Britney Abreu

Writing for The Social Sciences

Paper #2

03/22/2023

 

Traditional Roles

 

          Traditional gender roles that placed women in the domestic sphere while men were expected to work outside of the home to support their families have been expected for the past years.  Kincaid’s reading revolves around the idea of these traditional role’s woman must complete to be seen as a respectful person. These roles were reinforced by cultural, religious, and societal norms that persisted for centuries and found a way to stick around. These duties were women’s work, and women were expected to prioritize them over any other pursuits. Women are expected to have a clean home, take care of the family and the family chores, and expected to behave a certain way. These traditions are expected to be brought from family traditions and the way they were taught to be when they have their own family and responsibility. Using Bechdel and Hooks as a critical lens, Kincaid teaches about gender by explaining the roles woman must keep up to be respected by men and seen as a “true” women prepared to be a wife and mother. 

             Historically, women were often expected to behave in a certain way in the presence of men. Kincaid presents the ideas on how females are raised to be around the presence of men. The idea of what’s the proper way to present yourself for men and what roles you have as the woman and wife of the house. Kincaid makes it clear how gender roles were presented in this family and what is expected from women. Being misunderstood and spoken upon in a matter that causes her mother to disrespect her. These expectations varied depending on the period and culture, but many societies held strict gender roles that prescribed certain behaviors for women and men. Women were expected to pursue chores at home and take care of the family while men were expected to work outside of the home and hunt food for their family. In many cultures, women were expected to be modest, demure, and submissive in the presence of men. They were often expected to dress modestly and not draw attention to themselves. Women were also often relegated to domestic roles such as cooking, cleaning, and raising children, while men were expected to be the breadwinners and providers for the family. We see this being talked about in the text “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid (pg 321), which states, “This is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t immediately recognize the slut I have warned you against becoming.” Women are limited in the way they can express themselves because they must keep up an image to be “respected” by men. We can say the mother wanted her to show herself off in public with respect and dignity when in public. In the past, there were often strict codes of dress that dictated what was considered proper for women to wear. Women from different social classes, ethnic backgrounds, and regions often faced different expectations for how they should dress, and these expectations could be used to reinforce existing power structures and inequalities. Women shouldn’t be expected to be dressed a certain way because it is respectful and to have a certain image of men.  

                 Men at the time were expected to be the source of income for the house, and the person to bring the meal for wives to make at home. Women were expected to create a safe home, comfortable home, and take care of the family. It was thought that women should stay at home and focus on domestic duties, such as caring for children and managing the household. Women were discouraged from pursuing careers outside of the home, and many faced significant social and economic barriers if they tried to do so. In the article, “Homeplace” by Bell Hooks (pg 384), “sexism delegates to females the task of creating and sustaining a home environment. It has been primarily the responsibility of black women to construct domestic households as spaces of car and nurturance in the face of the brutal harsh reality of racist oppression, of sexist domination.” This text relates to Kincaid because it’s a connection with what is expected from women when they’re home. Instead of women following their dreams, they had to stay home with all the responsibilities because the men could only be the pure bread winners. Women were forced to have the responsibility to make their home a comfortable and safe place for them to come back to. Women had to make sure their kids were taken care of and felt comfortable enough to have their home as a getaway from reality. They were expected to change how they act to make man see them in a different light and respectful and act “women like” when creating their homes including their family. Like Homeplace women were expected to let themselves fall back and worry about their man and family instead of making themselves better. 

              Women in Hollywood are based around men and their love stories. Women aren’t seen as the main character alone. Women in movies have often been depicted in stereotypical or limited roles, such as the love interest or the supportive friend. In Kincaid’s text the mother tends to speak on the male role that the women must complete to fulfil a man. The connection between the video The Bechdal Test and Girl is that and real life and in acting we see how females are always presented with men and never as their own person. They have always to be presented with a male figure never a strong independent woman. Woman have been put in the back burner which was proven on Girl and The Bechdal Test. Female characters may be sexualized or objectified, and their storylines may revolve around their relationships with men rather than their personal goals and ambitions. This can contribute to a larger cultural narrative that reinforces gender stereotypes and diminishes the role of women in society. In the video “The Bechdel Test” by No Film School (time point 0:03), they spoke on, in the 1980’s cartoonist Alison Bechdel saw a frustrating trend in pop culture most films only had a single female character and when there were multiple women in the film their storylines always revolved around men.” Some older pop films have been criticized for reinforcing negative gender stereotypes or objectifying women through the way they are portrayed on screen. This was reflective of the societal norms and gender roles prevalent at the time, which often minimized the agency and perspectives of women in many aspects of life.  

                 The way women have been treated over time has changed significantly. Women have historically faced significant discrimination, oppression, and limitations on their rights and opportunities in many societies around the world. However, throughout history, there have been many important movements and changes that have helped to improve the status and rights of women. Women had the duty of trying the keep up their homes as comfortable, neat, and safe as possible while the men had to work. While there is still work to be done to achieve full gender equality, it is important to recognize the considerable progress that has been made over time and to continue to work towards a more fair and just society for all.

Citations: 

1. 1. Hook, B. (n.d.). Libcom.org. Homeplace. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://files.libcom.org/files/hooks-reading-1.pdf 
2. 1. Kincaid, J. (1978, June 19). “girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid. The New Yorker. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/06/26/girl 
3. 1. YouTube. (2018). YouTube. The Bechdal Test Retrieved March 28, 2023, from The Bechdel Test – Everything You Need To Know