Baby’s Fight: A Feminist Look at Lullabies for Little Criminals

Reading Lullabies for Little Criminals through a feminist lens made me realize how much of Baby’s suffering comes not just from being a child, but from being a girl in a world where men hold most of the power. Heather O’Neill makes it painfully clear how unsafe and limited Baby’s life becomes when every door she walks through seems to be controlled by men.

Baby does not have any strong, stable female role models in her life. Her mother passed away when she was a baby, and living in the red-light district of Montreal, she was surrounded by sex workers and addicts (O’Neill 5). 


Photo By Maµrício.

Instead of showing women as protectors, O’Neill portrays them as trapped by poverty and addiction. Society judges them harshly, but it also gives them almost no choices. O’Neill seems to be highlighting how society’s structure limits women’s power and options, showing that Baby’s loneliness is not just personal, but it is part of a bigger system that keeps women vulnerable.


That absence of nurturing women makes Baby’s world feel even lonelier and helps explain why men’s influence is so powerful in her life.


The men in Baby’s life try to control her. Her dad, Jules, constantly criticizes her, policing her clothes and hairstyles. Baby explains that he would say if she didn’t listen, she “was trying to be a whore” (O’Neill 151). Being a girl in her own home means she’s always under judgment, with little freedom to make her own choices.


And then there’s Alphonse, a pimp who preys on Baby. At one point, he tells her, “You’ve got to make some money, girl” (O’Neill 217). This moment makes it clear how Baby’s innocence is exploited and how dangerous her world is when men hold all the power.


Even in a world where men try to control her, Baby isn’t completely powerless. At one point, she flips off Alphonse, refusing to follow his instructions (O’Neill 265). This small act of defiance shows she can assert her own will and resist being treated like an object. It reminds us that O’Neill isn’t just showing Baby’s vulnerability, she’s also showing her strength.


Photo By VIBE 105.

Even when Baby resists, the book reminds us that girls often have to fight just to be heard or safe. Her small victories feel huge because they show how hard it is for girls to claim any control in a world stacked against them.


O’Neill’s stylistic choices make these experiences hit even harder. Telling the story in Baby’s first-person voice with short, childlike sentences makes her vulnerability and small victories feel immediate and raw. We see the unfairness of her life through her eyes, and it makes the reader empathize with her even more.


Reading Baby’s story through a feminist lens reminded me of how girls are often judged and controlled in ways that are easy to overlook. At the same time, it’s inspiring to see her resilience shine through. O’Neill’s novel shows both the dangers girls face and the strength they can carry, even in impossible circumstances.


Works Cited

Fazeli, Ameneh. “Feminist Literary Criticism.” Literariness, 7 Oct. 2022, 

https://literariness.org/2022/10/07/feminist-literary-criticism/. Accessed 28 Sept. 2025.

Maµrício. “...Red Light District ?” Flickr, 24 January 2009, https://flic.kr/p/5UQmzm. 

O’Neill, Heather. Lullabies for Little Criminals. Harper Perennial, 2006.

VIBE 105. “Empowered Women.” Flickr, 23 November 2017, https://flic.kr/p/GSQnQB. 

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