Alas, Babylon - What is the role of the female characters in the novel?

The novel "Alas, Babylon" takes place in the fictional town of Fort Repose, Florida in the year
1959. During this time period the tensions of the Cold War between the United States joined with its
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies and Russia with the rest of the Soviet Union. Both sides
were developing nuclear weapons and feared that the other side would use it to destroy their
opponents country. Many people were afraid of an all out nuclear war that would result in the near-
total destruction of their country and constantly thought about what would be the outcome of those
attacks. In "Alas, Babylon" the author, Pat Frank, tells the story of what could have been the dreadful
outcome.
In the 1950's Women were viewed a certain way and were all thought to act a certain way as
well. Women were thought to be weak and emotional and were not considered to be suitable for most
jobs. Most women were unemployed housewives and if they had jobs they were usually maids, clerks,
nurses, secretaries, telephone and telegraph operators, librarians or school teachers. Most working
women were single or unmarried. Many of the female characters in "Alas, Babylon" had those jobs such
as Helen Bragg, a housewife, Alice Cooksey, the town librarian, Missouri Henry, a housemaid, and
Florence Wechek, a telegraph operator. With the exception of a few women men usually had college
degrees and had jobs such as being doctors, lawyers, politicians, or in the military.
"Alas Babylon" contains a lot of stereotypes that were believed to be true at the time. not only
sexist stereotypes about women but racial stereotypes as well. The African-American "Two-Tone" Henry
is poor and a heavy drinker. Two-Tone's wife Missouri Cleans houses for the wealthier families in the
area. The Hispanic Rita Hernandez is only known by most for being attractive and not for what's in her
mind. Even though the novel contains multiple old stereotypes Pat Frank shows that people of all
genders, ages, and races are equal as boundaries between these groups symbolically and literally
disappear. This was unusual at the time because this was near the end of a Women's Rights Movement
and before the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
After "The Day" the women in the novel show that they are just as intelligent as men and are
just as skilled and mentally and emotionally strong as men despite certain moments. They prove that
they are capable of running businesses and being in charge. Women start doing things that only a man
would have done before. Peyton Bragg retrieves food for her family by fishing, because she does not
want to be only skilled for being a typical homemaker . The roles of different genders are no longer
existent. Women take up their original roles as well as some men's but the women of Fort Repose are
said by Randy to need a man around after Peyton was missing for a while.