"Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

            Summary: This is advice and instruction from mother to daughter on etiquette, homemaking, and sexuality. Only two of the sentences are the daughter asking questions to defend herself. The mother is especially concerned with the daughter becoming a slut.  

            Problems: I think the only potential problem is the word "slut." If I was to be a teacher, it wouldn't be in Utah, so I doubt this would be an issue because that word is used frequently in high schools. However, if it was a problem, I would make sure that the parent or student understood that this word is used to point out the problems in rape culture, not to make the word more acceptable. Actually the opposite, this short story problematizes that word. 

            Purpose and Educational Significance: This short story focuses on feminist theory, and I feel it is a good story to begin our discussion on this topic because it is short and rather straightforward compared to some of the other works I have listed in this anthology.

Most importantly, I want this story to create a class discussion on how women are held responsible for upholding sexual morals more than men. In what kind of world should a woman’s sexuality be questioned by a baker in order to buy bread? However, as a lead up to this discussion, I want to discuss how women are expected to act in society. They are put on a stage, and this story is written almost like stage directions from mother to daughter. This begs the question: are appearances more important than reality?

I would also be interested to know what the students think of the tone of the short story. Since this is somewhat based upon the experience of the author, do they think this is an accurate interpretation of society’s expectations of women, or does it sound more like a teenage girl complaining of her nagging mother.

 

Antigua is a former British colony and a large tourist destination

But the people there, like Kincaid, live in poverty. 

For a list of discussion questions, click here.

                        For a discussion of themes, click here.

                        For an analysis on structure, click here.

                        Click here for a biography on Kincaid and context for the story.