Them,life,death,femaleness

[Montgomery E. Engel]

The association of femaleness (femininity?) with death (or recognition of
death) that's been showing up is interesting.  I think TRP plays with this
quite a bit by associating his female characters with death through their
inexplicable attraction (as well as repulsion) to Them.  I am thinking
particularly of Frenesi's and Prairie's shared affection for Brock Vond
or men in uniform for that matter.  In the same vein TRP depicts death as
inevitably male. Female is attracted to male(death,Them).  Makes sense.
His depictions of Zoyd and Slothrop are the males who are not Them, who
cannot partake of the freedom and life-denying aspects of the
male-Them-death-authoritarian culture.
What's a guy to do?  What's a gal to do, for that matter? And why is
the fair sex so torn between authority (perhaps primal security?) and
life-affirming rebellion like we see from the young Frenesi?

Montgomery