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Jacob Green

Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

17 November 2019

Victimized

In today’s society, women are treated far below men. In ​Play It As It Lays​, written by

Joan Didion, women such as Maria and Helene demonstrate to the readers what it’s like to be a

woman in society. Didion’s use of women in the novel portrays how men often objectify and

abuse women in order to assert dominance, showing the struggles women face when trying to

escape abusive relationships.

In the novel, Maria experiences different forms of abuse from several different men in

her life, one of which is her husband Carter. When Carter finds out about Maria being pregnant

with Les Goodwin’s child, he says, “go ahead and have this kid… and I’ll take Kate” (Didion

54). Carter is controlling Maria and her decision towards the abortion as he is using Kate as

leverage to get what he wants. This works out in Carter’s favor because Maria cares about Kate

and he is dangling the idea that they will never see each other again over Maria’s head. This

demonstrates how men have power in relationships and how easy it is for women to be

controlled. One night, when Carter comes home, Maria asks him if he is going to spend the night

there and in return he says, “All my things are here, aren’t they?” (40). For the rest of the night

Carter doesn’t even make eye contact when he talks to her. Carter talks down to Maria and treats

her how most men treat their partners in the novel. The fight Carter and Maria get in causes her

to “[sit] with her eyes closed until the vein in her temple stopped pulsating” (41). This shows
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how the abuse from Carter constantly stresses her out. Not only does Maria get emotionally

abused from Carter, but she gets sexually abused from her ex-boyfriend Ivan. The night that

Carter, BZ, and Helene went to the desert, Maria went back home and noticed that Ivan was

inside waiting for her which she did not expect. When she asks why he was there, he says “you

aren’t going anywhere,” but when she responds, “No,” he says, “All right, fight me. You’ll like it

better that way anyways” (181). Ivan’s language implies that he raped Maria. He went to Maria’s

house, knowing he was going to have sex with her whether she wanted it or not: “Baby, I just

came to make you remember” (181). This is the main reason why Maria is with Carter. Carter

plays the role of a protector when Ivan is involved because when being in a relationship with

Carter, Ivan cannot hurt her when she isn’t alone. This makes it hard for Maria to leave Carter

since he is the only thing protecting her from Ivan. All of the men in Maria’s life have taken a

piece of her and used her for their personal desires, whether it be for money, sex, or anything

Maria has to offer. Maria’s character depicts many issues women face and how they have to deal

with them.

The novel not only demonstrates the mental and sexual abuse that women face, but the

physical abuse as well. Helene is another woman in the novel that’s in a toxic and abusive

marriage with BZ. When BZ comes home drunk, he tells Helene, “If you can’t deal with the

morning, get out of the game, it’s play-or-pay” (164). Helene is getting paid by BZ’s mother,

Carlotta, to stay with BZ. This alone makes it a very toxic relationship since their relationship is

only driven by money, showing how they have no real love for each other. When Helene

responds, “Why don’t you go tell that to Carlotta,” BZ slaps her in the face (164). BZ got angry

because she was implying that it wasn’t his money that’s keeping them together, it’s his
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mother’s. Helene is insulting him and making him feel as if he really has no control over the

relationship. Helene talks back to BZ out of anger, testing his control. This causes BZ to assert

his power and hit her so that she knows her place. He also publicly humiliates Helene. For

example, one time BZ asked Carter, “Isn’t Helene a nasty, Carter? Haven’t I got a bitch for a

wife?” (45). BZ treats Helene with no respect, causing Helene to constantly act rude towards

him. Helene and BZ are a perfect example of a toxic relationship. Didion emphasizes the

different forms of abuse women receive from men in the novel in order to open the readers’

knowledge to what goes on behind the scenes of an abusive relationship. Coming from a female

author, it could also be a call to action to raise awareness.

Men have the tendency to act very dominant in relationships because they want to feel as

if they’re in control. In the study, “Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships: A Comparative

Analysis of the Effects of Women’s Infidelity and Men’s Dominance and Control,” Aaron T.

Goetz discusses how men rape their female partners because they want to express power and

how sometimes females can predict if they’re going to be sexually assaulted by their partner.

Goetz states, “partner rape is motivated by a man’s attempt to dominate and control his partner

and that this expression of power is the product of men’s social roles” (Goetz). Goetz also

mentions how, “Regression analyses from Study 1 (self-reports from 256 men) and Study 2

(partner-reports from 290 women) indicated that men’s sexual coercion of their partners was

consistently predicted by female infidelity and men’s controlling behavior, suggesting that both

variables are necessary to explain men’s sexual coercion” (Goetz). He states very clearly why

men often rape their female partners. They want to show their control and dominance because

men are often in power in relationships and it can be seen as a societal expectation. This is why
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so many women face abuse from men and do not speak up about it. They are either afraid to say

something or just accept it because they feel reliant on their male partner, making them feel

alone. This is the same situation previously stated between Maria and Carter. Maria cannot leave

Carter because she will suffer sexual abuse from Ivan. Carter abuses Maria as well. However,

Maria isn’t afraid of Carter as she is of Ivan. She is mainly afraid of Ivan because of their past

and how abusive he was and still is. In the study, “Power, Control, and Intimate Partner Sexual

Violence in Haiti,” Anastasia J. Gage shows the risks of women being abused or raped by sexual

partners in Haiti as well as how it affects their education. Gage states, “Strong positive effects on

intimate partner sexual violence were found for husband's jealousy and perpetration of

controlling behavior and women's endorsement of traditional norms concerning a husband's

rights to beat his wife” (Gage). Gage explains how men are often found abusing their wives

because they are jealous of their relationships with other men and they want to have full control

over women. Men often become insecure when they lose control in relationships because it

makes them look weak. This is similar to BZ’s situation when he gets jealous of Carter and

Helene having sex because he feels as if he is losing his power and control over her. In the video,

“How I met my Abusive (ex) Boyfriend,” the girl talks about how she met her boyfriend when

she was 17 years old and he was 18 years old, which she thought was wrong because she was a

minor and he was an adult. He then said, “That’s all in your mind. You need to control that. It’s

nothing to be upset about” (“How I met my Abusive (ex) Boyfriend” 1:10). Her boyfriend

manipulated her into staying with him for 5 years, which many men have done and often get

away with. This goes back to how easily women are taken advantage of and used as well as how

they struggle with leaving abusive relationships.

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In the novel, Maria and Helene are abused by the men in their lives and in reaction, cause

them to feel angry or upset. Didion demonstrates the abuse women go through each and

everyday through the use of the characters and why men feel as if they need to assert their

power. The novel discusses the issue of how women are treated by men and gives the readers and

inside perspective of how victimized women have to deal with such issues. Throughout the

novel, Didion shows the readers that men constantly control and abuse women, reflecting how

women are treated everyday.

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Works Cited

Didion, Joan. ​Play It As It Lays​. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1970

Gage, Anastasia J. “Power, Control, and Intimate Partner Sexual Violence in Haiti.”

SpringerLink​, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-006-8991-0.

Accessed 17 November 2019.

Goetz, Aaron T. “Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships: A Comparative Analysis of the

Effects of Women's Infidelity and Men's Dominance and Control.” ​SpringerLink​, 15 Apr

2008, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-008-9353-x.

Accessed 17 November 2019.

“How I Met My Abusive (Ex) Boyfriend.” ​YouTube,​ Uploaded by illymation, 7 Sept. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lYeRqhQ9Q​.

Accessed 17 November 2019.