Bridge to Terabithia

I just finished reading the book "Bridge to Terabithia", an old childhood favorite.  As I read the book I found that it was boring and got even more boring as the book drowned on.  I mean, when I was in fourth grade, I could see why I used to love it, but now I expect so much more from my books, and I guess it didn't live up to my expectations.

All that aside, I tracked the issue of gender and gender expectancy throughout the book.  This was a very important issue in the book , especially when it came to Leslie.  She came to school on the first day with jeans on while all the other girls had on their best dresses and looked at her funny.  All her classmates teased her just because it wasn't normal for that small town.  Then again at recess when leslie ran over to come race with the boys, Gary Fulcher started trying to cause her grief about it.

But, it wasn't just Leslie who had people expecting things of her, they did this to Jess too.  One obvious time I could think of off the top of my head was after Leslie died and Jess was eating his pancakes.  Brenda started trying to make him feel bad about how he was wolfing down food after his best friend died and Ellie said how boys aren't supposed to cry at times like that.  Mrs.Aarons just agreed to it.

Now in the small town Leslie and Jess lived in, they are very old fashioned, but this still happens today, in a modern school.  Like for example, girls are expected to like pink and be girly according to popular belief that is, so anyway if a girl shows up at school one day dressed as a complete tomboy, then she is bound to get some strange looks.

Gender issues play a big part in the book, but they also might play a part in your life.