The Babysitter as the Sexualised Object of Male Fantasies in Robert Coover’s The Babysitter

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Mannheim (Amerikanische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft), course: 20th Century American Short Fiction, language: English, abstract: This paper will focus on the fragments of male fantasies and the challenge they present to the reader under the assumption that the babysitter is only an idea and not a person. The babysitter builds the centre of the story and stands in the spotlight of all events, possible realities and fantasies. Throughout the whole story, the babysitter is not once mentioned by name, which makes her more into a sexualised object than a real person. This notion is intensified by the broken-up form of the story and the uncertainty about which events really happen to the characters and which are only imagined. In the second chapter, the babysitter will be analysed as sexual fantasy and the object of male desire from the perspectives of the male characters Mr. Tucker, Jack, Mark and Jimmy Tucker. The following chapter will give a general view on stereotypical perceptions of babysitters and how they are represented in the short story as well the influence the story’s form and style have on the reader. Lastly, the fourth chapter will offer a conclusion and have a look at prominent social issues.