Abstract

The present study explores how children fiction nuances the socialization of girls and boys in phallogocentric writings and societies. The teen-protagonists in children fiction highlight the prescribed socialization vis-a-vis the gender binary and contest against the overemphasized concept of girlhood and boyhood. The social prescription of how a girl and boy would behave essentializes their role in traditional patriarchal societies. They grow up as cultural beings and not as individuals. Simone de Beauvoir, a French Feminist Existentialist, jargonizes this socialization as 'the eternal feminine' in order to highlight the nature of gender binary in traditional patriarchal societies. Following this notion of de Beauvoir, this study deconstructs the socialization of children vis-a-vis their relationship with the discursive and non-discursive practices of a given culture. In this regard, this study delimited M-E Girard's Girl Mans Up to deconstruct the concept of 'the eternal feminine' by foregrounding the challenges of a teenage girl that she faces in order to subvert the prescribed gender binary of girlhood and boyhood vis-a-vis a prescribed social hierarchy.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.