Bend It Like Beckham: Family Relationships and Gender Equality

The book Bend It Like Beckham, by Narinder Dhami is about a young Indian girl who loves to play football, but is not allowed by her parents. The book emphasizes the wrong in discriminating girls and women, and tries to make Jess story that will make others stand up for more gender equality and it expresses how family relationships are important for the book to hang together.

During the book bend it like Beckham, Jess and her friend Tony are playing football against some other guys Jess is obviously better than them, but they get really angry that they lost to a girl therefore they make fun of Jess implementing gender equality. The following quote was taken from page 12 ‘Yeah can you chest it like him, Jess? Sonny sniggered, grabbing his bare chest. None of the boys were wearing shirts ‘Y’know, give it some bounce?’ Taz grabbed his own chest, pretending he had boobs ‘Go on, Jess, chest it’. this quote is a very good example of feminism showing both that the boys are bad losers and they conclude to feminism and discrimination so they don’t feel bad themselves.

During the book jess’s parents want her to do all kinds of things Indian girls do, such as cooking aloo Gobi, but jess herself wants to play on the harriers team. On page 35 jess mum states ‘what family want a daughter in-law who can run around kicking a football all day, but can’t make round chapattis’. Jess mum has many expectations for jess which include a lot of Indian housewife chores, but the goals that family have for her clash against her own expectations to play football professionally. Although it is hard task jess manages to play football and please her parents, but the road to going there where she can do both things is filled with problems and people.