Genders In Boys And Girls By Alice Munro

Every person born on this planet consists of three unique components, the physical body, the soul, and the spirit. It is these three entities that guide us through our entire lives. However, throughout human history these entities have been portrayed in vastly different spectacles. From the age-old tale “Faxelange” by Marquis de Sade, to the much more recent short story “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, the body is depicted in a profound and distinctive way. These stories show a trend in how society has viewed genders over the past few hundred years, as well as the evolution in the role that each gender “should” embrace. Thus, males and females have been seen as polar opposites of each other, as well as being seen as extremely comparable. Gender …show more content…
During the time that “Faxelange” was written, it was custom for female’s to stay home and take care of the family and for the male to be working and providing an income. Therefore, stories and plays were written to embellish the idea of a male “winning” a female. “Faxelange” clearly falls into this category, establishing Madame de Faxelange as the prize that is being fought for between Monsieur de Goe and Baron de Franlo. Meanwhile, the narrator in “Boys and Girls” is treated very similarly. She constantly struggles against societal norms that are put in place against girls. The narrator wants her family to treat her more like a boy, however the societal norms constantly restrict this from happening. She claims that she “hated the hot, dark kitchen in the summer” (Munro 117) but her father considered her useless because she was just a girl and he could just “wait till Laird gets bigger” (117) then he claims he would “have real help from a man”. In both short stories, boys are seen coming before girls. This is evident in “Faxelange” when Franlo gets Madame de Faxelange to leave her …show more content…
As defined by the dictionary a body is “the physical structure of a human being or animal, not including the head, limbs, and tail; trunk; torso.” (“Dictionary.com”) Conversely, these stories have demonstrated how bodies are able extend far past the physical realm. The spiritual and psychological bodies that are present have proved to be crucial in the escape of Madame de Faxelange, and critical to coming to terms with fulfilling a female role for the narrator of “Boys and Girls”. The body is more then just the physical framework of an individual, but it also extends and encompasses a vast array of an individual’s life far past what is visible with the naked