Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid

 "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid is a fascinating poem that goes through the daily mind of a girl in the Caribbean. This poem goes one by one through her daily activities, and sometimes the narrator provides comments on why she must do some of the things that she does. She must do laundry, clean, cook, go into town, etc.. All of the commentary that she makes though is negative. It focuses on how she is trying not to be seen as a "Slut". I do find it interesting that this is her main concern while doing all of these activities. I find that this idea is prevalent in a bunch of the stories that we have read that focus on gender roles. The women in the story are always judged very harshly, and they are always seeking to have a more pure image so that they are not seen as dirty or undesirable.

    In the poem, the gender role of a Caribbean women is made very clear. They are to do the household chores and not lay around with other men. Their importance compared to the men of the story is explicitly stated when the poem reads, "This is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming". immediately the narrator points out that she has to act proper in front of men so that they do not think she is dirty or a "slut". To me, this outlines how men and women had different social instructions and worth during the earlier times, and it shows how wrong it os to judge women like that to the point where they have to think if they are being viewed as a "slut" all the time.