How Women Were Treated In Boys And Girls By Alice Munro

Before interment, the girl was a curious, active character but throughout the story, and her prolonged isolation, her self-identity and personality undergo many changes. For example, in the beginning when her mother reminds her they have to leave their home, taking only what they can carry in their arms, the girl declares, “ ‘I already know that’... She wore a white cotton frock with tiny blue anchors and her hair was pulled back in two tight braids. She tossed her books on the sofa and told the woman [her mother] that her teacher, Mr. Rutherford, had talked for an entire hour about prime numbers and coniferous trees” (12). This quote demonstrates how

Women were not paid equal wages as men were, and were also stereotyped to being the housewives and given jobs such as maids and babysitters, even though they were taking on professions that men previously

Women were taught to see men as more superior. Women also did not get to work in the jobs they wanted more than others. They got jobs that paid low such as a tailor. They were discriminated against severly and it was not right. Behavior of males has changed and the outlook on women has with it.

If you were born right now, this instant, at you’re present age without any knowledge about how women used to be treated, the assumption could be made that men and women are basically equal. Yes, men are a little stronger physically, but overall the two sexes are both equal. Things weren’t always so picturesque, though. Since people first settled here, on what is now the United States of America, women were thought of as inferior. Ever so slowly though, the men’s view on women began to change. The change started in the 1920’s but it was going slowly and needed a catalyst. World War II was that catalyst. So much so that women ended up participating in the rise of the United States to a global power.

Women were seen as weak. But as time had gone on more women were concerned about their education. Today there are women who have their degrees. They go to college get the education they deserve and need. Women have many more opportunities now that they have gotten the education that is required for certain jobs, most women can now actually work their dream job.

The girl distrusts her mother and believes her to be out of touch, while helping her father in "his real work" (468). Surprisingly, the girl's desire to avoid the manifestation of her femininity in womanly tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, influences her into feeling that her mother is "plotting now to get [her] to stay in the house [. . ]. and keep [her] from working for [her] father" (469). The girl chooses to dismiss her mother, thereby dismissing her own future role as a housewife.

In Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls,” our narrator is a young farm girl on the verge of puberty who is learning what it means to be a “girl.” The story shows the differing gender roles of boys and girls – specifically that women are the weaker, more emotional sex – by showing how the adults of the story expect the children to grow into their respective roles as a girl and a boy, and how the children grow up and ultimately begin to fulfill these roles, making the transition from being “children” to being “young adults.”

puberty bring with it a complex tradition of restrictions and behavioral guidelines. Kincaid’s poem reveals the rigidity and complexity of the social confines the girl is expected to operate underl. 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).The inane patriarchal society expects gender stereotypes to prevail. 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).

In “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid, the mother is warning her daughter about what to expect, and how to act, in society. The story represents a time when the daughter knew that her mother loved her enough to spend the time to give her the advice, but is also emotionally distant. I believe this to be representative of Kincaid’s life, and how after her brother’s were born she felt that her mother did not have enough time for her.

Furthermore, the protagonist continues to be unconventional by going against society’s expectations for women, once she truly realizes what it means to be a girl. This is shown through Flora fighting to avoid getting shot. Once Flora realizes her fate of being

In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls,” there is a time line in a young girl’s life when she leaves childhood and its freedoms behind to become a woman. The story depicts hardships in which the protagonist and her younger brother, Laird, experience in order to find their own rite of passage. The main character, who is nameless, faces difficulties and implications on her way to womanhood because of gender stereotyping. Initially, she tries to prevent her initiation into womanhood by resisting her parent’s efforts to make her more “lady-like”. The story ends with the girl socially positioned and accepted as a girl, which she accepts with some unease.

“Girl” is a short story in which the author, Jamaica Kincaid, unofficially presents the stereotypes of girls in the mid 1900s. Kincaid includes two major characters in the story “Girl”, they are the mother and the girl. Although the daughter only asks two questions in this story, she is the major character. The mother feels like her daughter is going in the wrong direction and not making the best decisions in her life. The whole story is basically the mother telling her daughter what affects her decisions will have in the future. The mother believes that because her daughter isn’t sitting, talking, cleaning, walking or singing correctly it will lead her to a path of destruction. “Girl” is a reflection of female sexuality, the power of family, and how family can help overcome future dangers.

In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls”, the author employs both plot and conflict to bring forth the strong yet one-sided relationship. Throughout the short story, the main character, Margaret, avoids at all costs the indoor chores her mother is tasked with, preferring to work on the farm with her father, “work done out of doors, and in my father's service, was ritualistically important.” (Munro p.4) The conflict between her and her mother only helped to push her closer to the other parent,

Even when she knew when they were going to put down her, she had no interest of seeing it happen again, however this time the horse had gotten away from her dad and was running for dear life towards the open gate. Her dad yells at her to run and close the gate, but instead of closing it she opens it widely and lets Flora escape, meanwhile, her brother saw everything. Her father quickly gets in the truck to track down the horse while her brother goes with them. Later on that night they come home with the meat in the truck and while eating her brother tells on her. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed she hides her face and silently agrees with her dad that she is just a girl. At the very end of this story is where the main character goes through coming of age, she realized in everyone’s eyes she would always be a girl. Someone who should be inside the house doing chores and canning food. This is a story that I can relate to, growing up I was a tomboy who was always outside helping my dad from yard work to welding. My grandma was always trying to get me to do chores inside, do my hair, make up and wear a dress. Often, she would tell me that I need to stop acting like a boy and start acting like a girl so I can grow old and get married to a nice young man. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenty’s that I started to dress more like a girl and wear

Throughout much of history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In the 1800s and early 1900s, women were not allowed to hold the same jobs or