In Praise Of My Young Husband Analysis

In order to be accepted in the current social society, you must follow a certain set of norms throughout life. Social norms are the unwritten rules on behavior that are expected and established opinions on what is appropriate and what is not. People who do not follow these instilled norms may be casted aside, judged, or suffer a consequence. Society’s expectations have dictated what normal human behavior is that people conform to as a way of life. These norms, however, are not set in stone, so they may be challenged. This act of defying social norms can be seen in the poem “Bedecked” by Victoria Redel, as she depicts her son breaking stereotypical gender norms in various ways. Similarly, in the poem “In Praise of My Young Husband” by Cathleen

In “Bedecked”, Redel raises attention about the different approaches to parenting in a situation when a parent’s son is more flamboyant than society would deem acceptable. Redel can handle the criticism and “other mothers looking”, but wanted none of it to change the purity of how her son “loves a beautiful thing not for what it means- / this way or that”(16-17). She ends her poem by asking readers if their “heart was ever once that brave”, for going against social norms and not confining to them (21-20). In addition to the older woman and younger man double standard, Calbert's “In Praise of My Young Husband” lists examples of the world’s different romances to note that there is not just one single type: “young lovers like to drink too much / and make a drunken, careless love, / why couples always cook so much” (19-22). Romance comes in all different forms and sizes, and Calbert understands that along with these she apprends why people fall in and out of love. Falling in love has a sense of vulnerability that requires taking risks that people are “willing to fail, / why we will still let ourselves fall in love,” in order to sustain real love. Calbert ends her poem with listing the romances with her husband and vows, “knowing nothing other than [their] love” because that is all that matters to her