Satire cautions us to treat representations carefully. Most of the novel’s women are eager to oblige what many contemporary readers will locate not only as conservative, but also archaic gender roles. While I do not refute the presence of male domination on college campuses, I found myself troubled by the manner in which Wolfe’s narrator characterizes young women in the novel. In many instances, we find sharp depictions of male aggression and misogyny, but even more troubling is the way in which the novel’s women abide by these sexist norms. But who is Charlotte Simmons? Or, perhaps more importantly, who does she become as the novel progresses? The reader of Wolfe’s portrayal of college life at his fictitious Dupont University is exposed to a satiric perspective on college culture, and within that satire, a pointed representation of how gender roles constrain and subjugate young women. An odd declaration of her troubled identity, “I am Charlotte Simmons” punctuates the text, alternately serving as a declaration of personal triumph, a reminder of individuality, and-perhaps most problematically-a mantra of selfhood desperately intoned when Charlotte feels herself drifting away. I Am Charlotte Simmons is both the title of Tom Wolfe’s novel and the mantra of its protagonist, Charlotte.

I am charlotte simmons