This week I’ve finished reading the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals and wow! Was this book an experience. For those who’ve been following up with my recent posts will know how this novel mainly focuses on drugs, bad parenting, sex and prostitution. All topics that are controversial and not common to young kids. This novel was definitely a chilling experience that taught me many life lessons and made me realize how our society is not at it’s finest.
Looking from a feminist point of view, this novel definitely had some ups and down when it came to gender roles and how they were perceived. The men in this novel were regularly shown to be dominant, and the woman were seen to be inferior.
One thing I found especially interesting was that women weren’t women and men weren’t men.
Confusing right?
What I mean is, women were seen as sexual objects and nothing more, while most men were seen as monsters, abusers, sex-driven maniacs and even manipulators.
When it came to woman, the men in these societies did not see them for who they were, let alone their personalities, but for their image. A girl could look as beautiful as a flower and have the nastiest personally, yet men would still approach her to satisfy their own obsessive pleasure solely based on appearance. This idea is mostly explored through the eyes of the local pimp, Alphonse.
One of the biggest evils in Baby’s lives was, without a doubt, Alphonse. He manipulated pretty girls with affection and sexual gifts to use them for his own benefit. Unfortunately, Baby walks right into his trap and begins to look for his attention, eventually getting swayed by his gifts and sweet commentary.
Alphonse is literally THE perfect example of how men saw women as nothing more than sexual objects, as he begins to show interest in Baby only after she dresses more daringly. When Baby first saw Alphonse, she mentioned, “Although Alphonse was terribly interested in women, he never seemed to notice me. But that’s because I wasn’t really a woman” (O’Neill, 149). By saying this, we see how Alphonse had little to no interest in Baby as she wasn’t “really a woman” implementing that she didn’t have the looks or features of a typical female.
Yet, when Baby started wearing more exposing and “foxier” cloths like Zoe and some of the other prostitutes, Alphonse interest developed faster than a cheetahs run. Suddenly he had his eyes on her, and even went as far as calling her a “hot tamale” (155) and sending her things he thought would look good on her.
Another example of how men saw women as sexual objects were with the idea of prostitutes. When Alphonse forced Baby into prostitution, he would make her sit outside on a bench looking all pretty and dolled up, waiting for men to have a look at her and decide if they wanted to have sex. Alphonse put her on display as if she was a trophy, not in a proud way, but in a bragging way. They would wait all day for “offers” to come in, and once they did, he would make her have sex, no questions asked.
He never had her best interests in mind; he only thought of her as an outlet for making money. He convinced her of becoming a prostitute and encouraged her to sell her body. To him, she was an object that could be tucked away on a far shelf and pulled out whenever he needed. And if that object ever faltered or got stuck on the shelf, he would abuse it out with anger until he got what he wanted.
Male dominance is another aspect we see through Alphonse and even Baby’s own father, Jules. When Baby decides to go back to school, she meets an odd boy named Xavier. Unlike most men in society, he was portrayed as kind, innocent and someone who didn’t want to take advantage of her. Eventually, they started dating and decided to have sex. The only place Baby could think of was Alphonse’s apartment as she expected he wouldn’t be there.
However, as I suspected, Alphonse walked in and saw what was happening. He took hold of Xavier and beat him up. I was taken by surprise when Baby yelled: “Let him go!” (306). She took control of the situation and mustered the courage to go against his wishes. She used her power as a woman and used her voice to say what was only right. Yet for her act of courage, she was rewarded with a slap. After finally doing what needed to be done, she didn’t get a courageous pat on the back but instead got a red mark on her face. “I didn’t feel any pain when Alphonse slapped me on both sides of my face. I could feel both my cheeks getting all warm and tingly” (O’Neill 306). All because she finally did something for herself and on her own will. No one should ever lay a hand on someone else, but because men were accustomed to being better, this type of behaviour was allowed and acceptable. No questions asked. After all, he was the mighty man, and she was a lifeless stripper.
Jules, on the other hand, also shows dominance over Baby as he decides what she should or shouldn’t do. He continuously restricts her in all sorts of ways. As Baby mentioned, “I couldn’t dress like that or Jules would throw a fit. He didn’t even let me braid my hair. He thought that Bobby pins were invented solely for attracting black men” (150). Not only does this show that Baby couldn’t do some of the simplest things, but it also shows how men could restrict women in what they wear and who they can and can’t hang out with.
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