The Girl is a novel written by Emma Cline. The text captures two distinct periods of time through the character of Evie. When Evie encounters a young man and a woman, the incident triggers the memorie from the 1960s in Northern California. Evie remembers what compelled him to be a cultist and al the subsequent events up to the end. By analyzing the novel, this paper will discuss the construction of femininity as portrayed by the author in The Girl.
Femininity refers to the quality of being a woman. The society assigns every gender a role, and it is the societal expectations that shape and defines the roles of either female or male. Construction of femininity refers to the way in which the society recreates and redefines a woman in preparation for the roles that she is expected to play (Somerville, Jennifer, et al. 30). Traditionally, the society treated female with bias and stereotype and even the normative and conventions reflected a patriarchal society where women are a lesser subhuman as compared to men.
According to The Girl, the author presents Evie as a teenager of 1960s. Emma captures the complexity that surrounded teenage in that era. All the energy, the recklessness, inexperience and explorative character of a girl at this age is depicted through the character of Evie. To bring out how the society used to view women, Evie gets involved in cultism to picture the objectification of women by a biased society where women are meant to do what men have decided and how men want it to get done (Cline).
Evie is introduced as a lonely middle-aged woman; she appears lonely due to the failed relationships that she has been through. Near Dan’s house (her old friend) she meets a 21-year-old son of Dan and Sasha his girlfriend (Cline). Julian’s girlfriend recalls that Evie’s name is associated with the infamous Mansion-like cult. The interruption of the two and the submissiveness that they demonstrate in their relationship causes Evie’s reflection of the societal misconceptions about gender that gives room for mistreatment of women in the society (Cline). Also, she recalls how the patriarchal society has constructed her femininity from teenage to adulthood. Other factors that influenced her femininity are her parents and the involvement in the cult (Simons-Morton, Bruce G., et al. 41).
The author utilizes the dreary summer of 1969 in the text as a backdrop in illuminating a myriad of challenges that young people, especially women, the encounter between teenage and adulthood (Cline). A thirst for adventure characterizes the period, struggle for approval and acceptance that leads to desperation in case one fails to be accepted and approved in the society or among his or her peers.
In the course of her teenage Evie experiences deprivation that comes with the divorce of parents. Since her father is promiscuous, he is to blame for the family breakup: he cheats with younger women and has no time for his daughter and the family all together (Cline). After the divorce, the most affected was Evie as she felt confused and do not know whether to blame her father for being a deceptive or her mother for demanding much instead of being submissive, a loving and caring wife who does not question the actions of her husband(Cline).
At the same time, the author uses the character of Evie to capture, suffering and loneliness that a teenager experiences when he or she is not cared for by the parent. In this perspective, Evie as a portrait of a female of 1960s begins spending an inordinate period of her time reading magazines (Oakley 41). Eventually, she becomes curious about her body and begins masturbating. Noticeably she began to emulate her mother’s weak character. At this point, the author introduces the significance of a role model in the construction of femininity. Later when her mother began a new relationship Evie’s situation grows to the extent that she indulges in irresponsible behaviors and even ends up practicing all that the society requires her to do (Cline). Without considering whether it was a misconception or not, she conforms to societal expectations such as sexualization and observation of male gaze to stay out of boredom and monotony.
Emma also uses Evie’s character to depict the significance of guidance for a female teenager. For instance, during Evie’s summer at the commune, she realizes that Russell Hadrick’s ranch encompasses that entire she has expected from the society and her parents (Cline). Typical of teenage, she as well gives in to peer -pressure and joins a girls’ group that is in services of Russell who turns out to be enjoying female sadness. In order to please Suzanne, her best friend, she offers Russell both her body and money (Cline). Russell’s character of taking advantage of teenagers with low self-esteem reveals the vulnerability that teenage comes with thus it becomes the stage when a young person needs care, guidance, and protection.
Ultimately Evie gets romantically involved with Russell who later gives her out to his friend to pay for a recording deal. Murder ensues, and luckily Evie is not involved, and she comes out of all this entrapment safe and sound (Shevelow 57). The murder scene wraps up all that is bound to happen to a teenage without guidance care and direction. In addition, the whole text up to that end covers teenage experiences and portrays teenage as the most vulnerable stage of a young woman. The author also addresses the perception of the society about women and the roles that they are accorded without their opinion or consent (Shevelow 59). In this case, the society positions a woman to be a perfect being even though it is impossible for one to be flawless. Further, the role of a woman is predetermined as one that is always supposed to please and take care of the weaknesses of a man (Cline). Therefore a woman is to accept the offenses of a man as her on. For instance, in marriage, the breakup is blamed on a woman even though the man is not playing his role and is mistreating the woman.
The author uses this text to justify the state of women in the society and the challenges that are experienced in the process of femininity construction. The bias and the unjustified stereotype that female gender is subjected to a concerning issue that influences gender character.
Works Cited
Cline, Emma. The Girls. , 2016. Internet resource.
Oakley, Ann. Sex, gender, and society. Routledge, 2016.
Shevelow, Kathryn. Women and Print Culture (Routledge Revivals): The Construction of Femininity in the Early Periodical. Routledge, 2015.
Simons-Morton, Bruce G., et al. "Naturalistic teenage driving study: findings and lessons learned." Journal of safety research 54 (2015): 41-e29.
Somerville, Jennifer, et al. "General fiction [Book Review]." Good Reading Jul 2016 (2016): 30.
