Girl Lessons

Chapter “girl lessons” in Where We Once Belonged written by Sia Figiel has disturbed my mind. For example, “we girls were never allowed to go anywhere after schools besides heading straight home. Even when I started going to Samoa High School and had afternoon school or had detention or sports practice, I was expected to be home when everyone else was home” (p.139). It is unfair for Alofa and her friends since these rules are only regulated toward them, not boys. If boys are also restricted by these rules, they may grow and behave the same like girls. It means that boys and girls might stand equally. I think this may become a foundation of gendered violence in which institution such as family, media, language, and local culture normalize this violence.

Moreover when I read the subsequent pages when Alofa is being punished because she did not obey the rules, it clearly shows me that boys own their privilege to do anything they want without considering any punishment. "Before my hair was cut, before my hair was shaved, I was slapped in the face. Then a belt hit me across the face, too...around the waist, around my legs, around my face again. Fists blew in my eyes and mouth and cheeks, and blood flew out onto the cement floor" (p.220). Girls or women are always blamed for something that boys also get benefits.
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