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Gender Roles In Boys And Girls By Alice Munro

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Everyone can agree that males and females are born biologically different from one another, but there has been an extensive debate surrounding the development of stereotypical masculine and feminine gender roles within individuals. Some believe that the characteristics defined as gender roles occur naturally; however, others argue another point. One such piece of literate that argues this is Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls”. Munro’s critics have noted that she has a “commitment to the everyday lives of women [and she conducts] unflinching investigations into the by turns suffocating and satisfying world of the domestic,” (DeFalco 377). Munro continues to follows the same pattern with her short story “Boys and Girls”. In this story, the reader follows the narrator as she grows into a gendered adult as the process reveals influences on gender roles. …show more content…

These types of characters divide into three groups according to their impact or view into the process of establishing gender roles.
The first group of characters consists of external forces and includes the salesman and Henry Bailey. When the salesman comes to the family 's farm, he makes a comment about the narrator’s gender standing. The father induces his daughter (the narrator) as his “new hired …show more content…

Within the short story “Boys and Girls”, Munro utilizes character to provide views to support the idea that gender roles are not naturally produced but are instead created and enforced by the societal norms of the time. These characters are as follows: the salesman, Henry Bailey, the mother, the father, Laird, and the narrator herself. “Boys and Girls” provides the reader with a view of gender roles that can impact society by challenging how societal norms affect gender roles in

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Synthesis #1 Our concepts of gender are constructed by our biological characteristics and societal factors. In many societies, these concepts of gender, and the differences in men and women are rooted in tradition. The moment a child is born a kind of social construction begins. A child whether girl or boy will most likely be shown some behaviors on how they should behave according to their biological characteristics. Throughout history, we have seen the same stereotypes placed on gender, men should be strong and brave.

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Many critics agree on one fact about Canadian author Alice Munro: one of her most notable qualities in regards to her work is the distinct use of realism in her writing. Her writing provides a strong sense of familiarity to the reader, while also containing stronger metaphorical meanings that one can note when they begin to closely look at her work. Her short story “Boys and Girls” portrays the socialization of a young girl, once very close to her father and unaware of any sort of gender bias within her society, into a young woman with a pessimistic view of femininity and her expected position in society. This story shows the socialization process in a way that makes it easy to recognize, illustrating circumstances that the reader can notice the blatant sexism and misogyny; however, its portrayal is extremely realistic, allowing the reader to recall how oblivious they may have been in the past during times that they have been impacted by social biases in our world. Critics of Munro typically agree on her overall theme of femininity and coming of age in her writings; “Boys and Girls” emphasizes the ways in which young girls are socialized into a seemingly natural understanding of the sexist expectations and gender roles.

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Phrabakar and K. Venkat Satish (2011) said that, “Alice Munro is a forthright feminist fiction writer who uses the short story form as a medium to portray the sad conditions of women living in the landscape of small town, Ontario, Canada where she has been brought up and her stories voice woman’s feeling towards society from feminist perspective”. So, ‘Boys and Girls’ short story highlighted the issue of feminism the most in which at that time, society did not consider men and women are at the same level. In this story, the narrator is unnamed while his little brother is named Laird which means ‘land owner’. The name symbolized how the male child was superior in the parent’s eyes and in general. Along with that, the name also symbolizes the difference between the sexes when this story took place.

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This novel is also autobiographical. Throughout history, women have been locked in a struggle to free themselves from the borderline that separates and differentiate themselves from men. In many circles, it is agreed that the battleground for this struggle and fight exists in literature. In a

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Comparing Boys and Girls and Emma Watson’s speech for her HeForShe campaign Gender is not referred “to sex, but to this set of prescribed behavior,” as said by Marlene Goldman’s “Penning in the Bodies” (Goldman). There are many rules set upon an individual as to what is acceptable and what is not. The short story Boys and Girls by Alice Munro focuses on the implications the narrator had to endure on her journey to womanhood by reason of gender stereotypes. Emma Watson’s speech for the HeForShe campaign targets on abolishing gender inequality. Despite inequity, there is a myriad of comparable traits that are shared by humans which portrays our personality.

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