The Treatment of Women in Jack Kerouac's On The Road It seems that the women in Jack Kerouac's On The Road were not afforded the same depth of character as the author gave to men. The way Sal and Dean treat female characters in both words and actions seems to show that women can only be a virgin/mother figure or a whore. Throughout the novel there are many instances where women and their feelings or actions are referred to disrespectfully or blatantly degraded. It can be said, however, that Sal (Kerouac) did not necessarily agree with this narrow female identity, and there is evidence to support this statement. The novel also shows, however, that Sal participated in this forced male female stereotype, whether she wanted to or not. This is not to say that Sal (Kerouac) is necessarily malicious in the way he treats women, but more likely he is simply acting in accordance with the way he was raised and the way society treated women at the time. Indeed, while Sal and the novel may attempt to highlight the poor treatment of women, overall the novel tends to reinforce the sexist male domination of the era. The novel, on one level, supports the narrow female identity and the virgin/whore dichotomy contained therein, while at the same time unsuccessfully attempting to rise above the limited female identity. Women play a key role in this novel in many ways. In the case of...... middle of paper......el, it is there as a reflection of his belief system and attitudes of the time. Works Cited PageBartlett, Lee. The Beats: critical essays. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. 1981.Cassady, Carolyn. Heartbeat: My Life with Jack and Neal. Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company. 1976.Cassady, Neal. "Letter to Jack Kerouac." March 7, 1947.Challis, Chris. Looking for Kerouac. London: Faber and Faber Limited. 1984. Dardess, George. "The Delicate Dynamics of Friendship: A Reconsideration of Kerouac's On The Road." American literature. v46: 200-206. 1974. Kerouac, Jack. On the road. New York: Penguin Books Limited. 1955.Watson, Steven. The birth of the Beat Generation. New York: