For The Girls: Performing Gender In To Kill A Mockingbird And Twelfth Night

For most of us, the long, lazy days of summer conjure up memories of fortbuilding, skinned knees, sleepovers, and an influx of summer bugs befitting a biblical plague. For girls in particular, though, the summers of childhood were a time of liberation from the dresses and demureness that were unduly expected of them in the classroom. Sugar and spice my ass; childhood is about ROMPING.

Our collective memories of summertime adventure are undoubtedly the reason why Harper Lee"s To Kill a Mockingbird resonates so universally as a coming-of-age story "" and why Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. "Scout," remains one of the most downright likable narrators in literature. She romps. She swears. She fights. She wins. And she does it all in 1930"s Alabama. (You thought your trademark backflip into the pool was impressive.)

Many people argue that Scout"s aggressive tomboy demeanor is the result of her reverence for her father and older brother, not to mention the fact that her mother is completely out of the picture. However, we mustn"t write off her femininity altogether. When her best pal, Dill, makes her an offer of marriage, she gladly accepts "" and beats the living daylight out of him when he fails to show her the proper attention. When the wrongfully-accused Tom Robinson is murdered in prison, Scout temporarily relinquishes her abrasiveness to show a more ladylike respect "" but takes on the project as a personal challenge. "After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I." You show "em, Scout.

If you"re in need of a literary pick-me up this summer, consider revisiting Scout and company in To Kill a Mockingbird. Or if you"re in the mood for a different kind of gender-bending heroine, pick up a copy of Shakespeare"s "Twelfth Night." When the play"s beautiful protagonist, Viola, is separated from her twin brother during a shipwreck and stranded in a foreign land, she unflinchingly tackles the challenge that confronts her by striking a deal with some sailors, dressing up as a man, and finding work as the servant of a wealthy duke. Considering today"s job market, her plan doesn"t strike us as half bad.

Viola, a.k.a. "Cesario" the luscious manboy, quickly finds herself in a messy love triangle when the Duke Orsino commissions her to woo the Countess Olivia in his name. Finding Cesario"s attentive androgyny irresistible, the Countess instead falls in love with a disguised Viola, who, in the meantime, has fallen for the Duke. Although the shipwrecked twin brother eventually sets everything "straight" upon his return by marrying the Countess and freeing the Duke up to wed Viola, we must keep in mind that it is Olivia and not he that pops the question. In fact, the play ends with Orsino conceding that, since she still does not have a dress, Viola shall remain "Cesario" for the time being. Quite the unorthodox note to end on. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, "Twelfth Night" challenges traditional views of sexuality by entertaining the idea that gender is performed rather than inborn. And who understands performance better than William Shakespeare?

So pull on your overalls, pull out a slingshot, and put on one hell of a show.