David Adès ‘Bacha Posh’, which I blogged about yesterday, set me thinking about gender. I didn’t want to frame my little verse as a response to his, so here it is in a post of its own.
November verse 6: Gender
We learned the rules of gender early.
Sugar, spice and all things nice
were girls’, but boys were no way girly.
Slugs and snails, and at no price
the front end of a frisky puppy –
these were ours. Real boys are happy
we were told, with bats and balls
and vaulting horses, never dolls.
When we played at cops and robbers
what did girls do? Who can tell?
Drop the hanky, wishing well?
Girls were weepy, wimpy dobbers.
Boys were tough and didn’t cry.
That’s all true and pigs can fly.
Me fail? I fly! 