In the novel Drugstore Cowboy by James Fogle, the character of Diane can be seen as exhibiting some of the characteristics associated with certain ideas of feminism, yet it is not clear that this makes her a feminist. In one sense, she insists on the right to be as wrong as males, and just as they are drug abusers and thieves, so will she be and make herself every bit the equal of the men with whom she travels. She is certainly a woman of her time and takes action whenever possible to assert herself as an individual, though at the same time there are also holdovers from an earlier time in the way the men treat her and the way she expects to be treated.
When Bob is negotiating with David, Diane is listening form the other room, and her reaction shows that she is not merely an adjunct to the males but an equal:
The talk of old ladies brought Diane out of the bedroom. She just couldn't contain herself any longer. She had to be in on the action, and if there was going to be any hassling done se wanted to be sure to get her share (Fogle 27).
Diane is not treated equally in certain terms, though, and is deferred to as a woman rather than as an equal:
Diane was more or less the queen of the group, and always got first consideration when anything was being fixed (Fogle 15).
The basic issue of equality for women centers on economic questions and the right of the woman to work, and freedom in society derives very much from the economic role one achieves. Charlotte Perkins Gilman emphasizes that women survive if they know more, and she traces a progression of developments or conditions and how they have worked upon women. First is the action of natural laws which act on the woman as they do on any other animal. Under this heading would come all of those traits of women that identify them as women and that truly do differentiate them from men, such as their biological differences. Of course, these are often used as an ex...