Society 's standards and gender expectations for girls transforming into womanhood shown in society during the 19_ though socio cultural teachings. There’s a strong message behind Kincaid’s short story Girl. No matter how well you know tasks, societies gender roles and power dynamics will always be present. Kincaid shows the internal struggles a girl may have while trying to live up to society 's expectations though girls reply in the text.This text portrays women must represent themselves a certain way, despite how they feel; They must look good to people they don’t like and always present themselves as a perfect feminine image.
There are two characters: narrator as “I” who is supposed to be seen as a mother and “you” as Girl, who is her
…show more content…
The speaker says “this is how you smile to someone you don’t like very much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all.” One must learn in steps, take the easier step first before you take on the full task. The repetition of the speaker criticizing this Girl is prone to be a slut makes the readers feel sympathy words her. If she contributes to following the rules of society, she will be a great woman. If not, this girl will be looked at as the “Woman the baker won’t let near the bread.” This life lesson from this mother is to keep society in check. Mother(society) teaches certain lessons to their daughters and sons. The stereotypical gender roles has been maintained by these hierarchical ideologies. “This is how” shows the narrator is experienced in these tasks and already knows how to fulfill them and the girl is expected to learn. Readers get a sense this mother is an experienced woman, well respected and has some sense of power. This power is shown by how assertive her claims are to her daughter and the minimal reply from Girl. Not only does this show the narrator’s power but it emphasizes the very minimal amount of power Girl has towards her mother, and hence the minimal power she has in society. The power dynamic between these characters symbolizes the power dynamics presented in society during this
In “Girl,” Jamaica Kincaid’s use of repetitive syntax and intense diction help to underscore the harsh confines within which women are expected to exist. The entire essay is told from the point of view of a mother lecturing her daughter about how to be a proper lady. The speaker shifts seamlessly between domestic chores—”This is how you sweep a house”—and larger lessons: “This is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all…” (Kincaid 1). The way in which the speaker bombards the girl overwhelms the reader, too. Every aspect of her life is managed, to the point where all of the lessons she receives throughout her girlhood blur together as one run-on sentence.
Women in today’s society seem to be having a very difficult time expressing themselves without dealing with lots of criticism. Common values are standing in the way of women’s drive toward molding themselves into whatever they desire. Our culture has made standards about how should women look, act, and conduct themselves that greatly limits what they can do, and still gain respect. Martin S. Fiebert and Mark W. Meyer state that, “[there are] more negative [gender] stereotypes for men than for women.” This idea doesn’t seem to have a great amount of validity in our present society. Society set certain standards that men are supposed to live up to such as strength and confidence, which are more behavioral characteristics. Women seem to be more trapped than men by societies standards because they are supposed to live up to standards dealing with beauty and size, which are more physical characteristics These specific guidelines have been set by society that are sometimes unattainable for a majority of women. The women that follow the specific criteria are greatly respected, and the ones that try and be innovative usually are criticized if not disliked.
Throughout the story, the different roles and expectations placed on men and women are given the spotlight, and the coming-of-age of two children is depicted in a way that can be related to by many women looking back on their own childhood. The narrator leaves behind her title of “child” and begins to take on a new role as a young, adolescent woman.
According to Carol Baileys article on Performance and the Gendered Body in Jamaica Kincaid 's ‘Girl’ “The poem is fictional representation of the double-edged tendencies which involves child-rearing practices in many Caribbean societies: as the mother provides guidelines for living, the moments of care are constantly weaken by the severity evident in what the mother actually saying and the fact that her daughter is lectured with little room for discussion” (Carol Bailey 106). The instructions in the poem “Girl” reveal an effective performance of gender roles assigned to women in the Caribbean societies which shows significant acts in domestic, social, and other spheres. Carol Bailey argues that the poem’s primary refrain, "this is how," demonstrate 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 conducts in the Caribbean is a setting where females are constantly aware of how their body is shaped
The story “Girl” takes the form of a series of lessons; the point of the lessons, according to the mother, is to teach her daughter to behave and act properly. Kincaid’s complicated relationship with her mother comes out in the mother-daughter dynamic in the story. The mother mentions practical and helpful advice that will help her daughter keep a house of her own someday and also how to have a life of her own. It can be argued that in Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” that the mother is loving towards her daughter because the mother is taking time to teaching her daughter how to be a woman, and because she wants to protect her in the future from society’s judgment.
From the Mid Century of the 1900’s to today, women have strived to be noticed and respected by society; and to be a part of a world with little confidence and many insecurities leads to wanting more and stepping out of the box that society builds to keep traditions alive.
Judith Butler used the term ‘girled’ to account for how society set up binary gender categories: “The doctor who receives the child and pronounces – ‘It’s a girl’ – begins that long string of interpellations by which the girl is transitively girled: gender is ritualistically repeated,whereby the repetition occasions both the risk of failure and the congealed effect of sedimentation” [2, 49]. From the early childhood, parents create specific discourse and label gender of girl by choosing appropriate to accepted norms of femininity body adornment such as cloth of particular feminine colors: “an infant in dressed in pink is commonly expected to be sweet, graceful and pretty”[6 ,91] and design, buying appropriate toys and decorating child with ‘girlish’ accessorizes. Adults respond to the female infant according created self-fulfilling prophecy and create atmosphere for development of girl in frames of feminine
In order to better understand the conflict, first we must define what conformity and self image are in the story “Boys and Girls”. Conformity is action in accordance with prevailing social standards, attitudes, and practices. In the time frame of the story, as well as through much of history, it was the social norm for women to be housemaids, and to rarely venture outside of the house to perform “man’s work”. The narrator however, has a different idea as to about how she wishes to live her life. She does not enjoy “work done in the kitchen” as she finds it tedious and “endless”. She does view the work of her father though as “ritualistically important” and far more interesting. This tomboy state of mind of the girl is part of her self image, defined as the idea, conception, or mental image one has of oneself. Upon reading the story, it is clear that her views come into direct conflict with her parent’s beliefs, and even mainstream society’s. While the protagonist’s self image of herself is a driving factor in the nature of her adventures and leisure, with enough outside pressure it can b...
middle of paper ... ... Doing so will win the daughter the respect from the community that her mother wants for her. “The slut you’re bent on becoming” and other variations of the line reoccur throughout the text and may be one of the seemingly obvious expressions that propounds the mother’s ramification with the system and illustrates her efforts to shape a daughter who performs her instructions appropriately. Works Cited Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber.
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
The protagonist in the story began to realize society’s views of her when her father introduced her to a salesman, while she was working outside, as his “new hired hand”. She was almost pleased until the salesman replied “I thought it was only a girl”. Even her grandmother bombarded her with commands, “Girls keep their knees together when they sit down.” And “Girls don’t slam doors like that.” The worst was when she asked a question and her grandmother answered “That’s none of a girl’s business.” Even after that, she continued to slam doors and sit awkwardly because she felt that it kept her free. In other words, she was not ready to accept and claim her gender identity.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” shows in society how a woman should be placed and what it means to be a woman. A women doesn’t question her partner, instead she is subservient to him. A woman’s duties include staying at home taking care of the children and cooking; while the man works and brings home the money. A feministic approach to Kincaid’s “Girl” points to the idea of the stereotypes that women can only be what they do in the home, they should only be pure and virtuous, and their main focus should be satisfying their husband.
Growing up is tough; hormones start kick in, your body experiences changes, and you may develop acne, get braces, and more. It can be a difficult transition with internal influencers like friends and family but even harder with external influencers like the media; TV, the Internet, and magazines. With 92% of teens reporting that they are online daily, it’s hard not to be influenced at such young and impressionable age (Lenhart, A. 2015). The gender issue that is of critical importance to American society is the effect of gender stereotypes and expectations on today’s youth. The reason why this is important is because these influencers can have harsh and lasting effects on young adults. It is vital to
middle of paper ... ... women know and think that if they don’t act or behave to their expectations they will. looked down upon and possibly neglected by their family and society. To avoid losing friends and family, most male and female, construct their own role in their life.