We live in a society where the dissimilarities between female and males are seen at birth. It begins innocently with the toddlers; girls get pink while boys get blue. The gap between boys and girls develops with time and becomes increasingly apparent. There still are gender stereotypes even today, but we live in the comfort that it is not as bad as it used to be long ago. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” is a perfect example of gender stereotypes. It contains gender concepts as cultural constructs in the period it was written, which compare to today’s events. The book gives us a list of commands from a mother to a daughter. Men in the society are dominant on the girl child, and the set of rules is a product of patriarchy whereby the mother and daughter appear as subordinates to the menfolk in their lives. The article opens our eyes to the prevailing masculine hierarchy that exists in a family, and how it creates firm gender roles for females in the society.
The stirrings of puberty bring with it a complex tradition of restrictions and behavioral guidelines. Kincaid’s poem reveals the rigidity and complexity of the social confines that enclose the girl child. A girl is an induction into the women community as well as an orientation into the act of womanhood (Walkerdine et. al.). The lectured instructions given to the silent girl child vary from the housekeeping, “this is how you sweep a whole house”, to dealing with intimate relationships, “this is how a man bullies you; …how to bully a man” to medicine, “this is how to make good medicine (to abort)” (Kincaid). This gender emphasis is a creation of the patriarchal society in which women and girls are part of. The mother is tasked to give her daughter instructions on how to be a good woman in the stereotyped society. The advice the mother gives to the daughter cements the gender stereotype and portrays limitations on a woman (Bailey and Carol 107).
Olonya Kempadoo’s Buxton Spice and Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’ give us an introduction to the women community and an alignment in the stereotypical womanhood performance. The instructions were given to the girl child mainly encompass domestic chores, but also include guidelines for moral conducts and social arrangements. The stereotypical role of women for several generations as depicted in the writings was raising children and taking care of the home. It was inappropriate for a woman to own property, work or vote (Walkerdine et. al.). Doing so was considered taking on masculine responsibility, and it was harshly scowled upon. Kincaid defines the stereotype that exists between girls and boys. We see in her text “don’t squat to play marbles-you are not a boy.” Girls had to be groomed delicately and adequately to the point that they were limited in the activities they could undertake, such as squatting to play marbles (Bailey and Carol 105).
The mother is the tool used to inflict the gender stereotypes on the daughter, and by so doing, she instills values in the girl child to maintain a respectable behavior. In the story, among the most outstanding pieces of advice, the mother gives her daughter is not to be a slut. Even in our society today, slut shaming is still very common (Walkerdine et. al.). The daughter in “Girl” is passed some puberty stages, which opens the doors of sexuality, but the mother is keen to keep it under lock and key. Females in this society are supposed to be pure, modest and proper. Clothes, just like manners, can conceal a girls desire to be a slut. The mother goes ahead to give a commentary on the manner in which her daughter walks. “on Sunday walk like a lady…not the slut… you are so bent on becoming” (Bailey and Carol 109). It suggests the idea that not being a slut underscores the mother’s concern about her daughter’s purity. Although the daughter is not behaving like a slut, her mother has the assumption that she is trying to be. In comparison with the present, the idea of becoming a slut is still scowled upon.
Sexuality is carefully concealed and guarded to uphold a respectable outlook. The mother symbolically links many tasks and objects to the topic of sexuality, for instance, squeezing bread before purchasing it. The constant emphasis on this theme portrays how much the mother needs to show her daughter that she is not a boy and that she should act in a manner that will earn her respect from the community (Walkerdine et. al.).
Focusing on the story, the mother educates her girl about how she would like her to be seen in the eyes of her peers. Girls in the society are taught by their mothers, who are trained by their mothers and so on, about the acceptable way of a woman in the community (Bailey and Carol 111). Not doing so or ignoring it would be amount to be labeled a ‘bad’ woman. Even though the mother's approach seems to be bullying, she prepares her daughter for wifely duties and to look attractive for the opposite sex, especially by grooming her well. For instance, when the girl asks whether the baker would allow her feel, the mother tells her, “you are going to be the kind of woman the baker won’t let near the bread?” (Kincaid). It seems evidently clear about the intentions the woman has for her daughter. The mother intends to have a daughter act and appear like a proper lady, not only in her eyes but also amongst her peers alike, not forgetting the future husband.
The text paints the picture that domestic knowledge will empower the girl as the head of the home and save her from promiscuity. It is believed that there exists two types of ladies, the ‘sluts’ and the respectable type (Walkerdine et. al.). For many Antiguan females, domestic knowledge generates productivity, which then earns respect from the family and the society alike. Household work in this context brings prestige and power to women (Bailey and Carol 120). We can recognize the admiration the mother has for the influence of domesticity due to the various instructions she gives her daughter. Domesticity is therefore used to bring respectability to the womenfolk since it upholds a woman’s sexual reputation in the community.
In conclusion, the cultural context that dominates the story shows the strict gender roles that women are compelled to submit to fit in the confines that men, who dominate the society have fashioned for the women to submit to. The text by Jamaican Kincaid shows the stereotype that is created in the manner in which mothers raise their children in this particular society. This gives us a recap of the social construction of gender roles in the community, and how parents deliver the tradition from generation to generation to ensure that the desired outcome is maintained. The outcome is a result of the mother figure working to ensure that the daughter figure survives in the society by appropriately performing the laid down gender roles.
Work Cited
Bailey, Carol. "Performance and the Gendered Body in Jamaica Kincaid's" Girl" and Oonya Kempadoo's Buxton Spice." Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism 10.2 (2010): 106-123.
Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. San Francisco Examiner, 1991.
Lee, Janet, Janet Lee, and Susan Maxine Shaw. Women worldwide: Transnational feminist perspectives on women. McGraw-Hill, 2011.
Walkerdine, Valerie, Helen Lucey, and June Melody. Growing up girl: Psycho-social explorations of gender and class. Palgrave, 2001.