Women's Treatment and Role in Blindly-Followed Tradition in Jackson's The Lottery: Feminist Perspective

Blindly following traditions in a male-dominated society has unwanted consequences, especially for women. A significant number of studies can be found regarding the subjugation and marginalization of women, but very little focus has been given to the blindly followed traditions set by men in a male-dominated society. Hence, this research tends to explore the role of women in a deeply traditional and custom-rooted society, and women's treatment as "Other beings" utilizing the feminist perspective backed by the concept given in "The Second Sex" (De Beauvoir, 2016). Simone de Beauvoir (2016) particularly discusses women's roles in traditional societies and their link to male authority. Furthermore, this research is qualitative in nature and textual analysis has been employed (McKee, 2001). However, the data have been collected from the short story The Lottery by Jackson. The findings suggest that women are treated as "Other beings" and their role is subdued in the blindly followed traditions of patriarchal society.