Lewis, 1

Jihan Lewis

Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

20 November 2017

Bad Girl On The Curb Analysis

Lisa Glatt is an author and professor whose short story Bad Girl On The Curb can be

found in the book Another City. Written by a variety of authors, Another City is composed of

short stories and poems, exposing readers to many different perspectives of Los Angeles through

real-life scenarios and experiences. Bad Girl On The Curb tells the story of a married couple

whose relationship became flawed. Diagnosed with breast cancer, the wife becomes vulnerable

and insecure, causing her to distance herself from her husband. One night, a car crash awakens

the wife, and alarms the husband. The couple watches and comments on the chaotic aftermath

from their balcony: a drunken bad girl on the curb who caused the crash, cops arresting and

questioning her, etc. As they watch the chaos from their balcony, the wife identifies herself and

the relationship with the bad girl on the curb and the car crash. Lisa Glatts Bad Girl On The

Curb explores lifes harsh realities as it challenges the stereotypical idea of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is known to be a city of glamour and materialism. In this story, this

stereotypical view on the city becomes impaired as the reader is exposed to the underlying

imperfections of LA. Because the outer perspectives of Los Angeles are put in such a good light,

nobody ever thinks the worst could happen. In this instance, the married couple didnt think

about a potential breast cancer diagnosis and the hardships that come along with it. For the bad

girl on the curb, a harmless night of fun turns into a potentially fatal incident. Two worlds collide
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as two interconnected situations couldnt keep up with the stereotypical idea of LA and its

faade.

The bad girl on the curb represents the materialistic view Los Angeles: its nightlife, the

glamour, and image. The married couple represents the residents of Los Angeles and what its

really like to live there: the financials, the traffic, etc. The wifes main conflict with reality is her

breast cancer journey. The surgery required her breast to be removed, so she begins to distance

herself from

her husband in

order to hide

her scars and

imperfections. She refrains from performing sweet gestures toward her husband; gestures as

simple as reaching over to touch his shoulder. She explains these are gestures I talk myself out

of these days, ones Im afraid will inspire him to come too close. She feels the need to distance

herself from her husband because she feels ashamed of her own body and flaws. Shes self

conscious due to the societal pressures implemented in Los Angeles. Research suggests that body

image causes a restraint on an older womans leisure, so for the wife, it mustve been difficult to

feel comfortable in her own body after surgery. According to a study conducted by Toni Leighty,

because societal ideals of beauty promote the importance of youthfulness and thinness, older

women face unique challenges as they attempt to construct and maintain positive

self-evaluations. For example, physical signs of aging such as changing skin texture, graying

hair, and weight gain are largely undesirable by cultural standards, which can negatively impact
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women's body image (Leighty). With LAs cultural standards, she struggles with her physical

identity, which in turn, disrupts her emotional identity.

Not only does the wife resemble the bad girl on the curb, but you can see a bit of the

husband in the bad girl too. As they watch the bad girl on the curb from their balcony, the wife

suggests that someone may have broken her heart that night. This can be reflected in the

husband, and how his heart is broken now that the wife has been becoming more distant since the

diagnosis. The wife goes on to say I bet she doesnt care what happens next, and the husband

responds by saying In the morning she will. The wifes assumption of the bad girl is the same

for her husband. Theres a hint of the wife suggesting that the husband doesnt care; she believes

that because of the breast cancer and the scars, he doesnt care about the relationship as much as

before. The husbands response serves as a comforting reassurance that he is trying to reach out,

communicate, and make things right again.

Its noticeable that you can see connections of both the husband and the wife through the

bad girl on the curb; the events of the crash itself may resemble the events of their own

relationship. The bad girl on the curb created a chaotic atmosphere due to the car crash. The

initial crash represents how the couple was hit with the news of the diagnosis, and the couples

dysfunctionality afterward resembles the chaotic aftermath of the crash . The wife explains how

There were hurtful things said to him just days after my diagnosis, and ever since then things

were never the same. This story successfully juxtaposes two different worlds of Los Angeles of

expectations versus reality.

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Works Cited

Liechty, Toni, and Careen Yarnal. The Role of Body Image in Older Women's Leisure.

Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 42, no. 3, 2010, pp. 443467.

Scar Stories. Scar Stories, Suzanne McCorkell,

www.scarstories.org/scar-stories-blog/2014/2/16/tough-beautiful-chicks-breast-cancer-by-suzann

e-mccorkell.

Tiedtke, Corine, et al. Survived but Feeling Vulnerable and Insecure: a Qualitative Study of the

Mental Preparation for RTW after Breast Cancer Treatment.(Research Article)(Report). BMC

Public Health, vol. 12, 2012, p. 538.

Ulin, David L. Another City: Writing from Los Angeles. San Francisco, City Lights, 2001.