Role of Domesticity
Jamaica Kincaid’s short story, “Girl,” draws
attention to the myriad of actions and behaviors that are expected of women in
a patriarchal society. A major theme in the piece is learning to fulfill
society’s expectations of women by perfecting domestic duties and suppressing
behaviors which do not align with the expectations demanded of them. The story
is told in one winding sentence in the form of a mainly one-sided conversation
between a mother and her daughter. The author’s use of one long sentence to
list all the expectations of women mirrors the lengthy and exhausting
requirements imposed upon women.
The girl’s mother begins her lecture by instructing
her daughter how to wash and sew clothes and how to prepare food; these
instructions reveal society’s expectation for women to concern themselves with
domestic duties. Not once in her lecture does the mother mention reading,
writing, or studying, so it is evident that women are expected to maintain the
home and never seek educational pursuits. With this in mind, women must rely on
a man to provide for them, so the girl’s mother teaches her both “how to bully
a man” and “how to love a man” (Kincaid 1726).
Women must know how to manipulate men in order to survive in a
patriarchal society because without men, women are essentially helpless.
The girl’s mother is quite concerned about her
daughter being perceived as a “slut” (1725) and warns her three separate times
to act like a lady instead of “the slut [she] is so bent on becoming” (1725).
The mother’s preoccupation with her daughter acting like a slut appears to be
rooted in the fact that one must be able to present herself as a lady in order
to thrive in society. Ladies are expected cook, sew, clean, and “smile to
someone [they] don’t like at all” (1726). In other words, women must always
give the appearance of being proper and polite, and they are expected to hide
their true feelings.
The major theme of society’s differing expectations of
boys are girls becomes apparent when the mother tells her daughter, “don’t
squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy” (1726). Although the girl in the
story is most likely a young adolescent, her mother is desperate to make sure
the girl learns to behave in ways which align with society’s expectations of
women. Written in 1978, the theme of women fulfilling the role of domesticity
is still relevant in today’s society, and mothers all over the world are faced
with the daunting task of raising their daughters to be able to survive in a
male-dominated society.
Work Cited
Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The Norton Anthology of
World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,
2013. 1725-1726. Print.
