Girls in Their Summer Dresses" by I

Girls in Their Summer Dresses" by Irwin Shaw follows a Sunday outing of a young couple in Manhattan. Michael and Frances represent the stereotypes of men and women and their levels of maturity when it comes to handling difficult situations. This will be debated through an analysis of each character and by comparing their similarities and differences.

Michael's actions can be considered the cause for conflict. His wondering eye gets him into trouble more than once over the short duration of the day. The idea of the stereotypical male is brought out in him depicting a man that is unable to be faithful to his other half and is constantly eyeing other women in the manner that gives the thought that women are nothing but objects. When Frances declares "I want to go out with my husband all day long. I want him to talk only to me and listen only to me," Michael feels obliged to bring Frances out to have a good day, though instead of doing activities that would interest her, a plan for a football game and to Éget a steak as big as a blacksmith's apron" are organised by Frances in order to make Michael happy. Clearly oblivious to his wife's irritation, Michael refuses to keep his eyes off the young New York females who walk by.

The character of Frances can easily be summed up in one quite simple word: woman. This is simply because she is the representation of the stereotypical female, this being a nagging, hard to please and never happy persona. It must be expected that she becomes irritated, even angry, when her husband callously stares and comments on the bodies of every young, good-looking girl in New York. Perhaps the amount of times Michael looks "at every damn woman in the city of New York" is just an exaggeration of her imagination. She is not as manipulative and controlling as one could speculate or observe, but the close attention she pays to her husband's every move shows itself to be quite overbearing and difficult to deal with. Perpetually she tells him "What're you doing?", "I want to listen," and "Go ahead," which in turn forces Michael to reveal the truth and bear his heart and soul to her, or perhaps he is just telling her what she wants to hear.