The question of defining one’s gender has long been an issue. Contrary to the modern biological reduction that purports itself to be self-evident, people across the millennia have found different ways of being male or female. As always, art has been one of the greatest ways culture has had to depict this. Particularly, the lead young female characters in two short stories by women authors in the twentieth century will allow the reader to see one precise way of construction of the female gender, and the male one by subtraction. In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” and Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party” one can see gender as a product of space, especially through the eyes of the two young female protagonists.
In the first of these tales, the narrator describes an incident that occurred to her when she was a little girl. Her father had a fox farm, something that he evidently reserved for the male gender; his son was a part of these rituals, yet the little girl did not partake in these actions, even though she was allowed to watch, with fascination. Even from the title of Munro’s short story one can see that there will be a clear division between the two genders. Nevertheless, one always sees the protagonist fighting against her roles as a woman, for example, by siting awkwardly and slamming doors shut, until the end, when she seems to accept this social convention. Her brother did help their father in many respects when dealing with the foxes, yet the narrator was relegated to carrying water and doing various forms of yard work. She attempts to do boyish activities, such as shooting and riding horses, attempting to emulate her own stories, yet failing miserably.
Even though she does not openly say it, one can infer that the actual place where foxes were held was off limits to women, making it a place for the male gender. “Nobody but my father ever went into the pens, and he had twice had blood-poisoning from the bites” (Munro 3). Even though the little girl says that nobody went in there, it would have been illogical for the children to do so. Thus, what one can read there is that her mother was not allowed in there, that is to say, women. The narrator attempts to fight this, looking at the fox trade with allure, yet one could easily conclude that she also gives this up when she finally understands that she is just a girl, as seen in the last line. This obviously means that she understood that the fox pen was not for her, but the house was.
Likewise, Mansfield’s “The Garden Party” also establishes the feminine through setting with regards to its female lead, Laura. Here, there are very few male characters, and the most significant one is dead. In fact, this is the very fact that gives dramatic gravitas to the tale, as the young female protagonist reacts to this happening. First, Laura is astonished; then, she insists that the party in the garden, her female space, should be postponed due to what happened to him. Finally, she goes to see him, finding him handsome, yet learning about life and maturing.
The garden seems to be a privileged place for the women, and it is full of feminine symbols, including flowers. Here, the women even get to exert their social class roles instead of the gender ones, as they can boss around workmen. In this tale one can also see the young feminine lead character, Laura, question gender roles and stereotypes. She says that they should “Stop the garden-party, of course” (Mansfield 7), allowing the male order to interrupt the feminine delight. Furthermore, she constantly questions herself about the appropriateness of what she is doing with regards to the workers. This may be seen when one of the men comment on the color of her cheeks, something that she does not quite know how to handle.
In conclusion, setting allows for the construction of the feminine in both of these tales. Be it through the exclusion of a fox pen or the inclusion of a garden, the role of women is defined with respect to geography. It is interesting to see the limits of sexual division projected into everyday space.
Works Cited
Munro, Alice. (1964). “Boys and Girls.” e-Notes. PDF.
Mansfield, Katherine. (1921). “The Garden Party.” The Katherine Mansfield Society. PDF.
