The Not So Secret Code Essay

During the time both short stories were written and where they were written, similar things were expected of women despite the time period difference. In the 1970’s in the Caribbean, women were expected to take care of the house and their families. In the 1890’s, women were not allowed to do anything and be their own people in any way as long as they were married. These are similar because in both periods, women were forced into being led around by others. In “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid, the story follows a mother giving her daughter a long strain of advice and tasks she needs to learn how to do. The advice she gives is important and teaches the girl life skills and lessons while also scolding her. This story also reflects the oppression of women during this era, being the late 1970’s. The girl's mother tells her what a girl must do in their society and what she mustn't do. She says to her, “this is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are other ways,” It shows how much is expected of a girl, from washing white clothing on Monday and

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.

In “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, we have a mother conveying important life advice to her daughter in order for her to adapt to cultural customs and most important to learn the rules of social behavior. Her mother's advice is not only intentionally told in order for her to become the proper antiguan woman she believes in raising, but is also told to criticize her actions and everyday doings. Her mother makes it very clear, in order to live a proper antiguan life, there are many rules that one must follow. With deeper interpretation of Kincaid’s work we come to the realization that her overall message suggests the idea that women as a whole should be domestic and should behave a certain way in our society in order to avoid being viewed as a promiscuous woman.

It is a continuous cycle of bias beliefs and stereotypical social roles. No one person is simply to blame. Every gender should be equal, a woman should be able to be masculine and feminine without being deemed unattractive; and a man should still be able to express his emotion, but still keep his masculinity without being looked at as weak.

Society has developed the gender role of women to be caretakers of their children and the household. In her poem “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid writes a short narrative of a mother giving her daughter advice about how to behave and her responsibilities as a woman. The mother tells her daughter how to do several of the traditional housewife’s duties, such as washing clothes, preparing meals, and cleaning the house. She also instructs her on how to behave when men are present. According to her, the daughter must smile to men she likes, dislikes, despises, and is unfamiliar with. The mother informs her daughter about abusive and

The short story “Girl” takes place on a island in the Caribbean. The female role was very important to the culture they were raised in. Each female had to prove to the people that they well worthy on becoming a women. The female are easily judge for their boys, the why they dressed, people were aware of all certain behaviors the women will show. The short story clearly warns on how a women should be, warns her how to behave, and dress like a women because its the role they were meant to carry.

Throughout life every man and woman fits into a specific gender role. We are told what is expected of men and women from birth until death. Many people influence our view of how we should act and what we should say such as our parents, friends, and even the media. Males and females play very different roles and these differences are apparent in our every day lives. These differences are not the same as they used to be. Society has changed the way it treats men and women over time.

In “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark”, the two shorts stories come out to have more similarities than it does with differences; in the manner of theme, narrative point of view and the plot. In “Girl”, a mother who simultaneously tells her daughter what she can do, what she cannot do and when she can do it in order to be the perfect lady while growing up in the Antiguan society. In “The Birth-Mark”, the main character Aylmer tries to change the way his wife Georgiana looks because of a “flaw”, a birthmark that is on her face in the shape of a hand. Kincaid’s and Hawthorne’s short stories both share a resemblance in theme with the contrast of gender and view, and plot; however, both of their short stories share a divergence in the narrative point of view.

In her story, Girl, Jamaica Kincaid points out many stereotypical roles of the average woman in the Caribbean. The roles that these defining roles that the women take on might seem rather explicit. They seem rather sexist and do not give women the power to depict what she can and cannot do herself. Nevertheless, Kincaid’s story gives these women the empowerment and freedom that so rightfully deserve. “this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so that they don’t have a crease; this is how you grow okra-far from the house…this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard” (43).

In a society where appearance is associated with who a person is and how they are viewed, stereotypes are formed for both genders. Women are supposed to be sensitive, caring and submissive. For instance if a woman chooses not to fit the status quo she would be labeled as “tomboy” or a “cross dress”. While men are to be providers, hard workers, and protectors unto others but if men fail to be seen as such they are considered to be homosexual or

Societies are made up of these unwritten rules that people are supposed to follow such as girls are supposed to wear makeup, boys are supposed to bring in the money for the family, women are supposed to tend house; there are so many of them and people do not even realize that we are following them. One of the biggest unwritten rules that society has to follow is that, from an early age, females are taught to like more feminine things and males are taught to like more masculine things. For example, girls are taught to like dolls the color pink and boys are taught to like monster trucks and the color blue. These rules are hard to notice but it is important that we start to write them down so we can see them and potentially see how harmful they could be. But before they are written down, they have to be noticed first.

Think of all the double standards, the slut-shaming, the rape culture, the hypersexualization of women in the media, the catcalling, and gender roles that are still prevailing today. Here are some double standards: men can boast about their sexual exploits and are dubbed as "players" or “studs” and their peers think highly of them, whereas if a woman did the same thing she would be labeled a "slut," "whore," "skank," etc. When a man takes charge he has “leadership ability,” whereas when a girl takes charge she’s “bossy.” When boys act loud and disorderly, adults will chuckle and say, “boys will be boys,” (an argument that carries the profoundly anti-male implication that we should expect bad behavior from boys and men and assumes that they are somehow incapable of acting appropriately, or treating girls and women with respect). Girls, on the other hand, are told that they need to act proper, quiet, docile, both manifestly by the adults around them and latently by their environment (particularly by the media). The media inconspicuously reinforces and creates a plethora of gender roles, in addition to hypersexualizing women and misrepresenting minorities. Think of the ads you see every day-- what does the body language of the men and women in the advertisements say? What does it subtly and unintentionally suggest? Think of how every single image of a woman you see in the media is photoshopped. Think of how unacceptable it is for a woman to be overweight, while

We are flooded with social conditions that teach us that we live in a world of duality: male and female; man and woman; ying and yang from the moment we are born. I kept my own culture and tradition when I raised my children. Unconsciously, we decorated bedroom pink for girls and blue for boys, we buy pretty dolls for girls and balls for boys; we praise girls for their pretty hair and elegance that while boys are commended for bravery, strong and their confidence. We guide them what activities that we felt comfortable with. Even though, we were more open minded than our parents, we still teach them gender bias and segregated.

You might think I’m over exaggerating this, but I promise I’m not. You probably think this is an abnormal topic to be writing my college essay on, but hey what even is the definition of normal. Gender norms are a branch of social norms and there are behavioral expectations around a person’s sex. There are multiple well-known gender stereotypes corresponding with masculine and feminine, which include that women wear dresses, men like cars, etc. In some cases not all of these are true. They are things that a substantial amount of people generally believe about women and men. Under some circumstances, some people are unaware that they have been biased,

We have adopted the idea that women, girls, men, & boys need to act a certain way in our society. We’ve learned these behaviors from our parents. They dress us up in certain types of clothing “made” for girls & boys. We are given toys that reflect our gender. Girls are given dolls, boys are given cars. Girls are supposed to be seen as sexy but fragile, while boys are supposed to be strong & masculine. Girls & boys can play into these roles though. Girl will dress provocatively & show off their bodies for male attention. Boys don’t show their emotions, because when they do, they are called “punks” or “wimps”.