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Where Do Women Fit In?

In “Ice Age”, Alexander Weinstein depicts a post-apocalyptic world where a division of

gender and class status arise between two communities One struggling to survive environmental

catastrophes, while the other recovers buried treasures of the old-world. Weinstein portrays the

unprivileged living conditions of characters like Gordon and Tom and compares it to men like

Phil, who has a proprietorship advantage. Despite their differences in community status, as men,

they all reflect a natural ambition of gaining valuable possessions and power within their

community's old-world capitalisms. This form of power exhibits the male as the head of the

household and rarely takes into consideration women's contribution to the future of their

post-apocalyptic world. With the encounter of old-world treasures and the exploiting nature of

male characters, women's acknowledgment and the possibility of community achievements are

absent in the post-apocalyptic world.

Gordon and Tom’s community structures on the distribution of survival tasks to provide a

sustainable environment. Weinstein describes how men’s communal tasks like hunting for food,

building igloos, and staying warm with a limited supply of wood and fuel, demonstrate how they

adapt to their living conditions by creating a close-knit environment (Weinstein, 205). However,

in routine, the restriction of women through the involvement of their community calls

stereotypes revolving housewives. Furthermore, the social construction of the domestic circle

depends on a woman’s involvement in their family. Weinstein develops this modern world to

demonstrate how although community symbolizes strength and support, women remain absent to

the inclusiveness in their community. It is through this contact with the old-world that reshapes

the community's vision into ambitious and powerful. However, Phil, the man who lives apart
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from Gordon and Tom’s community, portrays old-world capitalism rather than working together

to survive this apocalyptic world.

The exploitative nature of men results from old-world capitalism demonstrated by Phil's

desire to reach buried homes and resources that no longer have value in this world. Phil decides

to maintain his distance from the other community to construct a home where he can perform

such tasks. Gordon and Tom's community frowns upon Phil's ideas, as they worry about how

they will survive the day-to-day conditions. On the other hand, Phil is a self-interest driven man.

He focuses on surviving by himself without the work of the other community. However, despite

the progress, he has fallen short on food supply. Therefore, he bribes Gordon with tools for the

exchange of a moose (Weinstein, 216). Phil's business-like mindset indicates he's willing to

negotiate with Gordon and the other men for the benefit of himself in old-world capitalism.

Instead of taking part in Tom and Gordon's communal nature, he prefers burning snow to get to

the old-world treasures. Phil argues that "You don't get to where I've gotten by doing things the

way everybody else does them; I'm a thinker... Ideas are what put me ahead" (Weinstein, 216).

Phil is close-minded about what matters. He's unpreoccupied with his health and living

conditions but rather on the necessity to relive an old-world lifestyle. Further, in the story, Phil

convinces Tom and the men in the community to work together to reach the buried resources and

distribute them among each other. Phil's exploitative nature drives Gordon and Tom's community

to no longer think clearly, instead possess the ambition of gaining valuable possessions and

power within. This ambitious standpoint disrupts both communities by proving that bringing

back old-world capitalism will affect their living conditions and not progress in this environment.
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However, Phil's community is not so different from Gordon and Tom's after all. The

narrator's idea of civilization shifts as both communities come together through the old-world

capitalism ideology. It's visible that both communities display a difference in adapting to the

current environment they're placed in. Both being male-dominated communities, they have

limited women to participate in the decisions that will affect the way they live. For example,

Gordon explains how the men in the communities are the hunter-gatherers, while the women

produce and prepare the food (Weinstein, 208). This illustrates how women continue to be the

stereotypical housewives, even in the post-apocalyptic world. Despite the terrible conditions the

communities live in, men refuse to include women in their "manly" jobs because they consider

themselves as the provider of their families. This prevents the community from advancing and

making changes to increase the amount of food and resources. Furthermore, Phil's wife also

reflects the social norms given to women like being well-dressed and presentable to the public.

"Pretty in an old-fashioned way: skinny with too thin arms," states Gordon as he describes Phil's

wife; "Her eyes are black, and for a moment I think it's from sleep until I remember what

makeup looks like" (Weinstein 213-214). Naturally, women require to be feminine and merely

live off their daily housewives routine. The extensive history of prejudice against women limits

an equal contribution of genders within both communities. The author emphasizes how the male

is ambitious for valued goods, striving for capitalism and superiority over their communities.

Although both communities are shaped and defined by an old-world capitalist ideology, it is

through the inclusiveness of women's voices and experiences that could achieve communal

achievements.
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In an attempt to bring into focus the effect of the exploitative nature of men, Weinstein

uses characters like Tom, Gordon, and Phil to explain how their communities collide into

old-world capitalism where men's selfishness affects the progression of their world. “Ice Age”

focuses on society's breakdown and human connection as they go mad over old-world spoils that

are no longer valuable in their environment. Weinstein brings insight into the gender differences,

and values in both communities reflect how women underrepresented themselves due to the

stereotypical norms of society. This demonstrates how the world's gender and ethical boundaries

could negatively alter due to the destructive force of men. By being inclusive of women's voices

and working in unity, we could prevent our world from becoming another capitalist society in the

future.
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Work Cited

Weinstein, Alexander. ​Children of the New World: Stories.​ Picador, New York, 2016.