There are many subtle ways in which social segregation is implied in the text, but the author even goes so far as to say how society deemed women to be inferior to men. When the factory man comes to tell the old man and the woman that their son was killed on the job, the text says, "Then he waited as patiently as his sex would allow" (story). With this quote it is clear that men were thought to be better than women. Since she was a woman, it meant that she was unable to be patient. It's implied that men are patient, but the only reason the female character can't be is because she's a woman. The use of feminist criticism is not necessary to find this statement offensive and to demonstrate that “The Mokey's Paw” reinforces the segregation that went on during the time the story was published.