Gender Norms In Boys And Girls, By Alice Munro

Furthermore, in “Boys and Girls,” the main character conforms to gender norms because she loses faith in her dream and defers her dream, preventing her full potential from emerging. She dreams of someone she could be one day, someone who has a better life than hers when she narrates, “Now for the time that remained to me… never did” (Munro 113). She dreams of being someone adventurous, courageous, strong, heroic, and brave, but is told instead her future is to become like her mother, who simply cooks and cleans. At first, she wants to break free from this, and prove herself to be worthy to her family by working hard. However, the people around her never see past her gender, as she is female. Her family and outsiders criticize her and force
Ironically, society says that “the sky's the limit,” but there are many obstacles that often prevent dreams from being achieved. For example, everyone has heard of Malala Yousafzai: the teenage girl that went to school, even if it meant risking her life and ignoring the death threats of the Taliban. Although she was shot in the head, she was rescued, and now resides in England where she is now an activist for education and the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate. However, there are thousands of cases where the dream of education is deferred. For example, a boy who lives on the Ivory Coast in Africa named Yacou wants to go to school, but cannot go because he is a child slave in the cocoa fields. His work consists of him cutting down cocoa pods with a machete, acquiring painful wounds in the process, and all he receives in return are meager scraps of food and tattered clothing. His dream of an education is deferred because he cannot achieve his dream as he doesn’t know how to leave this cruel circumstance: “‘I wish I could go to school. I want to read and write,’ he said. But Yacou hasn’t spent a single day in school, and he has no idea how to leave the farm” (CNN). In addition, he has no outside help, and was brought to this farm to work by his own mother, “my mother
One day during winter break, my father had gone to his ritual tennis lesson. After midnight went by, my siblings and I thought nothing of it, as he often stays afterwards to drink with his friends. A few hours later, my mother arrived and there were no signs of my father coming home. Suddenly, a piercing ringing came from our kitchen phone where we received the news that my father was in critical condition after suffering a heart attack. Eventually, the storm calmed, and it was time to decide what to do next. At one point, my parents came to the conclusion that I would have to quit viola lessons because of the fact that no one could drive me after school. At first, I didn’t realize the significance of this, as my playing skill was average for a couple of weeks after the incident. Over time, my viola playing ability deteriorated to the point where I would be lost during classes, and even performances. Although it took time, I mustered enough courage to take orchestra off of my schedule: I deferred my dream of playing in college. At the beginning of sophomore year, people would ask why I had quit, remarking that it would “look bad for college.” Comment after comment, my feeling of self-worth deteriorated, and the sense of failure grew increasingly hard to ignore. I had