ipl-logo

Jamaica Kincaid Girl

1484 Words6 Pages

For generations, women have struggled to overcome the patriarchal societies that have held them down and stigmatized them. Unfortunately, these pressures transcend cultures and continue to this day. The experiences in “Girl” are a global phenomenon that affects girls regardless of who they are or where they come from. In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl”, the protagonist is repeatedly belittled as a calculated way of controlling her behavior. The girl faces a plethora of responsibilities at home, as well as societal expectations of her behavior in her faith-based community. However, the control of a patriarchal society is not limited to the shores of Antigua, where the story takes place. It is a commanding force globally where women, regardless …show more content…

This attitude results in the treatment of women as less than men and can be found just about anywhere. “Parental preference for male children in China and India has been well publicized, a prenatal preference for boys exists in the United States as well” (Atwood, Pg.24). However, it is especially prominent in smaller, less developed countries where the need for a head of household is greater. With that being said, the need for a dominating head of the household is not the only reason for the patriarchal society we see today. The desire to have a son rather than a daughter often ends up leaving daughters in emotional turmoil due to her parents (often times) clear-cut bias. Which is demonstrated in a variety of ways “parents treat daughters differently than sons: they criticize and interrupt daughters more than sons; restrict their independence more; react more negatively to their emerging sexuality; and assign them more household chores.” (Atwood, Pg.23) The daughters, who tend to lose their voice more easily than their male siblings, can be left with a great deal of unwanted responsibility, little confidence, direction or

Show More
Related

  • How Did Osama Bin Laden Impact On Society

    2336 Words  | 10 Pages

    To many in the West, it is seen as both misogynistic and dehumanizing for women, but in their culture, it is not only widely accepted, but also expected by most, if not all, households to uphold these

    Read More

  • Judith Ortiz Cofen's The Changeling

    912 Words  | 4 Pages

    The fate of a woman From the beginning of a girl's life she is told what she can and cannot do. In Judith Ortiz Cofen's “The Changeling” and in Mary Lady Chudleighs “To the Ladies” a young Spanish woman and a wealthy older woman resist society's restrictions on women. In “The Changeling” the narrator is a young Spanish girl who makes up a “game/” to try to gain her father's attention. She is jealous of all of the attention that her father shows her brother.

    Read More

  • Like Water For Chocolate Gender Roles

    1314 Words  | 6 Pages

    As a mother who grew up in a corrupt misogynistic household, my mother saw the worst of classic gender norms and expectations for women. Becoming an eager feminist, she always did her best to teach her two daughters to stray away from heteronormativity and live life out of the norm by standing up for themselves. The strength she gave my sister and me always lingers and makes us the strong, independent women we are today. Like my mother, many novels aim to draw attention toward female independence and strength, however, the novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel, is not one of them. Throughout the novel, classic gender roles and expectations such as submissive, obedience, and helplessness in women are exhibited by characters such as

    Read More

  • Jamaica Kincaid's Girl: Journal Analysis

    632 Words  | 3 Pages

    Week Journal #7 At the start of our class, I was deeply inspired with the TED video that we watched in week1. I was thinking about how do we often just assume something with our own perspective and own experiences. Also, me and my psychology professor were discussing about this problem or should I say, this tendency. This was very interesting project for me to study. I’m glad that I have encounter to this similar topic.

    Read More

  • Jamaica Kincaide's Girl

    316 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaide shows that the authority figure’s advice is having a negative impact because she’s forcing the girl to conform to social norms. Throughout the entire story the speaker is reading off a list of things the girl has to do. The only time the speaker brings up a fun topic she turns it into something negative when she says “don’t squat to play marbles- you are not a boy, you know;” This is telling the girl that she cannot have any fun because she is a girl. Telling girls to act in a certain manner can affect their self esteem in a negative way. When someone is forced to conform it is a rejection of individuality which leads to a lack of respect and appreciation for that person.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Down Girl The Logic Of Misogyny

    1025 Words  | 5 Pages

    This abuse of power to undercut women in positions of responsibility emphasizes the privilege of power that men continually pursue and demonstrates a blatant bias towards men and their authority. This later connects to the harm upheld against women, more importantly

    Read More

  • Sexism In Frankenstein Essay

    780 Words  | 4 Pages

    Patriarchy is the system engrained within our society that promotes men as the dominate and privileged group (Johnson, 6). While patriarchy is a system, sexism and misogyny are the two tools which enforce and benefit from that system. Sexism is defined as a personal prejudice, which reinforces male privilege in society (16). Though it is felt on a more individual level and effects women in different ways, sexism works on a larger scale to have women seen as the inferior and subordinate group (170).

    Read More

  • Family Based Tradition In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    199 Words  | 1 Pages

    Typically, society and family are the forerunners on what is believed by each new generation, leaving little room for change. Having a system based in tradition could, and most likely will, result in poor outcomes. Traditionally, women are seen as the weaker sex, the homemaker. This began to pose a problem when there became need for women to go out and find work in order to keep their families and themselves alive. Within the United States, immigration played a role in this.

    Read More

  • Social Inequality In America

    462 Words  | 2 Pages

    This past summer I spent a week at Dirigo Girls State, and while there I had the opportunity to meet many girls with very diverse backgrounds. The focus of the week was to learn and understand the workings of government, although ultimately that week showed me what it meant to truly accept others. Each speaker that week addressed, in some way, the ever growing problem of social inequality in America. While those speeches mostly pertained to the importance of our generation equalizing women’s rights in America, I realized their words carried deeper and broader meanings.

    Read More

  • ' Girl: An Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid's Girl

    1072 Words  | 5 Pages

    Molding of the Perfect Woman: An Analysis of Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” “…on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming…” (Kincaid, 320). This phrase accurately represents the point that is being made in this passage. In Jamaica Kincaid’s piece, “Girl”, her mother is giving her advice on how to be and act like a proper woman. Her mother describes everything from how to properly do laundry to how to set a table for all occasions (Kincaid, 3-4).

    Read More

  • Alicia Who Sees Mice Essay

    691 Words  | 3 Pages

    Growing up in a very traditional family I have experienced a patriarchal system in which my father is making the important decisions without consulting to the rest of the family. I also face pressure by my parents and the community to conform and become a housewife which requires learning how to cook properly and be submissive. I persistently defy my parents and what the communities see “best” for me by pouring all of my energy into education, which they do not support. This correlates to the vignette, “Alicia Who Sees Mice,” in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Throughout the essay, it will discuss the patriarchal system and societal expectations and it’s a detrimental effect to numerous of women in the book.

    Read More

  • Womanhood In Jamaica Kincaid's Girl

    158 Words  | 1 Pages

    Womanhood is something you don’t consider until it hits you- Laura Marling In the short story Girl; Jamaica Kincaid, paints a vibrant picture, of a young girl, who has just started her journey into an unknown world simply known as womanhood. Kincaid portrays a ‘mother’ character giving her daughter advice, drawing in the reader with “Wash the white clothes on Monday” (Kincaid 97). You get a sense of a mother who feels the need to start training up her daughter to become more of a woman and less of a girl, one that should “wash every day even if it is with your own spit” (Kincaid).

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing The Bloody Chamber And The World's Wife

    494 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oppression is prolonged cruelty against certain groups of people. In society today, it is clear that many females are still oppressed in western and non-western countries, whether this is by the media objectifying women or even through the gender pay gap. Angela Carter and Carol Ann Duffy are both writers who speak out on female oppression in their works. By subverting the stereo typical role of female characters, in their notable texts, Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” and Duffy’s “The World’s Wife”, both writers are known to have made bold statements about the new and improved role of women in modern day society of the late 20th century. This new and improved role of a woman includes being independent and not relying on the rescue of a man,

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Jamaicaaica Kincaid's Girl, By Jamaica Kincaid

    1130 Words  | 5 Pages

    As one can see, many mothers in today 's society would not be nearly as picky and constructive as the mother within "Girl" written by Jamaica Kincaid. Young girls almost always look up first to their mother for guidance and instruction on how to be a woman. Although the advice used in this story was used to help the young girl, it was also used to scold her as well. The mother 's strong belief in a woman having domestic knowledge is what drives her to preach the life lessons of a good woman to her daughter. It is through these lessons that she hopes for her daughter to be respected within her own home and by her community as well.

    Read More

  • Jamaica Kincaid The Lessons

    527 Words  | 3 Pages

    No matter how people learn lessons, they will stay with the person forever, and help them through life. In the short stories “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, there is lesson that a character will learn about life. Although, in “The Lesson”, the teaching was more profound and had a deeper meaning behind it, while “Girl” was a parent forcing instructions on a child in order for the child to learn how a woman is to live. This being said, the teaching is more profound in “The Lesson” than the one given in “Girl.” “Girl” is a short story that teaches that there are many lessons we learn throughout life from parents, or in this case, a single parent.

    Read More

More about Jamaica Kincaid Girl

Open Document