Female Sexual Freedom In Lust By Susan Minot, Jamaica...

Female sexual freedom is a predominant theme in three short stories by author’s Susan Minot, Jamaica Kincaid, and Junot Diaz. The messages in Lust by Susan Minot, Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, and Nilda by Junot Diaz the reader is introduced to three girl’s coming-of-age and the dangers they encounter with female sexuality. In these three stories, the authors convey the message that sexual freedom, for females anyway, is not so free; in fact females often, ultimately pay a price of loneliness, shame, a poor reputation, and even self-deprecation. First, loneliness, shame, self-deprecation, and regret are the dangers associated with female sexuality in Susan Minot’s Lust. The reader is introduced to a nameless, teenage girl, who decides to†¦show more content†¦In this short story, a young girl is thought to have begun some forays into female sexuality. Alerted to her daughter’s singing â€Å"benna in Sunday school† (Kincaid 1)—a symbol ic reference of sexuality—her mother begins a lengthy lecture on the importance of appearances and respectability. The mothers word choices, as she sets about teaching her how to appear respectful, are also geared to teach her daughter the shame associated with sexual promiscuity, â€Å"This is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming† (Kincaid) and â€Å"This is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming† (Kincaid). Yet the fact that the mother knows how to make a medicine, â€Å"To throw away a child before it even becomes a child† (Kincaid), suggests she is not a stranger to the experience of sexual freedom herself. Indeed, the tone Kincaid conveys suggests the mother has experience of her own in the dangers associated with f emale sexuality. Finally, loneliness, shame, a poor reputation, and self-deprecation are the dangers associated with female sexuality in Nilda by Junot Diaz. Trying to escape an alcoholic mother and an absentee father, Nilda, seeks comfort and security in