Gender Essays - Gender Studies, Gender, Gender Role,

Gender English 112 section 096 March 29, 1999 An in Depth Analysis of Gender Relationships Throughout history and in all cultures the roles of males and females vary. Relating to the piece of literature Girl written by Jamaica Kincaid for the time, when women's roles were to work in the home. By examining gender roles, then one may better understand how women and men interact and how better to build relationships at home and in the world of business. At the time that this work was written, women mainly stayed at home and did housework while few of the very poorest households required the woman to work in an industrial job. Kincaid wrote of the specific roles and responsibilities that a mother would tell her daughter. By what she wrote, one can fully understand what was expected of a woman at that time and in that particular culture. The object of examining gender roles is to answer the question why should women and men be equal and Are there populations in which men and women are absolutely equal? Are there societies in which women dominate men? (Gender 238) By understanding the culture in which this piece of literature is written, the gender roles and the rules of behavior for a woman, then the relationships between genders can be realized. The general myth about women and their gender role in the American society is that the mother works in the home and supports her man in every way. For each relationship, the people in that relationship must decide the particular roles that they will play. In the literary work Girl, Kincaid shows clearly that the woman's role in this work was to serve the family and to work mainly in the house. The mother writing this story tells her daughter that this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease (Kincaid 489). In this marriage, it is understood that the wife is to do the laundry for the husband. Today's society does not always provide these clear roles since many women work a full time job and the house chores are a responsibility for both to handle. Though the woman is still mainly held responsible for the home. There should be a constant search for equality in gender roles. Kincaid explains how the man is working to bring home the money and the wife supports his work. By her ironing his khaki shirt, he is better prepared for work to support his family. Though men and women are supposedly equal, the roles they must play in a particular relationship may be unequal. Even though this work does not show a conflict, the girl to whom the mother is speaking may have a conflict with her husband by the time she is married. This mother also may have an internal conflict that is not revealed in the work. Meaning that she may hold in problems that she has with the relationship because women were not supposed to reveal their feelings. Women are usually the ones who are more open in a relationship, but at this time in history women were to keep quiet in relationships (Gender 238). The conflict that will be revealed in the future is the desire to have the status that is already gained by men. One can understand that men already have a status since the world of business is geared for typical male roles. That is apparent by how many of the mainstream blue-collar jobs and management positions are held by men. The girl to whom this mother is speaking must make sure that she seeks to make a name for herself and to help other women gain status. This is stated in Humanity: Gender: If so, then modern feminists will need to work to alter this key factor, and in the long term our societies will develop greater equality between the sexes (Gender 238). Since the purpose of examining gender roles is to create equality, then the conflict is that both sexes are trying to make their particular roles closer to equal than they were before. In this piece of literature, the mother speaks directly to her daughter telling her what she is to do in order