Power Through Gender in Boys Anf Girls

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Gender Roles and Actions A world with inequality is an unjust world with constricted individualism. This realism exists in the short story, “Boys and Girls” written by Alice Munro where the narrator is battling against society’s tough pressure of gender inequality. In the person vs. society theme of “Boys and Girls”, the names of the characters also play a symbolic role with their actions and also their role in society. Characters such as Laird, the Horses, Mack and Flora, the narrator’s grandma and her two parents all contribute to society’s unequal pressure by conforming to it and this trend continues once the narrator fights back. Men and Women both have their respective stereotypes. Men are known to have the aggressive, masculine, ruthless personalities while women are known to have the blooming, emotional, caring traits. While men are anticipated to be the dirty workers by going out and bringing home the food, doing the physical chores for the house, women are projected to be at home preparing the food and cleaning the house. This expected stereotyping plays in Munro’s story with the narrator’s parents being exactly on opposite ends of the spectrum. The narrator quickly breaks these stereotypes by identifying with her father early on in the story. By identifying with her father, the girl sturdily becomes accepting of his actions around the house. “The smell of blood and animal fat… like the smell of oranges and pine needles.”(“Boys and Girls”, 112) Before even mentioning the existence of her mother, the narrator predominately talks about how remarkable and essential her father is. Accordingly to the girl, the smell of blood and animal fat like the smell of oranges and pines symbolizes her comfort level with the aggressive male emotion. Thus, her identification with the opposite sex provokes a conflict for the girl and the rest of her family. The girl
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