To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Quotes

What it Means to be a Lady From the Eyes of a Child
While the women in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird come in a variety of personalities and backgrounds, all of their lives are led by one constricting factor; their gender. Scout's upbringing as a young woman greatly contrasts that of her brother Jem. Jem is educated as a young boy growing into a man while Scout’s journey is taken as a woman. The manacle of womanhood is but a concept if one does not consider the harsh faults and inhibiting limits of men or rather the struggle for “masculinity” that men are similarly constrained. Though she is repeatedly told to have ladylike manners and to dress in more feminine way, Scout mostly denies this norm but is still able to become a young

lady while not completely adhering to the established stereotype of a woman in the 1930’s. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird there are many obvious societal restrictions and caste system placements; however, the constraint of womanhood and the idea of what it means to be a lady are themes that have the ability to bend the understanding young ladies of all colors and social standings have of themselves and their role in society.

The childhoods of Mayella and Scout show almost no obvious similarities, but the journey they are led to take: the journey through womanhood.While there are quite a women in the novel, Harper intentionally places Mayella and Scout as the only young women to grow up while he story is taking place. This is significant because while Mayella and Scout never directly interact they serve as foils to one another through their interactions with Atticus.While Scout is trusting and eager to learn, Mayella proves to be skeptical and brash. During Atticus’s questioning of Mayella, he shows common courtesy and addresses Mayella as Miss Mayella, a title that she does not take fondly to as Scout notices: “ I wondered if anybody had ever called her “ma’am” or “ Miss Mayella” in her life; probably not, as she took offense to routine courtesy” (Lee 208). In this interaction Atticus takes his kindness a step further and decides to replace traditional masculinity with chivalry; most likely for the sake of Mayella’s mental stability. Mayella’s skepticism to civil behavior creates a greater general sense that Mayella has not been accustomed to simple manners, and consequently is unable to fit the ideal frame for a woman in the 1930’s. Mayella’s inability to act in a ladylike manner is one of many reasons why she is cast off from society and is unable to gain public sympathy. Mayella’s social class prevents her from gaining sympathy; her lack of manners and class are ultimately what bring to her unfortunate conclusion. In the beginning of the novel, Scout is shown to have a respectable social standing as she is a Finch. Despite this cats of life, she does not gain acceptance or sympathy from adults until she is able to show manner and to demonstrate her more feminine morals. In the rush of the trial, Scout is taught how femininity can also be powerful in its own way; when Scout is able to embrace and accept this, she is accepted by the adults and, particularly respected by her Aunt Alexandra.

Aunt Alexandra recognizes Scout’s maturity when she invites Scout to a seemingly meaningless lady’s brunch. As Scout views the gathering,she understands that this is no ordinary brunch but it is a showcase of social talent. Scout remembers, “There was no part about it, I must soon enter this world” (Lee 267). In this quote Scout comes to the realization that being a lady is not only justified in actions but also in universally accepted social functions. It is here that Scout’s lessons in womanhood come full circle and she is able to embrace a part of her existence that she had brushed off for a long time. Mayella Ewell is a singular character that gives an important insight into understanding of lower classes but in a less literal sense she is an extension of Scout. Mayella is part of Scout that is arrogant,confused, and denies the truth of the adult world. As Aunt Alexandra constantly mentions, she will never befriend the Cunninghams “Don’t be silly, Jean Louise,”said Aunt Alexandra. “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines,you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem” (Lee 256). While in relation to Scout, Aunt Alexandra is portrayed as uptight, she is the ideal lady of

this time and as stated in a literary criticism, Aunt Alexandra holds very stark concepts of femininity. “ Alexandra’s conceptions of femininity emphasize clothing and behaviors that utilize feminine items, such as jewelry, stoves, and tea sets. This quote also expresses the ongoing argument between Scout and Aunt Alexandra over her desire to wear pants” ( Hakala 48). Aunt Alexandra has an unenjoyable personality but her ladylike manners put her on a pedestal where she becomes untouchable to anyone less upholding in their ways. With this in mind, it is no coincidence that while Mayella and Scout are the only two young women in the novel,Mayella is no longer mentioned in the novel, which is coincidentally when Scout begins to mature. After the trial Scout realizes the true bravery in being a lady and she begins to let go of her more childish arrogance and turns to the life of the adults. Mayella and Scouts’ contradictory existence teaches the reader is that the picture of a woman in this time period acted as a check on the social standings and relationships women were able to form. This type of check is what continually throws people like Mayella back into the cycle of towns like Maycomb.
Jem and Scout are being raised in the same household and by the same people, although they end up with very different moral mind sets. One important factor in this situation is that although Jem and Scout both grow up without a mother Scout has more mother figures. Jem and Scout both grow up with the presence of the maternal figure, Calpurnia. It becomes quite clear that Calpurnia will influence Scout more because Scout is becoming a woman, making female role models crucial during this time. A journal article about gender in context wrote, “Taken together, girls ‘messages promote an “up-to-date traditional woman” consistent with the girl Scouts’ organizational roots; boys’ messages promote an assertive heteromantic masculinity that is offset by facilitating boys’ intellectual passivity” (Denny 27). The point this quote conveys is that a concept that seems as factual and one-sided as gender will contain many other unseen presences that eventually shape children whether they realize it or not. Scout is confused about what being a lady really means, but she is surrounded by a wide array of women who have different definitions of womanhood. The most influential mother figures in Scout’s life are Miss Maudie and her Aunt Alexandra. These two women give vastly different definitions of what it means to be a lady which, further confuses Scout. Scout’s true definition of womanhood appears when she sees these two women being brave during hard moments. Finally seeing the masculinity in being a lady makes Scout somewhat adapt to the idea as she says “With my very best company manners, I asked her if she would have some.After all if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so cold I” (Lee 272). Although bravery is typically associated with masculinity, Scout realizes that women can be brave,too. In this way, Scout creates her own definition of what being a lady is while still adhering to the standard set at the time. Jem’s journey into manhood is filled with confusion surrounding his respect for his father, but something that is less obvious is the lack of balance he faces without his mother. Though Calpurnia acts as a ‘stand-in’ maternal figure for Jem, the lack of a solid and influential mother figure in Jem’s upbringing allotted to him being more free in his thought while still being morally bound by the teachings of his father. All of these factors amount to Jems less confined way of thinking and acting, while Scout will grow accustomed to the manacle that is being a lady. Throughout their early childhood Jem and Scout stayed on similar paths but as Scout started on her path as a woman the two split and met again with different morals and constrictions while still holding the same background.
The majority of the women in To Kill a Mockingbird do not strictly advertise a certain frame for being a lady; they simply adhere to the already placed standard.

Few have very strict and narrow definitions of what it means to be a lady, however; those who do appear extremely attached to the ideals and strive to maintain their image.There are many examples of this, although the most notable and influential to Scout has been Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra completely adheres to and advertises the highly ideal standard of a woman in the 1930’s. In the 1930’s the ‘ideal’ woman or the standard for it was extremely close minded as demonstrated by Aunt Alexandra’s very presence, Scout views her in a strict manner and says, “ Aunt Alexandra fitted into the world of Maycomb like a hand into a glove, but never into the world of Jem and me”(Lee 150). In the early stages of their living together, Scout resist the idea of giving up her masculine activities for a life like her Aunts. While Scout aims to reject her Aunt’s ideals Aunt Alexandra is the type of woman who understands that a woman’s image is always fragile because it is always in the hands of a man. Another woman in the novel that Scout resists for most of her early years is Calpurnia. Following Scout going to Calpurnia’s church, Scout begins to respect Calpurnia’s ways. Scout states “That Calpurnia had led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one”

(Lee 143). It is not until after recognizing Calpurnia's’ duality that Scout comes to truly respect Calpurnia’s ideals and enforcements. At this time Calpurnia becomes a template for Scout’s version of womanhood. As Scout learns from Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra, she notices the social importance of being a lady but also the bravery and effort it takes to be yourself while doing it. The first thing Scout learns about being a lady come from Miss Maudie. Miss Maudie teaches Scout that one can continue to have a personality while still adhering to social restrictions. This is an important factor for Scout to recognise because without this she would not be able to embrace her gender and the unspoken rules that come with it. Through these multiple influences Scout arrives at her own definition of what being a woman is and with her lessons in mind Scout protects her masculine ideals and comes to respect what it means to be a lady.
In the context of the 1930s, the behavior these women showcase is completely in the norm as a literary criticism stated “In addition to emphasizing her appearance, Seidel explains that society expected an antebellum belle “to stay at home until such time as a suitable—that is, lucrative—marriage was arranged for her” (Hakala 49). In this context one must realize that the conditions that Scout is expected to meet are ones of her time and ones that no longer hold such a significance in today’s society. The definition of what it means to be a lady around this time period is certainly constraining but more than anything it is a fact of life, and one that Scout must come to terms with.