Boys vs. Girls- Ragged Dick

It’s amazing how different the social expectations are between boys and girls. In today’s society it seems like we generally have the same expectations for girls and boys. They’re supposed to be good and mind their parents and go to school and play nice with each other. In the 19th century boys were expected to either go to school and learn a trade or work. It’s like they were being trained from early on to fulfill their economic duty to their family while the girls were being trained to be the perfect house wives. This perhaps says a lot about the 19th century society and how hard it was to prosper in that time. Boys and girls had to be trained early to fulfill their roles as adults while today, for the most part, we get to enjoy our childhood, learn a little, and eventually take on the responsibilities we will have as adults.

There was one big difference I found in the depictions and expectations of boys and girls that stuck out to me. There seems to be a double standard when it comes to boys. Girls are expected to act perfect and godly, while boys are encouraged to be good, but then are not severely looked down upon when their flaws are clearly visible. Horatio Alger depicts Dick as a “frank and straightforward” (Alger 342) boy who also lies, makes up stories, and tells “a wrong direction to honest old gentlemen unused to the city” (Alger 339) for the fun of it. Dick is also very business savvy but is then “careless of his earnings” (340). He blows the money he makes on gambling and entertainment instead of saving it for his next meal or to get ahead in life. Think of the shame a woman would have if she carelessly frivoled away money for cigars and movie theatres. Although no one is perfect, it is clearly more acceptable for boys to show their faults, in part because being a little bad is cool, which gives guys more power than just being good.

Another thing is that while boys are encouraged to show ambition in their life, as far as a career goes, women were only encouraged to do the housework required of them. The only way a woman could be ambitious and try to better her life was through having an advantageous marriage. The independence of little boys shows how their future is really in their hands while it seems that girls must rely on their family and the hope for a rich husband in order to get by.