2/15/09
The Birchbark House
One of the things that really frustrated me about The Birchbark House was the assigning of work based on gender roles. While a true portrayal of the culture, for some reason, I can't get over the fact that the guys didn't really have to do anything. Deydey was never around, except to bring food and some gifts. When he was around, he didn't do anything to help the family. He could sit around and smoke and talk about politics, but he rarely helped to make his wife's life a little easier. And Pinch, he certainly wasn't very helpful. He actually irritated me more because not only was he useless he was insolent as well. His disrespect for his mother and sisters disgusted me, and I got the feeling that he got away with it because he was male. If Pinch had been a little girl, he could have never had the same relationship with his mother and sisters. It's interesting that the same gender relationship existed in some Native American cultures as in the West. The man is the great hunter, but other than that he gets off pretty easy. I wonder what American Indian women today say about the traditional roles assigned to the sexes.
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I completely agree with your argument on gender roles. I would think the Deydey would have been more than willing to help out his wife when he got back from trading b/c there was sooooo much work to be done. The mother was not only overseeing all the preperation for winter, but she was also taking care of all the children,the most annoying being Pinch. Even at the end of the movie, i didn't see Pinch redeeming himself. I think he will grow up to be one of the laziest male indians that tribe will ever see.
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