Similarities Between 'Bad Boy And I Was A Skinny Tomboy Kid'

As Oscar Wilde once said “Be yourself; everyone is already taken”. This quote really reminds me of these two main characters. One was a boy who enjoyed reading but was always picked on and pushed to have a different interest because of his gender. And the other was a girl who was a tomboy and would dress as a boy to feel tough, strong and to show people she was a lone wolf because she never had someone there for her before. In the text “Bad boy” by Walter Dean Myers and “I was a Skinny Tomboy Kid” by Alma Luz Villanueva, both authors develop a theme of gender/gender identity through being alone all the time and being pushed to be something you're not, Walter wanted to keep is secrets of interest because they aren’t what boys do and Alma wanted

In the text “Bad Boy” the way they use repetition is to show how both boys and girls are always stereotyped and when boys wanted to do something that “girls do” it would be wrong. This connects to my theme of gender/gender roles because the way they kept repeating how different boys and girls were and the type of stereotypes they had based on their gender or gender identity. The author compared boys and girls a lot, also relating to his interest in reading and dancing. He showed how they were different and that they had to do specific things to not be bullied or be told that it's not your gender identity to do things like that. Also in the text of “I was a Skinny Tomboy Kid” it shows that the author uses repetition to show how she grew up dressing as a boy and wanting to feel free because she never had someone there for her when she needed it, and she knew her mother was helpless. The fact she always has her fist clenched. She wanted to feel tough and not helpless. Growing up taking care of yourself is hard when you're just a kid. So she wanted people to know that she was a lone wolf and so people think that she's tough and doesn’t need help. Both of these texts are similar because it connects to the theme about gender/gender roles. The authors make sure to show this by repetition. Gender/ Gender roles are shown also because both of the main characters show that they don’t want to be stereotyped. That's why this connects to my theme about genders/gender