In Dashka Slater's The 57 Bus, the inclusion of free-verse poetry serves as a vital element in conveying the complexities of societal norms, gender expectations, and the struggles of individual autonomy. Among these poetic interludes, "Dress Code" emerges as an exploration of the constraints imposed by dress regulations, particularly within the confines of El Camino Real High School in 1968. With a keen focus on language, format, and thematic resonance, this essay delves into the multifaceted layers of meaning embedded within "Dress Code," examining how its poetic structure enhances the narrative and enriches our understanding of the novel's central themes. Through close analysis, we uncover the significance of each word and the ways in which …show more content…
Here, the simple act of wearing pants for girls becomes a symbol of defiance and resistance against oppressive norms: "Pants! The Pants. Let Girls Wear Pants!" Slater, lines 5-6). The poem's format accentuates this rebellion. The fragmented structure mirrors the fragmented nature of the societal expectations being challenged. The use of short, declarative sentences creates a sense of urgency and insistence, mirroring the rallying cries of the students advocating for change. Additionally, the repetition of "Pants" Pants. reinforces the collective voice of the students, emphasizing solidarity in their fight for autonomy. As the poem progresses, the spotlight shifts to Debbie, a central figure whose actions embody a spirit of rebellion against the stifling conformity of the school's dress code. Debbie's choice to fashion a dress from an Indian bedspread stands as a bold assertion of her individuality and a rejection of the prescribed clothing options. In doing so, she seeks to carve out her own identity within the confines of the school's rigid …show more content…
Debbie's experience serves as a microcosm of the broader struggles faced by individuals who dare to challenge the status quo and assert their autonomy. Through her story, Slater shines a spotlight on the absurdity of a system that prioritizes conformity over individuality, highlighting the inherent tension between societal expectations and personal freedom. Additionally, through "Dress Code," Slater sheds light on the arbitrary nature of dress codes and the ways in which they reinforce gender stereotypes and limit individual expression. The poem serves as a microcosm of the broader themes explored in the novel, such as identity, acceptance, and the complexities of navigating societal expectations. By intertwining poetry with prose, Slater adds depth and nuance to the narrative, inviting readers to engage with the text on multiple levels. "Dress Code" intertwines seamlessly with the narrative of The 57 Bus, serving as a reflection of the broader themes unfolding within the novel at that
“Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “ David Talamentez on the Last Day of Second Grade” by Rosemary Catacalos are two poems that show a unique view into society and the roles society expects people to fill. Sometimes those expectations can lead people to take drastic measures or even cause defiance in some people. The irony of this is that it seems the more we push people to be what society wants the more it drives them to be what they don’t want.
The world of young adults is a complicated landscape, with cliques and a desire to fit in. This push for conformity stretches not only through behavior, but more noticeably through the apparel worn by youths. At the beginning of the story, the narrator states that she and her friends are in “trouble,” but they “do not know what [they did], and [they are] sure [they] did not mean to do it” (103). This fear of the unknown continues throughout the entirety of the story, and readers can infer that the crime the girls have committed was simply dressing out of the norm for their age. The narrator also mentions that she is “white-skinned, ebony-haired, red-lipped, and ethereal,” far different than the expectation for her being “suntanned, golden-haired, peach-lipped, and earthbound” like her mother had been (103). As time repeats itself, so too do the fashion trends popular among the masses, and the look that the narrator’s mother portrayed was the same as the look her daughter is expected to adhere to. This is not the case, though, and because of her and her band’s choices in clothes, the narrator feels ostracized by not only her peers but her father as well, who “looks at [them] without moving his mouth or turning his head” as they leave the house (104). This reaction, or lack thereof, indicates that the father disapproves of the choices his daughter has made about how she dresses, but feels as though it is not his place to criticize her. The ending line does an excellent job at summarizing the angst felt by most teens as the narrator and her band feel as though “[they] are right to turn [themselves] in” to the pressures exerted by their peers to comply to what is expected of them (104). Just as women’s individuality is torn down by the pressures
Scout, the protagonist, is a young girl coming of age in a society trying to shove her into a dress and the role of a gilded daughter. For example, when Scout recalls a conversation with her Aunt Alexandra, a figurehead for society and one of the major female figures in her life, she begins to shine her own light on how to brighten her father’s life in a way that is true to herself. On page 108, Scout comes to terms with the fact that she is defying stereotypes, “I could not possibly be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year. She hurt my feelings and set my teeth permanently on edge,
To begin, the poem presents gender and their associated stereotype with items usually linked to one gender. As the poem opens Redel addresses her sons “scarlet nails” that are decked with “rings’ and “jewels.” As nail polish and jewelry are typically feminine items, one can sense the challenge in Redel’s tone as she describes her son wearing them. Additionally, Redel presents the items “a truck with a remote that revs” and “Hot wheels” to introduce items that generally young boys own. These toys are described since society would prefer her son to play with such toys rather than to “love the glitter.” Thus, gender stereotypes are presented in mundane items that typically the opposite sex does not experiment with. This interaction is looked down upon by others, but Redel is
George starts with the example of the Christian schoolgirl outfit, once meant to represent sexual purity and chastity, it now has been fetishized to the point where it represents sexuality bursting at the seams. She states that it does not help that older women are now wearing promiscuous outfits adorned with childlike slogans and logos. The increasingly scantily clad nature of grown women acting as role models for children causes them to dress like their role models. That is, in a provocative manner. George says that such clothing blurs the line
They are dressed in clothing that embarrasses and humiliates them. How strong can you be dressed as a little girl? (Evens 172)” Muscular body guards are wearing pink to make them not feel so strong. Using a simile, dressed as little girls becomes so real and helps to understand the how the guards feel. It helps relate personal experiences to the book.
Imagery like “several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons for us to buy” illustrates the harsh conditions that the children are forced to work in. By describing this for her audience, Kelley clarifies how poorly the children are forced to live due to the lack of laws. Another example of this is her description of a little girl who, “on her thirteenth birthday, could start away from her home at half past five in the afternoon, carrying her pail of midnight luncheon”. The emphasis on the innocence of children portrays the pity and sympathy that the audience should feel. She creates a scenario that seems much too real when she says “The children make our shoes in the shoe factories; they knit our stockings, our knitted underwear…They carry bundles of garments from the factories to the tenements, little beasts of burden, robbed of the school life that they may work for us.” By going into detail about what kinds of work the children do at work helps to open up the audience’s eyes to a perspective that is more personal and in-depth than Kelley merely lecturing them. In doing this, Kelley is able to invoke a sense of guilt that the audience members share. Consequently, the audience members thus feel the need to make change and rid themselves of the guilt they feel by allowing the continuation of children’s forced
Clifton’s usage of large hips to represent women gives the reader a clear mental image of something large and demanding more space just like women of today. Her style choice of free form breaks the traditional poetry forms, which accompanies her message about women needing to break tradition in today’s patriarchal society in order to better their lives. The imagery in the poem coney’s the strength and the determination of women breaking free from societies shackles and stereotypes. In concluding her poem, Clifton wants the reader to be left feeling empowered and hopeful with her decision to shift a tone about the advantage that comes from the unique qualities of women that men do not possess. If women do not take heed to the message of Lucille Clifton in this poem about the urgency and need for gender equality, the problem women face will only progress. The destruction of gender discrimination will not be immediate or easy, but through this poem, Lucille Clifton hopes to encourage other women to join the
While “The Yellow Wallpaper” mainly touches on the treatment of women in Gilman's time and only majorly addresses how negative the reception was for them while the men of her world were well-respected individuals, “A Streetcar Named Desire” makes a commentary on the gender roles of masculinity and femininity as a whole, including the two different portrayals of masculinity and how femininity was still generally looked down upon by American society in the late 1940s, unfortunately noting that not much had changed in the time between the stories passed.
Kim Addonizio gives stereotypes a whole new meaning by closely looking into the most typical clichés there are. Out of the many clichés, she touches the lust for that one tight; flimsy, cheap, revealing dress. These clichés' scorn women for wanting to wear a dress that may be too revealing looks cheap or looks “too” tight. Many women are subjected to this stereotype because it “typically” doesn’t conform to others’ opinions. She mentions this in her poem by saying “ I want a red dress./I want it flimsy and cheap,/I want it too tight, I want to wear it/until someone tears it off of me.” (1-4). Addonizio
The poem starts with the line, “This girlchild was born as usual,” which suggests that as soon as a girl is born, society already expects her to learn the role she will soon play in when she hits puberty (1). Thus, showing why we are given dolls as little girls to illustrate how we should act and appear according to society. After we learn all the roles we will soon take part in, “the magic of puberty,” hits and girls immediately begin applying the ideals to their own lives (5). As if this attempt to conform is not enough we have other people telling us we are not to perfect. “You have a great big nose and fat legs,” says a classmate to the girl (6). This type of pressure can slowly but surely destroy even the little confidence women do have in themselves.
Carol Bailey argues that the poem’s primary refrain, "this is how," demonstrates a clear emphasis on particular ways one believed or taught to act, and it calls attention to a type of performance that allows the young female to reinforce where she belongs in the community of respectable women (Carol Bailey 106). The social norms and gender conduct in the Caribbean is a setting where females are constantly aware of how their body is shaped and how their behaviors are shown in order to reinforce dominant gender ideologies. She is responsible for training her daughter to gain the abilities to discover her roles through knowledge, and also responsible for providing her daughter with inner and social safety. In addition, in the society, it is necessary for a mother to be fully aware of the significance of her daughter’s adolescent stage; she has to direct her daughter’s potentials through useful activities while she maintains a healthy, relationship with her daughter.
... dresses more since I know that from the very beginning when the cotton is ripe in the hot sun, little boys and girls must pick it for my dresses, while their backs grow tired and their heads ache”. This shows that the girl in this passage appreciates her clothes more because she knows that children are being forced to labor in the fields so that the cotton they pick can be used to make different items. With this, many children across the country are being deprived of a regular childhood and are not being allowed to do what they want as kids.
In the second stanza, the poet says that women are the cause that make her write poems because of the stereotypes against them, which give her a strong desire to challenge. Therefore, she takes women’s stories and writes them in poetry. She describes herself as a “seamstress” and without the dresses of women, she would be a seamstress without work, but her friends give her their dresses (their stori...
Spencer, Chloe. “What’s the point of School Uniform?” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.