“Don’t Need No Man”
In the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, the writer displays stereotypes for women, the expectations they need to meet, and the struggle between tradition and individuality. Women used to be expected to stay at home, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make the man of the house happy. Often, mothers would take their young girls out of school to teach them these household tasks. However, in today’s society, women get their own jobs and live their own life. Women are independent individuals, and can be on their own.
In “Girl”, Kincaid display how women were made to meet the expectations of that time period. Instead of getting a job and attending school, women would be found in the home, doing tasks that were made for a woman at that time. For example, the narrator of the story recalls being told “this is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease…” (Kincaid 17). More than this, girls were being taught how to clean, cook, host, and present themselves as ladies. When these girls were taken out of school at young ages, they lose their childhood and become what society expects of them. The girls become like every other woman in the world to meet their demands. …show more content…
Instead of writing it from a he said or she said form, the semi-colons help to display the ongoing list of expectations. Instead of suggesting what she should do, the mother is instructing her daughter on how to act like a lady, no matter if she likes it or not, by saying, “always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming…” (Kincaid 17). In today’s society, women and girls do not have a specific way of walking, and while acting like a lady is still common, it is not as frowned upon when a woman does not walk
In the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, the writer displays stereotypes for women, the expectations they need to meet, and the struggle between tradition and individuality. Women used to be expected to stay at home, take care of the children, cook, clean, and make the man of the house happy. Often, mothers would take their young girls out of school to teach them these household tasks. However, in today’s society, women get their own jobs and live their own life. Women are independent individuals, and can be on their own.
In “Girl”, Kincaid display how women were made to meet the expectations of that time period. Instead of getting a job and attending school, women would be found in the home, doing tasks that were made for a woman at that time. For example, the narrator of the story recalls being told “this is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease…” (Kincaid 17). More than this, girls were being taught how to clean, cook, host, and present themselves as ladies. When these girls were taken out of school at young ages, they lose their childhood and become what society expects of them. The girls become like every other woman in the world to meet their demands. …show more content…
Instead of writing it from a he said or she said form, the semi-colons help to display the ongoing list of expectations. Instead of suggesting what she should do, the mother is instructing her daughter on how to act like a lady, no matter if she likes it or not, by saying, “always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming…” (Kincaid 17). In today’s society, women and girls do not have a specific way of walking, and while acting like a lady is still common, it is not as frowned upon when a woman does not walk