Gender Stereotypes

"Boys should act like boys, and girls should act like girls." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? How does this statement, or statements like these, make you feel?

Are there defined gender roles in The Secret Life of Bees? I would say that there is a middle groud between the affirmative and the negative. On the negative side, jobs have no genders where it takes place. But on the affirmative side, there are some roles stereotypically played by women that are in the Secret Life of Bees.

Are there Defined Gender Roles

My first stand is that there are no gender roles. When you look at the people who work throughout the novel, you can see that the only discrimnation in job equality is between races. The police officers were men, the shopkeepers were men, the lawyers were men, and T-Ray had his own peach farm. But August also owns her own land and her business and June also works as a high school teacher teaching history and English, and playing music for the dying to comfort them. So job wise, they are not really any gender roles.

My last stand is that there are gender roles in the Secret Life of Bees. When paying attention to who plays the nurturing roles and the abusive roles, you can notice a pattern. Women usually played the nurturing roles in the book. For example, Rosaleen, August, and May. They give Lily the love she did not receive from her abusive father. Speaking of abuse, you can see that men usually play the abusive roles. For example Franklin Posey and T-Ray. Franklin Posey abuses Rosaleen and assualts her and T-ray abuses Lily.

Overall I would say that there is a middle ground between the affirmative and the negative of the question “Are there defined gender roles in The Secret Life of Bees?”

Tune in for the next blog :)