Recently, I read a short story written by Jamaica Kincaid called "Girl." The narrator of this story is a mother and this mother is talking to her daughter. She is telling her daughter all of the rules about being a girl and how she should act and how she should live her life. She is telling her what to do and what not to do. When I first read this short story, I didn't really know how to interpret it. It just sounded like a mother who wanted to teach her daughter how to be a lady and wanted to raise her right. However, when I was able to discuss this story in a group with other people, my interpretation of the story changed. When I first read this, I read it with a very stern yet caring tone of a mother. When I read it again with a group, I picked up on a quite harsh tone coming from the mother and was able to pick up on things I didn't notice before. Starting on line 9 and 10 the mother says "On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming" and she repeats the "slut" part in lines 16 and 17 as well. I also noticed that the daughter isn't able to get a word in at all because the mother just keeps going on and on giving her this huge lecture about what girls are 'supposed' to do instead of simply just having a talk with her daughter. The mother keeps repeating the phrase "this is how" in the beginning of every sentence. This is when I realized that the tone of this story isn't just stern and caring but it is also very harsh. Her mother is practically calling her a slut. She is trying to tell her how to be lady because she thinks that if she doesn't then her daughter won't be able to find a good man on her own and have children because she's "so bent on becoming a slut."
How would you react if your mom gave you a lecture and was practically calling you a slut or any other demeaning name? Do you agree with the so called 'rules' that girls should follow?
i dont really agree with the rules that girls have to follow because i believe that girls should be who they want to be and of they want to be a hoe they can be a hoe.
ReplyDeleteBeing a girl myself I would get upset if my mother was to lecture at me on how to be a woman. As we have this so called view on how to be one we should also live our lives and be happy not worrying about your every move and reputation.
ReplyDeleteI totally was for the lecture that she gave her daughter, and how she delivered it because their is no one else who can let you know things like that if not your mom. I would thank my mom for showing me the different paths that i can take would still be my decision to make but at-least my mind is opened to all posibilies. Its not that you have to agree to the rules but be mindful that the world we are in has these perceptions of who you are based upon your actions that, many followed these rules and get looked at higher than those who do not the choice is yours on wether you care about how your looked at.
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