Mother-Daughter Dynamics and Gender Roles in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” Research Paper

Executive Summary

The problem of gender inequality and sex-based oppression has been dominating the global community for millennia, yet it has only comparatively recently entered the sociocultural discourse. In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl,” the issue of gender stereotypes and shifting attitudes toward gender roles is explored as the narrative unfolds, with the mother introducing the daughter to her understanding of femininity.

While the idea of a female protagonist subverting the gender-based expectations placed upon her sex is not new, Kincaid manages to introduce a refreshing perspective on the subject matter. By combining dialogue and symbolism as the means of reflecting character development and the dynamics between them, Kincaid conveys the complexity of mother-daughter relationships as a product of the generational gap in “Girl.”

Introduction

Demonstrating the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, one of the issues rarely examined in literature, represents a rather challenging task. However, Kincaid manages to dissect the problem with due tactfulness and nuance by integrating literary devices such as dialogue and symbolism. Remarkably, the former is particularly effective in portraying the generational gap, as it serves as a perfect shorthand for depicting the cultural differences between the generations represented by the mother and the daughter.

The mother tries so hard to ensure that her daughter follows the exact gender roles that the mother deems to be acceptable, while failing to notice that the specified perception of gender normativity is becoming obsolete. To prevent a girl from behaving in a manner that the mother considers inappropriate, she must be taught how to walk upright, wash her clothes, and be neat to attract men since she becomes a sexual being at the teenage stage (Kincaid 3). The relationship between a mother and her daughter must always be good and open.

When giving instructions, a mother should not be strict so that her daughter can be free to ask questions and give her suggestions. In turn, the dynamics of the dialogue indicate that the daughter consistently disregards her mother’s advice and chooses to subvert her expectations, adopting the exact behaviors against which her mother has warned her. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between mothers’ and daughters’ well-being and to emphasize the importance of a mother in a girl’s development.

Gender Socialization and Domestic Expectations

The girl is advised to adopt traditional gender roles, such as avoiding crouching to play marbles, which will help her bond with family life and ensure the comfort of the male in the family. Many people live in environments where access to water and electricity is difficult (Braziel 3). Due to poverty, individuals struggle to afford and maintain clothing, with women often being assigned the majority of household cleaning duties.

At puberty, the girl is supposed to soak her few clothes, meaning that she is now a sexual being who is supposed to wash her innerwear appropriately (Kincaid). The daughter is supposed to set aside Mondays for washing the white clothes and other attire on Tuesday. Washing clothes separately indicates the level of cleanness a girl is supposed to possess. The mother tells her daughter that cotton clothes are not supposed to have gum on them after washing due to the quality of their materials (Kincaid para. 1).

The protagonist is taught how to iron her father’s khaki shirt and trousers to remove the crease. Clothes, in this case, become a symbol of social status and moral superiority (Kincaid 4). The mother feels heavily tasked with the need to teach her daughter the importance of hiding the fundamental nature of things for survival.

Sexuality, Control, and Moral Surveillance

The parent has advised her daughter how to behave when being approached by a boy for sexual matters. The mother explains that, according to her perceptions of what a woman’s role is, “This is how you put a smile on a man you are interested in,” and “this is how you smile to a boy you are not attracted to” (Kincaid par. 3). She is instructed on controlling her smiles to pass a correct message to a gentleman of accepting or denying his requests.

The girl is taught how to fix a table for tea or food to show the importance of receiving visitors. These are the essentials in understanding a communal setting that is not much concerned with human recognition. Later in the story, the mother instructs her daughter on how to make drugs to terminate an unwanted pregnancy while the fetus is still in the stage of development. The abortion part is a theme throughout Kincaid’s narration and is associated with the reader’s mother trying to abandon her son Devon, a plan that was not successful (Kincaid 3). The girl is trained to spit out into the air without any side effects if she desires to. Transgressions are only allowed if they are used to hide abuses of sexual guidelines, resulting in communal isolation.

Cultural Traditions, Obeah, and Spiritual Beliefs

The mother clings to Obeah, an African-based structure that believes in witchcraft, sorcery, and magic powers, and acknowledges the power of curses to cause destruction or help in healing. Obeah is an entity that is revered for teaching children about insincerity and operation, rather than being beneficial to society (Kincaid 4). The girl is warned against collecting things that do not belong to her, such as flowers. The flowers may be spirits that might enter her, causing harm. She is instructed not to throw stones at blackbirds because they may not be real, but spirits.

The spirits may enter the girl, causing her to contract diseases or die. Medicine made by Obeah specialists can be used to cure colds and attract a man who is not interested in the girl. The mother instructs her daughter to walk like a confident and upright lady to attract men because she is a sexual being. At the same time, the mother instructs her girl not to talk to boys below her standards, whom she refers to as dwarf-rats, and must identify and value communal orders.

The daughter is warned against singing benna (traditional songs) in Sunday school. The girl is always instructed to squeeze the bread to ensure it is fresh. The mother gets to confront her daughter about the predictability of becoming a “slut,” following the girl’s question, despite all the precautions. When the girl positively asks, “But what if the baker will not let me feel the bread?” (Braziel 4).

The mother replies, “You mean to say that after all the pieces of advice, you are going to be the kind of woman whom the baker will not let near the bread?” (Braziel 4). The mother’s answer creates an all-inclusive world that the girl cannot run away from its rulings. An African-Caribbean traditional custom is also delivered through advice and instructions from mother to daughter about how food should be prepared.

Food, Clothing, and the Transmission of Communal Values

The girl is taught that pumpkin fritters should be cooked in scalding and sweet oil, and salt fish should be soaked overnight before being cooked the following day. The mother details how the girl should soak salt fish and sing benna, thus placing her in a restrictive environment of gender norms (Kincaid par. 1). Other food orientations, such as “this is how to make a bread pudding” and “this is how to make pepper pot,” propose strong sensual suggestions (Braziel 5).

Kincaid’s narrative emphasizes the importance of communal endurance, as mothers consistently nurture and ensure their existence through strong relationships and shared stories with their daughters. In this way, the female parent retains an inherited custom whereby social behaviors and abilities are restored from generation to generation and from mother to daughter.

Maternal Authority, Repetition, and Intergenerational Discipline

The supremacy of the mother’s words to enclose the girl within the harsh restrictions of her morals and prospects is most evident in how she views sexuality. The most astonishing thing is the power of the parents’ words to refer to the teenager as having “sluttish” sexuality, which must always be controlled and concealed. The mother instructs her daughter to maintain a neat kitchen, “this is how you sweep the house, and this is how you wash utensils” (Braziel 4). The mother offers her daughter a piece of advice that condemns conduct or trends the girl may not even be aware of.

The power of this condemnation of the girl’s sexuality, perhaps before it has even formed, comes partly from how the mother integrates references to sexuality into advice on even the most mundane tasks. The mother says, “This is how you should hem a dress when you see the edge coming down to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (Braziel, 16).

The repetition of the mother’s condemnation means that she wants her daughter to be the best: “this is how to behave in the presence of men who do not know you very well, and this way they will not recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming” (Kincaid, 3). Thus, the mother’s conduct towards the child may be considered tough, but it is true love. A mother is important in society because, without her, girls cannot be properly educated on how to become responsible wives and sexual beings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a mother’s role in society is to guide her daughter in becoming a responsible woman. The relationship between a mother and her daughter should always be open and honest. At the adolescent stage, a girl must be taught how to wash clothes and stay neat to become sexually attractive to men. A girl must be taught how to make delicious food and set a table to avoid being sluttish. During instructions given by a mother to her daughter, the girl must be given a chance to give her opinions.

Annotated Bibliography

Braziel, Jana Evans. “Kincaid, Jamaica.” The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction 1980–2020 1 2022: 1–5

To fully understand the scope and core nuances of Jamaica Kincaid’s writing, it is essential to examine the key aspects of her background and the relevant details of her biography. Braziel offers the specified opportunity by detailing Kincaid’s biography and providing essential insights into her journey. The main strength of Braziel’s analysis lies in the connections that she makes between Kincaid’s life and the cultural narrative in her stories, as well as the portrayal of cross-cultural relationships in her writing.

However, minor weaknesses of Braziel’s analysis can be found in the lack of a general overview of Kincaid’s life, as opposed to connecting the core events with her artistic development. Nevertheless, the specified biography was an essential source of information about Kincaid’s life and accomplishments. Therefore, it will serve as the foundation for understanding Kincaid’s journey in creating “Girl.”

Jamaica Kincaid. “Girl.” The First Story of the Collection. 1978: 1-4

As the core primary source for analysis, “Girl” represents essential reading that offers the reader crucial insights into mother-daughter relationships within the context of African American culture. The dual meaning of the relationships between the girl and her mother, as well as the girl’s representation at different stages of her development, is the core strength of the narrative. It allows exploring the relationships between a girl and a mother, both from a personal and a cultural perspective, embracing the specifics of familiar relationships in an African American community while also observing the interpersonal aspects thereof.

Thus, the connection between the mother and the daughter in the story allows for the exploration of cultural concepts of gender roles and perceptions, as well as the problem of the intergenerational gap and the resulting conflicts. Overall, the story effectively addresses multiple sociocultural issues sympathetically.