Gender in Baker & Serin

    For me, "Losing Shawn, Losing Me" and "Some Family Stories" were the most engaging pieces for me. Both Baker and Serin's pieces dealt with the complexity of gender roles in different yet similar fashions.

     "Losing Shawn, Losing Me" focuses on several topics, but one that really caught my attention was the taboo surrounding unwed motherhood and how it impacted a young woman's overall image. Baker was going through a rough time in this period of her life; having to give up her son even though she didn't want to and dealing with the consequences of her pregnancy. The father of Shawn is never really mentioned in this piece, and the focus of the piece is on Baker and her struggle with her forced choice of adoption. The exclusion of Shawn's father's identity basically erases his responsibility and presence in Baker's life, and also pays more attention to the sexism surrounding Baker's pregnancy.

       Based off of Baker's piece and my own prior knowledge of unwed mothers, I can gather that Baker's pregnancy was considered to be a fault of hers, and not the father's. The unwed mothers were the ones who were called "the bad girls" and it was often ingrained in the minds of young women everywhere that "good girls" did not get pregnant out of wedlock. Throughout Baker's whole piece, the readers do not hear any sort of blame or reproach towards Shawn's father, and even Baker herself does not place any blame on him, even though he is certainly responsible for the painful decision she is forced to make. Baker's reputation is threatened, something that is seen as very undesirable by her and other parties, but there is no mention of the father's reputation being in danger because he got her pregnant.

    The stigma of unwed mothers at this time also had to do with the repression of female sexuality. Sex before marriage, especially in regards to women, was still seen as an "immoral act" during this time. In getting pregnant, Baker was broadcasting to the world that she had engaged in premarital sex, and therefore, was not a "good girl".
   
     In Serin's compilation of short pieces, she expresses issues with her perception of her own gender in relation to the gender-based expectations and roles that girls have to deal with. Her constant comparing herself to her sister reflects on the attitude that is present in Serin's society. Women and girls are constantly told to not be like other women and girls, and it is ingrained from a young age to be catty to each other, and fight for male approval.

      Femininity and body image are directly connected in Serin's short pieces, particularly in "Your Sister Buys a Bra". Serin connects her feminity and her identity as a young woman to her breast size, which is associated to the sexuality of a woman and her womanhood. She expresses jealousy at her younger sister's larger breast size, stating that "[t]his is a source of distress until [her] twenties" (195), and this also feeds into the idea of women being jealous of other women because of certain characteristics. The jealousy does not come naturally, but rather comes as a result of how others treat Serin's sister's figure, her "womanhood", in comparison to Serin's own figure.
 
    Not only does Serin compare her own figure to her sister's, but she also acknowledges how female sexuality is addressed and often ignored in her surroundings. For instance, Serin's sister displays her bra, which covers up her breasts, which are described as "prominent" (195), and the coverage of her breasts, although she is eleven, can be seen as covering up a body part which is viewed as a sign of womanhood. In contrast, Serin's own figure at a later age is treated with unease, and this is when she exposes her bare breasts. Serin expresses anger at her parents for treating her body like a taboo when her sister's had been celebrated so long ago.

  Another topic Serin addresses is the hold of the male gaze and how it has an impact on her and her family. In "Your Father Frightens Your Sister's Boyfriends", Serin's focus is not on her sister in her various relationships, but rather on the dynamic between her father and her sister's boyfriends. Even the title of the short piece takes the focus away from Serin's sister and places the attention on the males in the different relationships. And in "Photograph of Walter Griffin at the Pool", Serin focuses on her sister once again, but instead of focusing on how her sister is feeling about Walter Griffin, she pays attention to how the attention of the girls, except for her sister, is on Walter Griffin. The attention of the piece is on how the other girls surround Walter Griffin, looking for his attention, and her sister is the odd one out. And for not paying him attention, Serin's sister is the focus of Walter Griffin's attention. Walter Griffin's male gaze is what Serin is really focused, and his gaze is on her sister because she is not validating his presence.

Best,
Dani Rubinstein-Towler