The portrayal of gender in poetry

Read Girl by Jamaica Kincade and analyze how women are portrayed in poems. What assumptions are made about women in this poem? What expectations make a girl “ladylike”? Compare the work to If by Rudyard Kipling. Why is there less expected of boys in order to be considered a “real man”? Why do you think If includes more basic morality when Girl includes physical appearance, behaviors, and expected duties as a woman?