“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid
In poem “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid talks about a relationship between a mother and daughter. At
first of the poem, literally it seems like the mother who is very concerned about her daughter’s future
is just commanding her daughter with repetition of words. The poem “Girl” suggests that a mother is
giving guidance to her daughter on how to live right way and the societal expectations of a woman.
The main part of mother’s advice that is constantly repeated throughout the story is for the
daughter to shy away from being that person the society despises. Mom repeatedly gives her
daughter advice and counsel so as not to end up being the societal definition of a “slut”. During this
time, being a slut was frowned upon. There were multiple and different scenarios that could socially
define a girl as a slut. One of the mother’s first pieces of advice to her daughter is “walk like a lady”
(Kincaid 1) which expresses that the mother wants her daughter to walk in way that is deemed meek,
graceful and an embodiment of honor so as to math the expectations of society. She continues to say
that she should beautify and make her dressing more acceptable or appealing by hemming the edges
and also educates her on how to behave towards men. All these pieces of advice are doled out to
hopefully prevent her daughter from becoming someone whom society looks down upon and casts
away like a dead rose.
Social standards put pressure which is usually unnecessary on the human beings within that
society whether male or female creating stereotypes whether good or bad meanwhile there are
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different roles that each has to play. The author puts emphasis on a woman’s role. She is to see
herself as someone of very high costs and high integrity ready to guard her reputation at all cost
reputable as stated earlier. Mom also teaches about a woman’s expected responsibilities. The story
starts with the mother telling the daughter how to wash the clothes. She is meant to wash by color
coding, the white clothes on Monday and lay them on the stone heap to dry; wash the colored clothes
on Tuesday and put them on the clothes line to dry (Kincaid 1). It is seen that woman’s laundry
responsibilities are essential. The mother continues to list ironing, cooking, setting a table and the
manner she talks while conversing with members of the opposite gender. This list defines what a girl
was raised to do and what was expected of her. When one looks beyond the list that it describes the
expectations of woman when she became a wife. Hence, the mother is also giving advice on how her
daughter should act when married. A woman’s duty in the house, according to societal stereotypes
which is gradually fading away in today’s world, was to feed the family daily, deal with guests, and
ensure the needs and amenities needed in the house were met as well. It signifies that women are to
be responsible for their life and that of others around.
