FREE ESSAY ON GENDER

GENDER

English 112 section 096
March 29, 1999
An in Depth Analysis of Gender Relationships
Throughout history and in all cultures the roles of males and females vary. Relating to
the piece of literature Girl written by Jamaica Kincaid for the time, when women's roles
were to work in the home. By examining gender roles, then one may better understand how
women and men interact and how better to build relationships at home and in the world of
business. At the time that this work was written, women mainly stayed at home and did
housework while few of the very poorest households required the woman to work in an
industrial job. Kincaid wrote of the specific roles and responsibilities that a mother
would tell her daughter. By what she wrote, one can fully understand what was expected of
a woman at that time and in that particular culture.
The object of examining gender roles is to answer the question why should women and men
be equal and Are there populations in which men and women are absolutely equal? Are there
societies in which women dominate men? (Gender 238) By understanding the culture in which
this piece of literature is written, the gender roles and the rules of behavior for a
woman, then the relationships between genders can be realized. 
The general myth about women and their gender role in the American society is that the
mother works in the home and supports her man in every way. For each relationship, the
people in that relationship must decide the particular roles that they will play.
In the literary work Girl, Kincaid shows clearly that the woman's role in this work was
to serve the family and to work mainly in the house. The mother writing this story tells
her daughter that this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have
a crease (Kincaid 489). In this marriage, it is understood that the wife is to do the
laundry for the husband. Today's society does not always provide these clear roles since
many women work a full time job and the house chores are a responsibility for both to
handle. Though the woman is still mainly held responsible for the home. There should be a
constant search for equality in gender roles. Kincaid explains how the man is working to
bring home the money and the wife supports his work. By her ironing his khaki shirt, he
is better prepared for work to support his family. Though men and women are supposedly
equal, the roles they must play in a particular relationship may be unequal. 
Even though this work does not show a conflict, the girl to whom the mother is speaking
may have a conflict with her husband by the time she is married. This mother also may
have an internal conflict that is not revealed in the work. Meaning that she may hold in
problems that she has with the relationship because women were not supposed to reveal
their feelings. Women are usually the ones who are more open in a relationship, but at
this time in history women were to keep quiet in relationships (Gender 238). 
The conflict that will be revealed in the future is the desire to have the status that is
already gained by men. One can understand that men already have a status since the world
of business is geared for typical male roles. That is apparent by how many of the
mainstream blue-collar jobs and management positions are held by men. The girl to whom
this mother is speaking must make sure that she seeks to make a name for herself and to
help other women gain status. This is stated in Humanity: Gender: 
If so, then modern feminists will need to work to alter this key factor, and in the long
term our societies will develop greater equality between the sexes (Gender 238).
Since the purpose of examining gender roles is to create equality, then the conflict is
that both sexes are trying to make their particular roles closer to equal than they were
before. 
In this piece of literature, the mother speaks directly to her daughter telling her what
she is to do in order to become a lady. There are many allusions in the literary work
citing how the daughter should act in society. Examples are this is how to hem a dress
when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I
know you are so bent on becoming; and this is how you sweep a yard (Kincaid 489). Each
culture has specific ways in which people of a specific gender should act. This culture
teaches women to make themselves pure and to work diligently for the family. Particularly
in the American society, women are taught to make themselves look feminine and to act in
a way that keeps them from appearing as a whore or slut. If a father in this culture were
to use the same format as this piece then he would write of how to mow the yard and how
to take care of the family. This way of teaching children is very essential for a child
to fully grow and become an as effective person as their parents or even better. After
all, for a mother and father their most important value to teach their children is to
become a better person. In becoming a better person, children should grow up to better
understand the opposite sex and work to have better working relationships.
Culture reveals the aspects of gender roles and the reasons for why these roles are the
way they are and how they are shaped to be this way. In this work, the mother speaking to
her daughter relates how she is subordinate to her husband and how the daughter is
expected to support her husband. Even though the woman does the housework, women and men
together caused this cultural norm. In order for women to gain more independence, then
women must take action. This action that will be taken will cause conflict in the future
for this daughter. Men will not be able to accept those changes easily but must be taken
for there to be equality or at least a better understanding among the sexes. Finally,
gender roles are directly related to how a parent teaches his son or her daughter how to
follow or change the gender roles. 
Bibliography
Humanity: Gender Coursepack. Ed. Amy Gantt. Raleigh: NCSU, 1999.
Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. Literature for Composition. 4th Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al New
York: Harper Collins, 1996