Girl and Great Falls All Cultures, Seemingly

Girl and Great Falls

All cultures, seemingly without exception, foster gender role differentiation. Codes of male vs. female behavior guide the way parents raise their children, the ways children relate to each other, and the way individuals view themselves. In many cases, sex-differentiated adult gender roles, social norms, and expectations are constructed painfully. The painful, chaotic, and even violent process by which gender role differentiation occurs is captured by both Jamaica Kincaid and Richard Ford in their respective short stories, "Girl," and "Great Falls." These short stories show how gender as a sociological phenomenon can disrupt inner peace and fracture the soul. In her terse tale "Girl," Jamaica Kincaid recounts her internalized authoritarian voices: a list of "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots" that have, for better or worse, constructed the narrator's sense of identity. In addition to the poignant impact of the narrator's internal dialogue, "Girl" shows how one woman was taught the behavioral norms of females. The short story starts with the telling phrase, "Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap," (Kincaid 476). Girls' chores consist mainly of laundering and kitchen duties. Moreover, the narrator describes the proper demeanor for a young woman: behaviors that prevent her from being perceived as a "slut." The tyrannical voice, which could easily be her mother's, grandmother's, aunt's, or mentor's, directly and unavoidably shapes the narrator's self-image. Similarly, in Ford's "Great Falls," Jackie's self-image is shaped by his same-sex role model, his father. Jackie's reticence and his inability to fathom his mother's behavior illustrate the great divide that separates male from female in any and all societies. Ford's "Great Falls" and Kincaid's "Girl" both represent the painful acquisition of sex-differentiated adult gender roles in three main ways: through parent-child interaction; through gender-based social rituals; and through sexuality.

Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" is more than a short story; it is a recollection of an authoritarian voice that has become internalized in the narrator's mind. The internalized voice is most likely the narrator's mother, although the voice could just as easily belong to any other female role model. "Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don't walk bareheaded in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil," (Kincaid 476). These are the things that girls do in the narrator's world. The language and diction that Kincaid employs, most notably the use of the imperative verb forms, demonstrates that "Girl" summarizes the rules and regulations that guide gender identity formation. These rules are formed by her culture and society and imparted to her by her female role model. Therefore, "Girl" demonstrates that gender identity formation occurs primarily through the acquisition of ideals and norms, ideals and norms that are imparted through parental figures.

The most salient feature of Kincaid's "Girl" is its description of mundane gender rituals. These rituals, which center on domestic chores like cooking, cleaning, and serving, show that the narrator's notion of female social roles centers on domestic chores and subservience. Her detailed description of how to properly launder clothes, how to "set a table for lunch," and how to sew all denote social rituals. Unlike religious rituals, the social rituals predict human relationships. When the rituals are performed as they are supposed to be according to instructions, no one will say a word. When the rituals are ignored, the individual risks exclusion, isolation, or ridicule. To ignore the rituals results in social stigma. Kincaid describes the social stigma mainly in terms of female sexuality and female sexual behavior.

Sexuality plays a major role in the gender identity formation of the narrator of "Girl." The word "slut" peppers the story, and the authoritarian voice tells the narrator how to act and how not to act in front of men. Proper behavior ensures that members of the opposite sex will view her as a decent lady, whereas improper behavior will cause her to be labeled a slut. Moreover, the authoritarian voice assumes that the narrator is "bent on becoming" a slut (477). The maternal voice almost preprograms the narrator to become a slut. Her sexual identity is formed through mixed messages. She is told she is "bent on becoming a slut," but she must fight that so-called urge with socially acceptable behavior.

Richard Ford describes gender role differentiation and social identity formation in similar ways as Kincaid, addressing the key issues of sexuality, gender role rituals, and parent-child conflict. In "Great Falls," Ford's protagonist Jackie tells the tale of his parent's break-up, of his mother's affair and his father's response to it. Through his eyes, the reader ascertains how Jackie develops his sense of self and especially his notion of male identity. While Kincaid focuses on female gender roles and norms, Ford focuses primarily on male gender roles and norms. However, the two authors simply broach the same subject from different perspectives.

More so than Kincaid does in "Girls," Ford focuses on the parent-child conflicts and parent-child relationships. The protagonist Jackie describes mainly his relationship with his father but he also recounts his relationship with his mother. Jackie also forms an attachment to the man who his mother has an affair with: a male role model who is like the alter-ego or counterforce to his father's role. Jackie and his father seem to get along great: they go hunting and fishing together and Jackie seems to spend a lot of time with his dad. Their bond is not openly emotional, however, as is evident in their reactions to the mother's affair. When Jackie meets Woody, he notices how masculine he appears, describing the veins and muscles in his arms in a way that he never did for his father. Jackie even goes so far as to say, "I wondered how I would ever get to be like him, since it didn't necessarily seem so bad a thing to be," (344). Jackie has two central male role models, unlike the narrator of "Girl," who has an indeterminate number of female role models.

Like Kincaid, Ford describes gender-based social rituals. In the case of "Great Falls," the protagonist describes typically male gender-based social rituals such as hunting, fishing, and working on airplanes. These male rituals characterize Jackie's father as well as his alter-ego, Woody. Through these male social rituals, Jackie forms his sense of self and realizes his differentiation from women. Because Jackie is male, he knows not what social rituals drive females, except for the fact that his mother tells him, "I like a domestic life, is all," (Ford 348). Jackie's response, a simple "I didn't see what she meant by that," demonstrates the great gender divide that is evident in "Great Falls" as much as it is in "Girl" (Ford 348).