Women In To Kill A Mockingbird

For as long as women have been around they have been looked at as fragile, weak, and less than men. Even though without women, everyone would cease to exist they are automatically downgraded for being themselves. Women often do not call out when women are being judged, but rather are usually the ones judging. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee proves, women are more likely to be judged and ridiculed for not being in the social standards.
Women have always had certain social standards and high expectations on how they carry themselves that they are expected to meet. In multiple circumstances Scout doesn’t understand why being called a girl by Jem is a bad thing, but it must be. ¨I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl,

that girls always imagined things, that's why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.¨ Without her mother there she decided her best companion would be Jem, even if that meant throwing away dresses to be able to keep up with him. Aunt Alexandra has many opinions on how Scout should spend her time. The one time Scout joined the ladies for their afternoon tea, they mocked her for her daily attire. ”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 looks at Scout as if she couldn't see anything bad, because she is a fragile girl, so when Scout goes to the court case without permission Aunt Alexandra is not too happy.
Not only does society have rules and expectations for women, but also does the legal system. Mayella Ewell has accused Tom Robinson of raping her, and while on stand she feels very under pressure. On the jury in the 1930ś, it only consisted of all white men. ¨For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman-,¨ ¨I do. I guess it's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's. Besides," Atticus grinned, "I doubt if we'd ever get a complete case tried—the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions." That quote shows that women are looked at as foolish and not suitable. The men on that jury most likely do not understand anything Mayella is thinking or how she feels because they are men.
Mayella Ewell is a much different character than the rest of the ladies that we meet throughout the book. Atticus gives his closing testimony stating, ¨She did something every child has done—she tried to put the evidence of her offense away from her. But in this case she was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out at her victim¨ When atticus states this he is comparing Mayella to a child, most likely saying she is small and mincing, but when you look at Mayellaś life she is actually very confused and helpless.
Women are naturally looked down upon, if they do not follow the ¨normal standards¨ for a lady, as proven by Harper Lee in To Kill A Mockingbird.