On the first day of dear season the high school is deserted of all the boys. This is expected by the teachers, who will chat with the girls and show movies all day… (3)
The irony of Belle Boggs’ “The Deer” being the focus on the story on the girls in the school, and the few left out boys, instead of the boys hunting for the season. Traditionally, education had been more catered to the males students, such as female dress codes being aimed to not “distract” the boys. However, the education of the girls is disrupted by the boys being gone for deer season, this causes their education to be taken less seriously: the teachers showing movies instead of lessons, teachers, like the art teacher Mrs. Hayes, showing up to work hungover and unprepared, and it is referred to as an easy day in the eyes of the faculty. The principal, in lacking of other activities to do, suggestively describes the girls’ attire and exposed flesh, while he could be redirecting teachers into teaching lessons.
Males in the school, such as Jason, were seen by the teachers and wanting to be out hunting, instead of being in school, which pushed the typical male stereotype of an outdoorsy guy. Jason calls the other boys who are hunting rednecks (4), the same boys who “give him shit about his clothes, his hair, the music he listens to.” showing that females weren’t the only ones who had education disrupted by the other male students.