Gender in America in the 1960s could be wrapped neatly with a bow by the word rigid (cisnormative). The nation's consensus was that a person’s biological sex assignment as male or female at birth was the person's gender identity that was upheld throughout life. Masculine and feminine were the traditional structural identities that people were confined to. While prior to the Stonewall Riots transgender and queer people existed, their visibility was erased by police brutality, discrimination, and misrepresentation. In her novel, Getting Mother’s Body, Suzan-Lori Parks creates a character, Dill Smiles, whose gender identity is represented as ambiguous throughout the novel.

Vivian O’Bannon

Jody Cohen

Emily Balch Seminar: Changing Our Story

October 21, 2016

Gender: The Worst Trait to Inherit

In the context of the relations between Dill and other characters, how is Dill’s identity represented and explored throughout the novel?

Exploring Identity without Labels

Suzan-Lori Parks takes on many controversial issues in her novel Getting Mother’s Body: abortion, race, socioeconomic status, homosexuality, and countless other topics are explored throughout the work. One of these important matters is that of gender roles. Two of the main characters in the novel, Billy Beede and her Aunt June, find their lives dictated by men, and share a common struggle to regain control of their respective paths. In Getting Mother’s Body, June’s arranged marriage and Billy’s unplanned pregnancy highlight men’s tendency to make decisions on behalf of women, acting dually as women’s initial downfall and ultimate savior.

The 1960’s were a time of change in American society.  Due to the Civil Rights Movement, which was led by Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and supported by President John F. Kennedy, society’s treatment of black Americans was changing for the better.  This was a time of growing acceptance of the differences between us as individuals.  However, many differences remained taboo - specifically, homosexuality and refusing to fit gender roles.  In Suzan-Lori Parks’ novel, “Getting Mother’s Body,” the character Dill Smiles shows how these taboos were viewed by others at this moment in time.  Dill, who is widely believed to be a hyper-masculine lesbian, endures a lot of hatred and scorn from others upon their realization that they are not a heterosexual man.

    Some people receive their characteristics from genetics, but their identity could from other places. A person can develop their identity from their family, because usually they are the ones who influence their beliefs and values. Then their beliefs and values usually determine how they are as a person. Although there are people who do not want to be like the rest of their family, and try to diverge to create their own identity.  Personally, I know some families where most of the members of the family all hold similar characteristics. In Susan-Lori Parks novel, Getting Mother’s Body, everyone in the town knows what it means to be a Beede, but the characters diverge from that stereotype.

Francesca Caramazza

ESEM Changing Our Story

Anne Dalke

10/21/16

Getting Mother’s Body Essay Rough Draft

Suzan-Lori Parks’ novel, Getting Mother’s Body follows the travels of Billy Beede, a 16-year-old girl searching for money to use to get an abortion.  Every chapter of the book is from a different character’s perspective and shows a continual progression of the story.  One of the most commonly seen narrators is Billy and many of the other characters speak to give insight on Billy’s life.  As all these different characters get their chance to express their ideas and move the story along, the question arises about whether they are all individualized characters, or if Parks is the only real narrator.  I believe that even though the author speaks for all of the different characters, they all have unique voices.