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"The Fever" - Megan Abbott. Are women/adolescent girls presented…

- - - - Eli Nash
        
        Eli Nash contributes to the argument that the sexuality of women is perceived as a threat to society.
        
        Eli's appearance as a popular hockey player, grasps the attention of many girls:
        "A pair of long-necked freshman girls in front of him kept wiggling in their seats, trying to catch his attention." (67).
        
        "The less interested he was, the harder they tried" (67).
        
        Abbott conveys that the women of the novel, are willing to go to great lengths to attract the attention of men.
        
        Gabby develops an obsession with Eli Nash, resulting in Skye and Gabby resorting to a "spell" to attract his interest.
        
        3 more items...
      - Tom Nash
        
        Tom's attitude towards his daughter, reinforces the argument that female sexuality is presented as a threat in the novel.
        
        Tom worries of "a havoc upon his sweet daughter's small, graceful little body...Even hugging her, he felt her smallness and delicacy." (108-109)
        
        Thus, generating the argument that adolescent girls, or women in general, are viewed as innocent and vulnerable, needing protection from men.
        
        Tom believes you need to "do whatever you can to shield their bodies" (109)
        
        Therefore, suggesting that adolescent girls are expected to resist their sexuality for longer. Subsequently, due to the sexuality of women being perceived as "dangerous", to themselves and others.
        
        This reinforced by the message society uses to describe the HPV vaccine, as the vaccine brochure reads: "Protect Her Forever" (107).
        
        Therefore, Abbott arguably reflects Moore's argument that "women's lack of control" (Moore 109) over their own bodies, was portrayed as needing to be contained to ensure it does not endanger society.
        
        The idea that Tom, as a man, feels they need to "shield" (109) the bodies of the adolescent girls, also supports the older model of feminism in health, as portrayed by Moore.
      - Georgia Nash
        
        Tom is left with two children because his wife, Georgia, "couldn't keep" her "legs together" (196).
        
        The concept that the sexuality of Georgia Nash - the mother of Eli and Deenie - broke the family apart, reinforces the argument that the sexuality of women is destructive, leading to dangerous consequences.
        
        "look what you've done" (196).
    - - The argument, that female sexuality is presented as a threat in the novel, begins when Lise collapses into a seizure, during class.
        
        The seizure experienced by Lise, leads to a wave of girls experiencing the same symptoms, including Gabby.
    - - Gabby's parents portray a case of domestic violence, in which "Gabby's father, blasted on cocaine, had taken a claw hammer to his wife's Acura...tearing a hole clean through her face and down her throat." (17).
        
        This suggests the message that, rather than being a danger to society, women need protection themselves.
        
        However, this "protection" is arguably due to the concept that women are "weak" and "vulnerable" bodies, needing the support of men to defend them.
        
        This links to Tom Nash's desire to "do whatever you can to shield their bodies" (109).
- - - - It could be argued, Abbott uses her novel as a tool to encourage the discussion of female sexuality and convey the stigma still associated with female sexuality in today's society. Thus, the novel could be examined from a feminist standpoint, as a criticism of the sexism and double standards that remain tied to women.
    - - The concept that the sexuality and bodies of the girls has resulted in an outbreak of a "fever" or illness, in which the police control need to get involved, portrays an element of criminality to the case. Thus, arguably the sexual liberation and bodies of women become depicted as "criminal" in the eyes of society.
        
        It is this element of "criminality" attached to female sexuality and the psychology of women, that Foucault suggested as being a means to regulate and control others.
        
        Therefore, Abbott could be suggesting that women are still controlled by the patriarchy.
- - - - "Historically, this notion of female vulnerability was an extension of the idea that the female body is somehow...beyond control...it is apparently ruled by biological cycles, hormones, cravings and emotional sensitivity." (108).
        
        Furthermore, Moore states, "women's lack of control over the body were met by demands that women attempt to restrain their bodies" (109).
        
        The fact that Abbott presents the victims of this illness, as only female characters, reinforces the traditional concept that women are vulnerable beings, susceptible to illness.
        
        Moore states, it became "principally women in the family...who take on the burden of health promotion." (104).
        
        Thus, this concept of women as lacking "control" of their bodies - posing a detriment to the good health of others - supports the argument that when the girls of The Fever fail to maintain "control" of their bodies, they are depicted as a threat to others.
        
        Arguably, Abbott emphasises the stereotype that female bodies are prone to "break down".
        
        This is suggested when Lise becomes more concerned of who saw her, rather than the seizure that happened to her:
        "What did I do?...Who saw?" (15)
        
        Arguably, due to Lise being a woman, she has been taught to restrain her body from behaving erratically in front of others.
  - - - Perhaps, while female sexuality has been treated as a threat, suppressed and encouraged to be kept under control, Abbot's portrayal of a "psychogenic hysteria" is a feminist argument. The girls can act wildly against the suppression of female sexuality, and the need to "behave", bringing the subject of female sexuality into conversation.
        
        Thus, this idea of "behaving" and suppression, links back to the difference between Tom's treatment of Deenie compared to her brother, Eli, who is given more freedom.
        
        Therefore, while female sexuality is arguably presented as a threat in the novel, it also suggests that due to this argument, women are under more pressure than men for their bodies.
        
        Abbott was inspired by the 2012 LeRoy, New York case of "mass hysteria", in which up to 18 girls experienced the same symptoms of "twitching". This reflects Abbott's portrayal of this "domino effect" of girls experiencing the mysterious illness in The Fever.
        
        https://nyti.ms/2k4bSj5
        
        https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/may/26/teen-girls-mass-hysteria-new-novel-tackles-rare-mysterious-illness
        
        https://youtu.be/AKwRfijqY5A
        
        The depiction of the LeRoy case of 2012 links with Moore's studies in Body & Society, in which women are viewed to possess a "lack of control" (Moore 109) over their own bodies.
        
        The disbelief that the girls of LeRoy were genuinely experiencing these symptoms, reinforces the frequent belittling and dismissal of women in society. Thus, reflecting society's misunderstanding of women during the "witch trials".
        
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      - The bodies of the girls are depicted as "weak" and susceptible to illness. This is reinforced during the school PTA meeting, in which fears of the HPV vaccine are presented by a mainly male discourse: "You're the ones who pushed your poison down our girls' throats." (207).
        
        The concept that women are susceptible to illness, is reinforced by Mary Lu: "What about what's inside the school. In the walls. Under the floors." (211).
        
        This idea that the bodies of women are susceptible to illness, reinforces the argument that Abbott has presented women/adolescent girls, as a danger or threat to society.
  - - - Abbott's The Fever arguably mirrors the sudden wave of girls who claimed to have been a victim of witchcraft. Thus, this concept of female bodies being linked to psychogenic illnesses, has long been apart of history, influencing gender stereotypes.
        
        However, Abbott also reinforces that the misogyny present during the time of these "witch trials", is still present in society regarding female bodies. This misogyny being the "hysteria" of women, when experiencing symptoms of an illness, as a way to discredit them. Also, the misogynistic view that women pose a threat to the patriarchy.
        
        The infamous Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century portrays the mass psychogenic illnesses shared amongst girls.
        
        https://youtu.be/jJJLy5_DlqY
- - - - Thus, as well as presenting female sexuality as a danger to society, evoking ill health, Abbott portrays the concept that women are "weak", susceptible to illness due to their own sexuality.
      - "Have u heard of toxik shok? Tampax can kill u" (59)
        
        The sexuality and health of women/adolescent girls, is depicted as a danger to themselves.