Miss Skeeter's Role As An African-American Woman

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From the moment she was born, Miss Skeeter had a strained relationship with ideals of society. Tall with frizzy hair, she by no means fit the model of southern beauty. She was raised on her family’s plantation farm in the segregated town of Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. In the era of radical change, Jackson stayed frozen in a time where explicit racial of racial and gender inequality were considered the norm. Though the course of her life, Miss Skeeter consistently struggled to meet the standards of not only her mother, but also the rules of society regarding how she, as a woman, should look and behave. However, as she grew older and opened her mind to new experiences, she gained more confidence in herself. As a result, Skeeter became less driven to attain imposed ideals of society, and instead focused on satisfying her own …show more content…

Despite the fact that Skeeter was a woman in the South during the 1960s, Miss. Skeeter was able to become a writer and act a voice for African American women because she was independent and courageous. The heroic characteristic of independence enabled Miss Skeeters to discover the truth underlying the facade of her town and to follow her dreams of becoming a writer. After getting the approval of an editor from New York City, Skeeter began to write about the experience of African American women working as maids for the white families in Jackson, Mississippi. Her interviews of the lives of theses women caused Miss Skeeter to attain a better understanding of treatments and roles of black women in a segregated society. She also became more aware of her own actions and her instilled beliefs about maids, which disturbed her and consequently gave her the motivation to continue writing. As she progressed through this writing project, Miss Skeeter developed more confidence in her voice and began

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