"Boys and Girls" - Relationship essay

Being a girl trying to experience childhood, the girl in "Boys and Girls" was very restricted in finding out who she is, because of her dad's expectations. Perhaps because of the way he was raised, he made judgments on her before she had even done anything wrong (or 'girly', in his eyes). Before the day she let the horse out, her father seemed to be waiting for the day when she would slip. It was as if he expected her to let the horse out before it even happened. He categorized her as a foolish, impractical girl, even though she was his first-born, and was a completely capable person. She tried to impress him and live up to his standards, but he never came around to realizing this. Her father didn't feel he needed to talk to her much, even when she "worked willingly under his eyes" and searched for approval. I don't think the father felt much of a bond with his girl because he gives off silent behaviors, which gives an intimidating attitude toward the girl. She chooses to let the horse out because she believes the consequences wont be devastating, having been caught up in her made up stories where the outcome was inconsequential. She looked up to him secretly, although intimately, but their bond was not as strong as the bond between the girl and her mother.

The girl grew up in the shadow of her mother's womanly image, which forced her to grow into a 'girly' figure. By crafting her daughter beautiful dresses and making her do 'womanly' chores such as dishes, she implies a stereotype because her son is not asked to do these chores. She has a tighter connection than she does with her father because unlike the father, her mother tends to open up. Talking about the good times she had growing up- her pets, boyfriends, and feminine clothes- started to spark the girl's imagination more and more as she grew up. Because they were so open with their conversations, the questions about life that interested the girl were answered. This kind of learning was never a possibility