"Girl" is a short fiction story written by Jamaica Kincaid which was published in 1978. Written around the time of second wave feminism, this piece was an attempt to bring to light the absurd norms that a women must follow to be deemed lady like in the eyes of society. The story is basically a mother constantly nagging her daughter and giving her chores with very specific instructions. The mother does this all in an attempt to keep her daughter from "becoming a slut". Kincaid does not put her concern in exact words, rather she paints this whole picture and leaves it to the society to find the error in its ways. To understand this whole concept or point of this piece better, "Third-Wave Feminism and the Defense of Choice" a paper written by R. Claire Snyder-Hall is a good reference. This paper talks about different ways in which women embraced feminism during the second and third wave feminism to overcome some of the social norms. It also discusses the problems with views related to second wave feminism and how third wave feminism fixed those problems. In context to "Girl", this article may help us figure out the writer's way to deal with feminism.

The story starts with the mother telling her daughter to do laundry, again with a bunch of specifications. She then tries to tech the girl how to properly walk and behave by telling her to not "walk bare-head in the hot sun"(Kincaid, 300), eat her food in a way that it wouldn't make "someone else's stomach turn" (Kincaid, 300),  and try to walk like a lady and not like the "slut" she is so bent on becoming. This right there is very problematic. What Kincaid makes one question here is that does the way one walk or eat make them a straight up slut? Does that make sense? The mother then goes on to tell her how to cook and housekeep. She tells her to "cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil" (Kincaid, 300), teaching her to sweep different parts of the house, iron her father's khaki shirt and pants so that they don't have a crease, how to set up a table for different meals, how to cook different dishes among other things.  She even teaches her to sew on buttons so that she would not turn out to look like a "slut". Her mother imposes a bunch of social restrictions. She expects her to not sing a particular song in church, not to talk to boys, not to "squat down" (Kincaid, 301), to play marbles or eat fruit on the street because apparently all these simple insignificant things were enough to kill her dignity. Her mother's teachings even include making medicines for everything ranging from a cold to an abortion and advice on how to deal with a man in her life. Towards the end, when her mother is telling her how to pick bread, the girl asks her mother what she was to do if the baker didn't let her touch the bread to which the mother replies, "you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" (Kincaid, 301). In the entire story, the girl is forcefully taught how to be what society wants to see her be. She is held up to these ridiculous standards that don't even make sense. She is told that if she doesn't act the way her mother advises her to act, she will become a "slut" which doesn't seem valid in the context it is used.

When we read "Third-Wave Feminism and the Defense of Choice", we get more acquainted with the whole concept of feminism. The article talks about how different women throughout the country used different ways to support feminism. Juliette Frette posed for Playboy and called herself a feminist; she said she found her own "buxom, blonde image" "sexy as hell." (Snyder-Hall, Third-Wave Feminism and the Defense of Choice, Para 1) While Laura Doyle said supported feminism in public but advocated "traditional gender roles" at home because they helped her feel "more feminine, and therefore more intimate." (Snyder-Hall, Third-Wave Feminism and the Defense of Choice, Para 1) .All sorts of women from different walk of life had their own take on feminism. Although most of them actually contributed towards the cause, making women look important and independent, some of them did the complete opposite. A lot of women used feminism as an excuse to force their ideas of feminism on other women, which was again the same as changing oneself to fit into a desirable category. Besides all these issues, the article states that feminism is about women making their own choices. It is about giving women the right to come up with their own idea of what is "feminine" instead of being forced to submit to what others think it is. Kincaid used this very concept as the basis of this story and that is what we are going to use to look at this text better. She shows us that the girl is being taught everything in a very precise manner, barring her from having her own opinions. If it was left to the girl to decide what makes her lady or a woman for that matter, it is definite that she wouldn't do almost all the things that she is being forced to learn and do. The author shows what a girl has to go through just to fit in, just to seem acceptable and tries to point out the irony of it all. The article helps us understand the deeper meaning of the text.

Jamaica Kincaid has been writing to support feminism for a very long and her work has had great impact. She has successfully brought to light hardships women face though her work and this story is one such example. Combining our knowledge from the article we have a completely new understanding of feminism. It is pretty evident that the whole idea of feminism is to let women make their own choices and not be judged. If society just stops imposing their unreal standards on women, it would evolve as a whole. Kincaid played her part in this movement and she did a good job. 

