My initial thought after reading Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is how far society has evolved from the ideology of female inequality. The reading sets out with what seems to be a mother trying to educate her young daughter on the appropriate etiquette for a young lady to practice. The mother tells her daughter about the correct way to wash clothes, how to cook fish, insisting to walk like a lady and not like a slut, how to sew and set tables for various occasions and most importantly don’t associate with the wharf-rat boys! The reading addresses a variety of issues including gender, social class, culture and feminist criticism all through the dialogue from a mother to a daughter.
It is hard to evaluate the reading based on female’s from a male’s point of view with all of the involved aspects, because I am sure at times I am the perpetrator of the occasional accidental female criticism. Despite this I still strongly recognise the difference in Culture and society from the current day to the days of getting your wife or daughter to put your washing on a stone heap. Female members of the group discussion felt that the reading involved female criticism based on today’s societies beliefs and views. The reading depicts everything that a female had to do in a daily routine, devoting herself to housework, which the females of today found quite offensive. Intertextuality in the story line of Girl reminded me of renowned actress Julia Roberts, and her role as Girls College professor Katherine Watson in the motion picture Mona Lisa Smile. Julia’s character spent her time in the educational college trying to deter women of the 1950’s from conforming to the ideal housewife of the time period, Promoting educational excellence and knowledge over the duties of a typical housewife. The Ideology of the time period in the reading Girl is somewhat very similar to the ideology and portrayed in Mona Lisa Smile, that woman need to care for their families and husbands on a full time basis with no time or purpose for extra tertiary education.
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| 1950's Housewife |
It is obvious to see how the gender assumptions have changed over the years and it was a main thought that kept re entering my head after reading Girl. The household duties are no longer ascribed only for women and that it was rather selfish for men to expect to be waited upon by their wives. The Girl I believe was intended to show the etiquette of the time period or perhaps to portray the dominance of the mother figure and the control that she has over her daughter. However I feel as if I have to challenge the text as a reader who doesn’t agree with what is being laid down to the young female character. I can understand how the text would be considered offensive to female characters in todays society especially considering that everyday living costs are soaring through the roof and it is often essential for both men and women in the household to receive an income. After group discussion it is almost safe to say that I also feel offended as I know that I am just as capable of cooking myself a meal and hanging out the washing without the aid of a female. I am sure the author didn’t intend to create a reading in a vengeance against the female population but to perhaps show what the women do on a daily basis all in the name of family life. It’s very easy to forget that the article was originally written in 1978 and intended for a much older audience who would have grown up with the strict feministic duties of the 1940’s and 1950’s as a housewife, and in fact society has evolved a great deal since then making the reading much less appealing to a modern day audience.
Nonetheless the reading depicts a timeless era in our history, which cannot and will not be forgotten by the female or the male population. The reading will one day prove a vital resource in depicting the history of femininity all over the world, showing just how far things have come since the early 1900’s.
Mona Lisa Smile Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi882311449/
