Gender is explicitly present in Bois Savage as Esch defines
gender among her family and friends. When Esch goes to the park, she gives
description upon all the individuals at the park. For her brothers and their friends, she
defines athleticism and physical strength to define their masculinity when they
were playing basketball on court, Skeeta jogging with China, and Junior riding
his bicycle. Though Junior is still
young and acts as the child, he still has physical strength in his arms and is
on the borderline between a child and a man.
On the feminine side, Esch provides
example of her mother, Mudda Ma’am, and Sharylin as being womanly figures
compared to herself. These women carry
an elegant fashion in them that is portrayed as motherly. From Mudda Ma’am, she
has lived a long life in her home being a motherly figure taking care of
children such as junior when they are very young. In Esch’s mother, we can see
the care that she portrays towards her children and especially her husband when
she cradles him in her arms when he is drunk. Lastly, we can she Sharylin being
elegant as she was supporting Manny at the park and acting as a female would
when approached by her lover. Compared to these women, Esch defines herself as
confused and unprepared as she will have to eventually become a mother. Due to
her witnessing the affects of motherhood on China and tragedies occurring with
the puppies, the fear that she has within her body makes her want to escape it
with the thought of miscarriage.
The expectations for males and
females are clearly defined as males being proactive and females being passive.
As men would work on outside activities such as farming or building, women
would work indoors and attend to the children and chores. In the case, with
Esch and her family, she has to be able to do both male and female jobs since
the man dominance in the family overshadows and consumes her femininity. She
also notes that her father rarely sees her as a woman whenever they interact.
Therefore, the expectations for characters can differ by the situation of the
family or social structure in current order.
You say that the expectations for males and females are clearly defined in Salvage the Bones, so how do you think Esch's clear diversion of flat femininity plays into that landscape? If gender roles are clearly defined, how does Esch's personal femininity (which is heavily influenced by the masculinity that surrounds her) affect her existence in Bois Sauvage?
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