from the first few pages of the novel as Mary Ann looks through her senior yearbook, with Connie, and abruptly exclaims, "Rest in Peace (TOTC)."   This sheltered ideal continues on to her journey through a local club titled ‘Dance your Ass Off.'   Connie is giving her hints on how to ‘get laid' and Mary Ann actually takes offense to some of the basic and arguably normal happenings of the hip city....