Gender Roles In Munro's Boys And Girls By Alice Munro

In the middle 20th century, women and men were very different from today. The men were expected to do things that the women could not do. In Alice Munro’s story ̎ Boys and Girls ̎, the author shows the gender roles and expectations of the male and female characters. Munro shows the difference of the gender’s expected work. Also, she describes the communication between the narrator and the parents. The author describes the behavioural role expected from each gender. The male and female characters have different roles based on how the society judges them. First, the jobs of the men and the women are varied. The male characters are expected to work outside on the farm. The father, in Munro’s story, is seen as a hard- working man, labouring from early morning to sunset with hands full of dirt. In the ̎ Boys and Girls ̎ story by Alice Munro, the narrator explains the type of work her father does: ̎ My father was a fox farmer. That is, he raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was

In Alice Munro’s story ̎ Boys and Girls ̎ the relationship between the narrator and her father and mother is not the same. The author describes the communication between the narrator and her mom: ̎ In this he was quite different from my mother, who, if she was feeling cheerful, would tell me all sorts of things […] ̎ (Munro 155). This quote shows a motherly and sweet relationship between the narrator and her mother. On the other hand, the communication with the dad is less friendly: ̎ My father did not talk to me unless it was about the job we were doing ̎ (Munro 155). The narrator experiences the various roles with her parents. On the mother’s side, she is kind friendly, and cheerful, but the father’s relationship is only focused on the work. This type of communication shows how the male and female characters have different roles based on how the society judges