Gender Role
Since time immemorial, the society has not been free from bias when identifying roles among individuals in the society. Gender insensitivity has been a common aspect in this criterion; this has held back the potential of individuals who fall victim to this injustice. All human beings have equal probability when it comes to achieving great things in life if their aptitude, ability and flair is nurtured and supported; unfortunately, the society discriminates against the weak, unlucky and the poor while it provides a good environment for the strong to expedite their talents. However, if the weak remain strong, they will always realize their visions. This thesis uses two poems “rite of passage” by Sharon Olds and “Cinderella” by Anne Sexton to elucidate better this point. ‘Rite of passage’ is a poem whose plot is in a house setting where a teenage boy has invited his friends and other guests for his night party. The poem highlights the various events that occur during the party; the most notable events involve competition and small fights, all of them resulting from perceptions about inferiority and pre-eminence. The writer takes the reader to a world where two young boys are scrambling for dominance with the distinguishing factor being their age; one seven year old boy thinks that supremacy is associated with age and hence intimidates his six-year old counterpart by predetermining that if they were to fight, he would dominate over him since he is older. This ordeal almost results into a fight until the host of the party, a thin boy, plays a witty trick on them by confirming to them that they can all kill a kid who is much younger than them. The two kids forget the incident, go back to the other kids and start playing.
Sharon Olds brings about the theme of talent and ability clearly by his description of the young boy who is the party host and then tying that to the strengths he possesses. Sharon’s description of the boy shows us a kid who is uniquely weak, body wise; he has no smooth cheeks like the other kids, has slender hands and a slender chest. The writer then surprises the reader by using this same boy who can be considered to be weak to come up with the solution of the issue at hand; the feeble boy comes up with a witty strategy to end the commotion while his physically strong counterparts sit back as they watch. Therefore, the writer proves that talent and abilities are separate entities from masculinity and femininity.
The second poem which is “Cinderella” by Anne Sexton also uses a different approach to prove the power of this thesis. Anne summarizes several stories in her preamble all exposing abilities of modest people. In her first example, she talks about a plumber with a large family who has a tendency of winning sweepstakes. The poet is quick to note the transition that takes place when the plumber, whose past involved toilet work, becomes a wealthy man.
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