Bernice Bobs Her Hair

Content Warning: This section includes quotes depicting racial stereotyping of Indigenous peoples.

“The main function of the balcony was critical. It occasionally showed grudging admiration, but never approval, for it is well known among ladies over thirty-five that when the younger set dance in the summer-time it is with the very worst intentions in the world, and if they are not bombarded with stony eyes stray couples will dance weird barbaric interludes in the corners, and the more popular, more dangerous, girls will sometimes be kissed in the parked limousines of unsuspecting dowagers.”

The balcony is personified as showing both admiration and supervision. It represents the older perspective on the theme of shifting feminine identity, as the older women feel the need to keep younger women from becoming “barbaric” or otherwise breaking from what they see as desirable social norms.

“He nodded here and there at the less absorbed and as he passed each couple some half-forgotten fragment of a story played in his mind, for it was not a large city and every one was Who’s Who to every one else’s past.”

This moment, as Warren walks through the crowd at the opening dance, gives a sense of the story’s social setting. The shared familiarity is distinctly Midwestern and mirrors the approach F. Scott Fitzgerald takes in sprinkling names and identifying details of side characters throughout the narrative.

“No matter how beautiful or brilliant a girl may be, the reputation of not being frequently cut in on makes her position at a dance unfortunate. […] When it comes to several dances and the intermissions between she can be quite sure that a young man, once relieved, will never tread on her wayward toes again.”

The idea of being “cut in on” is repeated throughout the story as proof of a girl’s popularity. Especially in this instance, Fitzgerald is satirizing social standards. Courtship leading to marriage is a primary goal of these dances, yet none of the dancing couples want to stay together too long. A person is judged not on desirable qualities, such as not stepping on toes or being “brilliant,” but on mere changeability.