The Villanelle “Suburban” by Michael Blumenthal constructs a critique of sexism and

gender norms through a representation of traditional Suburbia and moderate wealth as depicted

through metaphors and diction.

“Suburban” repeatedly goes back to the phrase “Lloyd hits the ball, and Lorraine fetches

it”( Blumenthal l.3). The phrase constructs a view of Suburbia as robotic and monotonous, in

every way, even those who think they are different, therefore, “conformity caught here, nobody

catches it”(Lorraine l.6). This can specifically relate to gender norms through the use of Lorraine

and Lloyd. Lloyd is always hitting the ball, and Lorraine always catches it, nothing ever changes.

Such as with gender norms where both people continuously stay in the same norms despite their

own individuality. Because of the moderate wealth of traditional Suburbia it is safe to fallback on

gender norms that have been previously established by society. To the poet this is clearly

frustrating to see a clear issue on society that has no protest for it because of the safety of the

Suburbia

Michael Blumenthal artfully presents his argument of the injustices of gender roles in

Suburbia through word choice and diction. The clear frustration that the poet feels can be seen in

the very last line of the poem when Lorraine gains the adjective “damned”(Blumenthal l19). The

Poet is clearly venting a frustration that Lorraine is nothing more than a cog in a machine that

continues on in monotony and that will never be truly independent if always playing by the rules.

However, the word “damned” takes on a more sinister spin when considered to be a reaction to

her fate in life, damned. Lorraine will never achieve much in life because she was damned from

the start for not being motivated by insecurities to change her standing in life, therefore, she will

always be in some way fetching the ball for a man, leaving Lorraine damned to live a life

predestined for her. Blumenthal further uses diction to empower his cause with the line “ A
doldrum of leaky roofs, a roofer who patches it” (Blumenthal l.12). The Leaky roofs dictate how

the rest of society works in Suburbia. There is clear issues in society yet the dominant party

ignores it and thatches over the framework of what built the community. Therefore, making any

act of change that other genders make in this culture to be largely ignored in such a safe

environment. If the ball were not to be fetched, and the roof not to be thatched, then maybe

Lorraine gets to snatch the ball instead.