Gender Roles In Love And Basketball

At some point in time, we all question what we actually know and we know what we know. Whether it be how we distinguish time, what is love or what it means to be who we are-black, female, petite. Like for me I would consider myself, a hopeless romantic, because I love movies like Love & Basketball, but where did that concept emerge and how have I just accepted it as a part of my being with no questions asked. Let’s first delve into a synopsis of Love & Basketball, and then explore how society shapes some of the social discourses and reified themes of gender roles that are seen in the movie.

All’s Fair in Love & Basketball

From the director Gina Price-Bythewood, Love & Basketball is an amazing story of love at first sight and what it means to be friends and lovers. Monica and Quincy both love the

116, 2003). With that being said, as Monica grew older with her mother always antagonizing her for not fitting traditional gender roles, she did not know she was beautiful. It makes sense that she would question her beauty, because all the time as she was growing up the way she dressed or wore her hair was never feminine enough. She preferred a simpler lifestyle in order to focus on what was important to her. In the movie, her clear contrast were both her mother and sister, who both always had their hair nicely pressed, wore dresses or skirts, and took on a motherly role. All these ideas of what a women or a lady must be stems from the Victorian era, especially the expectations of womanhood which is to eventually become a mother (Chrisler, 2013). Her feminine identity was never based on what was comfortable for her, but what is accepted in society and has been reified over time. A woman should look presentable to attract a man, which means wearing a dress, learning how to cook and ironing