The Oppression Of Women In Boys And Girls By Alice Munro

Equality between men and women is not always accepted in society. In the previous era, men were seen as the person who had the rights to rule over others and who could work outside the home. But the woman was seen only as a woman from home, she had the responsibility of taking care of the children, doing all household chores and her opinion was never considered. In Alice Munro story “Boys and Girls “, the narrator of the story is a girl who lives on a fox farm with her parents and a younger brother but her character is seen between the conflict with society and her desires because the difference of role that plays each genre.

Society’s high expectations of females guide their everyday actions and decision making whether consciously or subconsciously. In Stephen Hinshaw’s essay “Impossible Expectations” he discusses what he calls the “Triple Bind” where girls are supposed to be good at both typical girl and guy things as well as conform to a specific set of standards created by society. These contradictory expectations shape girls’ lives and drive their decision making from what type of career they will pursue to how they dress. Hinshaw also explained that girls are supposed to fit a cookie cutter image portrayed by the media yet encouraged to break the mold at the same time,

In finding personal integrity, courage is a double edged blade as it can sustain integrity in certain circumstances and drive an individual further away in others. In Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls” the main character begins by developing a sense of personal integrity without external influence, but soon loses sight of herself as pressure from both herself and her society outpace her aspirations. As she grows older the values she placed in feats of daring is interchanged with misplaced rebellion as she attempts to fight her expectations and role in her family. Though she has courage in abundance for an untested child, the constant reproach and patronizing attitude of the people around her restricts her ability to flourish. In this text Munro suggests that well-employed courage is needed to sustain an already developed integrity, though it must act with some source of external support to succeed.

When we are adolescents we see the world through our parents' eyes.  We struggle to define ourselves within their world, or to even break away from their world.  Often, the birth of our "self" is defined in a moment of truth or a moment of heightened self-awareness that is the culmination of a group of events or the result of a life crisis or struggle.  In literature we refer to this birth of "self" as an epiphany.  Alice Munro writes in "Boys and Girls" about her own battle to define herself.  She is torn between the "inside" world of her mother and the "outside" world of her father.  In the beginning her father's world prevails, but by the finale, her mother's world invades her

Outside forces do not have any long-lasting influence on how someone perceives themself. This is a notion that some individuals may choose to believe. However, through the events of one story, we come to realize that the prior statement is false. The nameless protagonist of Boys and Girls (1964) showed that as people, we can be created as somebody other than ourselves at our core because we fall back on the opinions of people whose views we regard too highly. Canadian author Alice Munro’s short story displays how an individual’s identity and realization of self is molded by the prominent role adversity plays throughout the course of their life because the contrasting values and ideologies of those around them conflict with their own moral compass.

In Alice Munro’s short story, “Boys and Girls,” the narrator, a young girl growing up on a fox farm who is coming of age and is thus forced to conform to societies expectations of women. Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Boyle argue that, “Literary texts call into question many of our essentialist ideas about gender” (183) and Munro’s story is an example of how literature can help us question the validity of gender essentialist thought. In this essay, I will argue that Munro’s short story does challenge common essentialist views on gender by exploring the way that society constructs and imposes gender roles on her characters, particularly the young narrator; and by analyzing the symbolic relationship between the narrator and the mare named Flora.

Throughout Open Secrets, Alice Munro writes complex women characters that deal with heartbreak, loss, assault, and more. Some women flourish despite the restraints, while some struggle under their weight. Munro’s women also have to deal with the gender roles of their respective time periods.

People are shaped by the external forces that act upon them. They can choose whether or not to accept the pressure and conform to them or they can reject it altogether, further reinforcing their original traits. Sometimes these external forces are too substantial for the individual to handle and they have no choice but to conform and submit to these forces. In the short story “Boys and Girls”, written by Alice Munro the protagonist begins to discover that society plays an important role in the shaping of a one's character and personality. In her childhood, the protagonist exhibits a very unorthodox nature as she prefers to do manual labour alongside her father rather than residing in her house doing more domestic tasks. As the protagonist

Snow White is a fairy-tale known by many generations; it is a beloved Disney movie, and a princess favoured by many kids. But did you know the fairy-tale was made to teach young children, especially little girls, their duties in life? It also values beauty over knowledge, portrays women to be naive and incompetent, and assumes that women cannot understand anything other than common household chores. Throughout this criticism, I will be using the feminist lens to analyze the fairy-tale, Snow White, through the perspective of a feminist.

• Women struggle with their sense of self when they are expected to follow what society has established for them. o Societal standards can be the opposite of what one believes. By conforming to these standard, one’s true identity is altered. Quote: “But instead I heard a soft flannelly voice I barely recognized, saying, ‘I’d rather have you decide that.

Today, women have more rights than ever before, but the belief of male has resulted in a never ending convention toward women. This leads to predetermined thought from younger girls that they must become inferior. Clifford states in her article, “Children look first to their own parents for examples and inspiration, therefore when a child see their mother living a life of inequality, the cycle often continues as girls feel there is no alternative for themselves.” When younger girls see their mother or any woman submitting to the standard, they feel they must do the same. An effect on men is that they have to live up to the

her father tries to change who she is and force her into a gender role

Books, plays, and movies that depict culture and social life often make statements about social issues such as gender roles, racism, and class distinction. Stories set up a context in which characters relate, often representing “stock” characters chosen from society and placed in situations where their stereotypical behaviors—and sometimes their breaking of these stereotypes—are highlighted. As feminism became a popular movement in Western countries in general and the United States in particular, female voices were naturally heard through fictional characters. Social and political issues commonly fuel entertainment; feminism, racism, and classism—recurring themes in entertainment through the 20th Century and into the modern day—have

Feminist theory has been around for many years restricting women on how they behave, dress and even what jobs they are ‘allow’ to do. In the short story, “Boys and Girls”, Alice Munro portrays a young girl who is socially and psychologically undermined by her family and the sociality to show her readers how feminist theory took a toll on girls back in 1964 and still happening till this day.

Girl Up by Laura Bates is about a young lady Vaani, who is always been told to “wear longer skirts, avoid going out late at night and move in groups - never accept drinks from a stranger, and wear shoes you can run in more easily than heels”. Vaani is then fed up of all this and decides to change the views of people around her. Her mum isn’t supporting at first but then realizes that what she is doing is for the greater good. I will be writing about the main theme of gender inequality towards women and the relationship between Vaani and her mother.