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Gender roles in To Kill A Mockingbird pdf
Gender roles in To Kill A Mockingbird pdf
Gender roles in To Kill A Mockingbird pdf
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Women have been a big part of history and they have always had a certain standard that they feel like they need to stand by to be looked upon as a woman. Within Harper Lee’s fictional novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the audience is subjected to the harsh impact of women's roles in which the innocent narrator, Scout Finch, struggles to understand the justification for such biased rights. By analyzing major female characters in the novel such as [scout and Calpurnia],one can evaluate the gradual change of female roles and expectations from the 1930s to current day.
Women then and now always feel like they have to dress “girly” in dresses to be accepted in society as a woman.Scout feels like she has to wear a dress to be considered as a woman even though she
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would rather wear overalls.(Aunt Alexandra told scout that she has to wear a dress not overalls.Aunt alexandra tells Atticus that scout can be wearing overalls because it doesn't look girly enough and it makes her look like a “boy”.(lee,15) Southern women are ridiculed as gossips, provincials, weaklings, extremists, even racists. Southern woman is looked upon as racist because of other people's mistakes. Women feel like they have to grow up and be a certain way. Is Scout an outsider looking for an adult male world which she knows she will be unable to enter as she grows into womanhood.Scout is looked at someone who has to grow up into a woman and can't be dressing like a boy and wear overalls.All her life she feels like she has to wear dresses and skirts to be considered a girl. The women of Aunt Alexandra's missionary circle are no less relentless in both providing suitable models for Scout and attacking her when she does not internalize them. Aunt Alexandra want to be a role model and so then whenever scout does something wrong she feels like she needs to attack them.She feels like she needs to attack/hurt them so they know not to make those mistakes again. Women then and now feel like they always have to dress and act a certain way. Women's roles in the 1930’s have drastically changed since then and woman have more rights and freedoms since then.
I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately. (Lee,15).This quote shows how scout would rather dress like a tomboy than a girly girl.And when she hears “girly”things she feels uncomfortable.This quote shows how scout would rather dress like a tomboy than a girly girl. Furthermore, based on an article published by Pennsylvania State University, many gender roles around the world were dictated by the environment and the needs of a society. The document also states how gender roles vary based on the historical and cultural background of a society, as well as ethnicity. This shows how gender roles are based by where you live and where you're from,these roles can also come from something as simple as your ethnicity. Women then and now feel like they have to talk a certain way and that if they have a masculine voice they're looked down upon. In the book aunt Alexandra talks about how scout's voice doesn't sound enough like a girl. In the book scout feels like she has to talk like a girl to be
accepted. Over the past few decades, linguists have shown that, when it comes to speech, many gender stereotypes hold remarkably true: Men tend to speak loudly, while women whisper; men talk over each other, while women conspire behind each other's backs; men hold back their feelings, while women lay them out to strangers they meet on the subway. This show how woman really do have a certain way of talking cause women tend to have softer/gentler voices.But even though that's true for the most part doesn't mean all women will have a feminine voice. Women then and now feel like they have to sound like a girl and dress like a girl to be accepted then. By analyzing major female characters in the novel such as [scout and Calpurnia], one can evaluate the gradual change of female roles and expectations from the 1930s to current day. Then and now women's roles have changed woman have went to having to work in homes to now having the right to be anything they wanna be and not having to dress a certain way.
Scout, the protagonist, is a young girl coming of age in a society trying to shove her into a dress and the role of a gilded daughter. For example, when Scout recalls a conversation with her Aunt Alexandra, a figurehead for society and one of the major female figures in her life, she begins to shine her own light on how to brighten her father’s life in a way that is true to herself. On page 108, Scout comes to terms with the fact that she is defying stereotypes, “I could not possibly be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year. She hurt my feelings and set my teeth permanently on edge,
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
One way Harper Lee develops gender inequity through stereotypes is through Scout’s experiences with the women in Maycomb. Scout is laughed at for wearing pants under her dress. Scout prefers pants over dresses because she’s a tomboy and can be more active in “britches.” On Sunday, Scout dressed up, but still had pants under her dress. When Scout is at the gathering with the women, Miss Maudie says, “‘You’re mighty dressed up, Miss Jean Louise,’ she said. ‘Where are your britches today?’ ‘Under my dress.’ I hadn’t meant to be funny, but the ladies laughed. My cheeks grew hot as I realized my mistake” (Lee 307). Because Scout is laughed at for wearing pants and not for something she thought was funny, she feels singled out and degraded. The ladies of Maycomb laughed at her because she had done something “wrong” in their eyes. She wore pants
This is an example of how herd mentality can lead to harmful and racist ideas that affect the lives of many. Another instance in the book that represents a negative of herd mentality is Aunt Alexandra’s beliefs that Scout needs to wear a dress to be more ‘lady-like’. This idea that to be a lady you have to wear dresses and stay inside and cook is a very insulting expectation. These misogynistic thoughts that stemmed from the herd mentality during that time led to some unfair disadvantages for
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the main protagonist, Scout, is living in a time where people thought of women as a minority, believed women had to act and look a certain way, and also presumed that women have lower intelligence then men. Their assumptions and beliefs about Scout reveals that
Women are still expected to follow rules that society has set for them. Advertisements with unrealistic beauty standards are shown millions of times everyday. Women are still expected to stay at home and cook and clean while men go to work. Scout is a very brave girl who is not afraid to break the rules society has set for her. In every chapter, Scout shows the reader that she is not afraid to be herself.
Scout's narration and the character's dialog prove that Alexandra is characterized by her traditional values while Miss Maudie is characterized as a modern woman. The issues of gender roles are still a large part of society today and it affects a majority of adolescents because they feel the need to conform and ignore their individualism and that is why this novel is still relevant to society today.. The lesson to be learned here is to be comfortable in one's own skin and don't listen to negative feedback if it is not constructive. Works Cited Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.
Keeping this in mind, Lee does illustrate one character in TKAM as extraordinarily anti-women’s equality, Aunt Alexandra. Alexandra has a strict interpretation of southern society and wholeheartedly believes that a good woman is a housewife who fulfills her duties to her husband. However, Scout is generally impervious to her aunt’s views and retains the personality seen throughout the novel, a tomboy. Consequently instead of viewing both gender’s as respectable, which Scout would not have done under Alexandra’s instruction either, young Scout views femininity as a weakness. This ill view of her own biological identity is further strengthened by Jem, another evil male in Lee’s mind, who convinces Scout, “that girls ... hated them…” ( Lee 54). Two rhetorical devices within this passage are irony and a statement that professes a stereotype, and the rhetorical devices are used to express female superiority and male misogynistic tendencies. Firstly and ironically, Scout, the supposed representation of Lee as a young girl, envisions herself as a boy, whereas Lee believes that girls are inherently preferable to boys. Lee purposely has Scout represent these feelings, so that Lee could make the claim that the naivety of youth and a poor, most likely masculine, setting results in the hampering of a girl’s brilliance. Secondly, “other people” is a broad term that grants Lee the ability to stereotype men as haters of strong women who “always imagined things.” Through her analysis of naivety, setting, and misogynistic tendencies, Lee demonstrates how society naturally and unintentionally creates an environment for gender
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandria says Jean Louise Finch “wasn’t supposed to do anything that required pants” and she expected scout to be “playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the add-a-pearl necklace. This reaffirms the gender stereotype that women were meant to look after the house and that females should conform to society’s expectations of them. This highlights how society’s attitude and values about gender stereotypes limit the opportunities for females to have important or influential jobs. In The Help, the majority of the female characters are maids or unemployed. This reflects how gender roles are prevalent in Maycomb County’s society. When Celia Rae Foote states that “kids are the only thing worth living for” it reaffirms the patriarchal values of the society of Jackson County. This also displays how in “The Help” societies’ values and attitudes about gender constricts a female from receiving the same opportunities as their male counterparts and having the same authority as their male
Scout wears overalls and wants to play with and help her brother and her guy best friend. She despises dresses and wants to fit in with the guys. Alexandra shames her for this because she, “needs to act more like a lady,” which Scout could care less about at the age of nine. There is also a speech called “Ain’t I a Woman?” which is about a woman that is trying to stand up for her rights.
As a growing young girl, Scout was learning and experiencing things just like any other child would though growing up. She got older and was able to understand things a lot better as well as being able to apply lessons she had learned in her everyday life. She began to act slightly more grown up in situations such as Aunt Alexandria's dinner party. Scout forgot how much she despised her Aunt and how much she disliked dresses and joined the group of women in their conversations. Despite how she didn't want to "act more like a lady", she played along with her Aunt's "campaign to teach me (Scout) to be a lady" made an exception to please her Aunt and to create some peace between them. Upon hearing the news of Tom's death she concludes "if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I." This shows how Scout was beginning to act more ladylike for her Aunt.
For example, one of Scout’s elderly neighbors shouts at Scout one day and says “What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!” (Lee 85) which demonstrates how the pressure to be a lady is forced onto girls regardless of how young the girl is. This statement and numerous others leave Scout with the unwanted burden of attempting to be a proper lady. This internal conflict within Scout is shown when she replies that she wants to be “just a lady,” (Lee 196) after being asked about what Scout wants to be when she’s older.
Scout recalled Jem screaming: “Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day” (Lee 24). Of course, after hearing this, Scout was determined to stick what Jem was doing to “prove herself.” This impacted the plot by letting Jem’s crazy schemes occur; perhaps, if Scout had left instead of going along, Jem would have reconsidered his actions. But, since Scout hated to be called a girl, Jem and Scout ended up sneaking into the Radley yard to peer in, which ended in them almost being killed. Thus, gender roles have impacted the plot of To Kill a Mockingbird by encouraging Scout to be tough and provoking the
Therefore, the author favors Scout's unique personality and implies women do not have to act in a stereotypical manner. The book might inspire young girls to become independent and create their own unique personalities. To Kill a Mockingbird emerges as an important novel that contradicts female society and suggests that girls should not feel pressure to act in scripted "womanly" roles.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, forms of discrimination are seen throughout the book. Scout is expected to act as a female and lady instead of the tomboy she is at heart.