In literature, the notion of \u201cwomanhood\u201d can be very dynamic.\u00a0 Oftentimes, a girl becomes a woman through a series of life-changing events, the common ones being getting her period for the first time and another losing her virginity.\u00a0 For Mala, this process and notion were thrown out of sorts when her mother left and her father began abusing her and Asha.\u00a0 Mala and her sister lacked a maternal figure, so Mala was obliged to become that figure, in more ways than one.\u00a0 Women, by a societal definition, perform certain roles and tasks, such as cleaning the house and pleasing the husband.\u00a0 Mala becomes a sort of perverted version of this where she is compelled to do household chores and answer her father\u2019s calls.\u00a0 While Mala\u2019s body is forced to perform the role of a woman, Mala is still a girl in her heart and mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time in her life Mala felt like a woman, a feeling both thrilling and frightening. She lifted her shoulders upright and her small breasts quietly announced themselves\u201d (Mootoo, 196).<\/p>\n
Mala feeling like a woman could have several implications; given that she references her breasts, it could mean that she is starting to feel comfortable with sexual attention when it is from someone she likes. \u00a0In addition, this could mean that she feels comfortable starting to defy her father, as he does not want Mala to form connections with anyone in town.\u00a0 In this way, being a woman would also mean being independent, as opposed to being obliged to work around the house and obey her father.\u00a0 Ambrose\u2019s return symbolizes Mala being able to transition into the role of a woman on her own terms instead of being compelled to perform this role.\u00a0 Consequentially, Mala\u2019s version of a \u201cwoman\u201d is different from the stereotypical notion of a woman, which is essentially a housewife, as Mala seems to equate womanhood with independence and comfort in her sexuality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In literature, the notion of \u201cwomanhood\u201d can be very dynamic.\u00a0 Oftentimes, a girl becomes a woman through a series of life-changing events, the common ones being getting her period for the first time and another losing her virginity.\u00a0 For Mala, this process and notion were thrown out of sorts when her mother left and her … Continue reading Man, I feel like a woman<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93618],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}