Abstract

ENTRY LEVEL is a short story collection that explores intersections between class and sexuality. The female characters are tied to their biology through tropes of motherhood, pregnancy and pubescent development, all of which visibly signify gender. However, the degree to which the individual women in this collection internalize the role of “mother” or “woman” varies.

The relationships of these women to their bodies are mediated by their roles as workers and by their class. The workplace provides an apt space to explore gender difference, since so often work is coded, either implicitly or explicitly, as belonging to women. Although these stories do not take place in overtly sexualized environments, sexuality always intervenes in the work the women do.

In many of these stories, women form collectives within their working class environments. Through humour and camaraderie, these characters reveal and construct joy in their lives.