During our class talks about Huckleberry Finn the issue of gender roles has been very prominent. We talk about the different ways in which women are portrayed in the novel and how this affects the way the book is viewed. In a scene where Huck dresses up and tries to fool Mrs. Judith Luftus into believing he is a girl. She is able to discover that Huck is in fact a boy, not by a physical characteristic but by the fact that he can throw a brick and does not know how to thread a needle.
In school there has been a lot of talk about the upcoming Turnabout Dance. If you don't know, Turnabout (also known as Sadie Hawkins), is the dance where the girls ask the boys and then pay for their dates. While this gender role reversal can be a lot of fun for one night, there is an undertone of discomfort when asking a guy to the dance and paying for everything.
In our society, as reflected in Huck Finn, there are specific roles assigned for genders in society. While we have accomplished more women in sports and in many different jobs previously associated with males only, it is still rare for girls to ask boys out, pay for dates and dinners and propose to a man. How are gender roles defined? How prominent are gender roles in our society? In what ways and to what extent does straying from these roles add discomfort or a to the situation? Is straying from these roles a positive or a negative goal?
