Gender Discrimination in Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

Children are more prone to be obedient towards their parental figures (heteronomous obedience) while growing up. In the short story â€Å"Boys and Girls† by Alice Munro, life during the twentieth century is portrayed. The narrator, who has portrayed herself as a nameless young girl, struggles for freedom from inequality in her society. The disobedience in â€Å"Boys and Girls† is clarified in Erich Fromm’s essay, â€Å"Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem (DPMP).† The narrator of â€Å"Boys and Girls† goes through different phases of obedience due to her â€Å"authoritarian and humanistic conscience† (Fromm 10). Also, by being disobedient she has control of her own authorities. â€Å"Humanistic conscience† stops her from doing something inhuman and or from being guilty; it’s the inner voice. As well as her comfort levels and the changes of her obedience impact her much to her surprise. The young girl is well aware o f what happens around her and is disobedient because of her â€Å"humanistic conscience†, which has her in a battle against gender binary and stereotypes. The girl is young; she has no place to go, so therefore doesn’t really have the option to disobey her parents. The little girl is obedient to her parents when they are around. She does what she is told to and helps her parents by doing some work at home. The girl â€Å"helped her father [work outside] when he cut the long grass, and the lamb’s quarter† and also helped â€Å"[carry] water† (Munro). The girl valued her father more than herShow MoreRelatedGender Roles : Alice Munro s Boys And Girls 1051 Words   |  5 PagesGender Roles In Alice Munro’s â€Å"Boys and Girls†, the story is focused on a working class family who lives on a farm. A man’s role on the farm or in general is to work for the family and do the heavy work that a woman wouldn’t be able to do. The daughter in the story is very much inspired by the father and wishes to pursue in the activities that are being performed around the farm. The mother needs help around the house and that was the role many females took over for many centuries and generationsRead MoreGender Inequality : A Long Journey Ahead1214 Words   |  5 PagesGender Inequality refers to unequal treatment (or) perception of individual based on their gender. A system that advantages men over women in material, resources, power, status and authority has been continuing in one form or the other. It has been a taboo for centuries now which restricts women, access to basic opportunities, resources. Throughout the world, women continue to face inequality in a ll the spheres of life. Various workgroups, social institutions, organizations has been setup, schemesRead MoreThe Inequality Between Gender Roles1280 Words   |  6 Pagesto recognize the roles between male and female figures in a household. These traditional roles I was familiar with were not satisfying, but overtime I was able to embrace new beliefs about how I wanted a female to be seen as. The inequality between gender roles in society was something I was very intrigued by because it was the first time in my life that I began to fight for something I believed to be so important. While many challenged my beliefs and discouraged them, my outlook on it only grew stronger