Patricia Young Boys Poem Analysis

Patricia Young’s poem Boys is a representation of implied heteronormacy in society. Young uses tropes and schemes such as allusion, metaphors and irony to convey the ways in which heterosexuality is pushed onto children from a young age. Poetry such as Boys is a common and effective medium to draw attention to the way society produces heteronormativity through gendered discourses that are typically used to understand sex. Boys does an excellent job at drawing its readers to the conclusion that it is an ironic poem trying to emphasize the over-excessive ways in which we express heterosexuality in daily life.
Patricia Young’s poem talks about the ways girls want boys, or the ways girls should want boys, in a heteronormative society. Young uses

an allusion to the famous novel Don Quixote to cue the readers into the implication of heteronormativity, “the quixotic/hardcore guitar pluckers…/The sensitive/ Lotharios in blazing white gym gear,” (18-19, 29-30, Young.) The reference to Don Quixote, a stereotypically masculine figure, conveys the idea of adolescent boys as seductive beings luring women to them through simply existing as a boy. The idea that boys need to be charming and confident for the purpose of attracting girls is clearly displayed in the allusion to one of the most famous charming male characters in literature. A “womanizer” in literature and in life is typically the model for the ideal man in a heteronormative society; Don Quixote’s character does a perfect job in displaying this trope, and Young uses it ironically to display how our society has pushed these norms onto adolescents and shaped their views. The use of this allusion brings to light Young’s point: that society is based on reproduction, and because of this notion heterosexuality is normalized in society.

Metaphors have been one of the most useful devices in all literature, especially in poems.

The power behind a metaphor is an efficient way to convey the meaning to a reader, and Young uses this to her advantage near the end of her poem, “We were/obsessive, insufferable, chained ourselves/to them the way eco-warriors chain themselves/ to bulldozers and trees. What choice/did we have but to trap them/the way we’d once trapped frogs,/ducklings, other forms of innocent/ swamp life.” (59-66). Comparing young girls to “eco-warriors” and trappers of wildlife paints the image of clingy, possessive and controlling young women, which is a common stereotype among girls. The diction Young uses is a helpful way to bring to light the vicious cycle that occurs in the relationship between heterosexuality and stereotypes. Young uses this metaphor to bring attention to the way heteronormacy in society is so bold that it writes itself into stereotypes among girls and boys and how society perpetuates these stereotypes. Young’s metaphor adheres to heteronormativity by describing girls through stereotypes based off heterosexual

discourse.
One of the biggest identifiers of the underlying theme in this poem is the irony sprinkled throughout it.

Young uses the typical idea of heterosexuality being engrained into children from when they are born, producing the belief that heterosexuality is normal, and anything else is abnormal, at the end of her poem; “God help us, we were doomed/before we began, hard-wired to want/even the loudmouth punks/setting off firecrackers at dawn.” (69-72.) Through her last lines Young explores the idea that, right from birth, females are biologically meant to want males and vice versa. In a growing society where acceptance plays a key role in community, this last line is seen as an ironic statement meant to point out the contradiction in heteronormativity. Another example of irony is found earlier on in the poem, where the speaker of the poem asks “How dumb was that? To want the gritty/sex scene in them, the tryst, the future affair.” (43-44) Young plays on the old tradition of a wedding, where the purpose was reproduction which, in turn, meant heterosexual. Pointing out how dumb it is to want “the gritty/sex scene…, the tryst, the future affair” is alluding to the heteronormative system society has in place for relationships and marriage rather than a more open concept for those outside the heterosexual “norm.”
Patricia Young’s poem Boys is packed with literary devices used to convey the way heteronormacy is advocated in our society. She uses tropes and schemes such as allusion, metaphor

and irony throughout her poem to express this idea to the readers while also using them effectively to bring attention to the irony in heteronormativity in an accepting and developing new-world society.