Discrimination, Anti Feminism, And Gender Inequality

America’s social climate is described as “the melting pot” while the underlying conditions in our current society has, and may always remain one of class, gender, sexual orientation and race discrimination. The origination of our nation began with immigrants seeking freedom from oppressive governments however the method of eradication or control of indigenous peoples and dominating over them became the norm. In today’s climate we have come a long way from dominant oppression and classes based on race and evolved into a subversive form of oppression. The Ethnic Studies course has enlightened my view of conditions and how films discreetly reinforce the stereotypes and class structures to maintain a particular ideology. For this reason, I chose to view the movie The Help because it is considered to promote the ideology of empowering black women during the tumultuous and dangerous 1960s civil rights movement in a volatile Jackson, Mississippi. While the movie delivers a powerful and intriguing theme, the reality is that Hollywood has yet again provided the Eurocentric view and classical style or naturalized ideology through stereotypical roles and dominant power needed to deliver the lower class (black women) to feeling empowered to fight the system.

The movie, The Help, is based on the book written by Kathryn Stockett. It was released in 2011 and directed by Tate Taylor (Taylor, 2017). The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s, and it is about the experiences black women had as maids for white families. These women decided to risk it all and tell their stories in an effort to show what is was really like for them (Taylor, 2011). The Help illustrates how these women fought racism and prejudice by becoming unified with one another. This paper will address how prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, and inequality affect the characters and their relationships in the story.

Before this class, I was aware of feminism but also uncertain on the meaning. I knew gender inequality existed throughout history and currently. Growing up in the rural Midwest, feminism was not perceived as a positive movement. Little was taught or said about feminism in any primary education. We learned about women’s suffrage and that was it. After, taking this class, I understand that feminism is so much more than woman’s suffrage in the early 1900s.

Both physical and emotional abuse explored The Colour Purple and The Help helps to create awareness of the central issues. Both are novels that carry a lot of similarities, where the female characters are portrayed as ‘invisible’, ‘servants’ and ‘child carers’. However, after reading carefully into the biographical work of both authors the critical difference I observed was that The Colour Purple is written by an African-American woman who may have truly experienced the harshness of what she was writing about; on the other hand The Help by a white woman who had servants at an early age of her life, who would help her has enabled me to consider not only if the novel lacks authenticity but if Kathryn’s reason to writing the novel was to catch the readers mind about such harsh conditions of to actually affect the audience with the physical and emotional abuse. Walker was born in 1944, Georgia, USA, a life rooted in the hardship of the racial terror and the wisdom of the African-American life and culture of that time. On the other hand, Kathryn Stockett was born 1969, Jackson, Mississippi, USA, after the uproar of the civil rights movement; she is an English/Creative Writing graduate of the University of Alabama.

Before watching the movie, I already had a general knowledge of racism in the United States, the civil rights movements of the 1960s, and the discrimination that African Americans went through. I have seen different movies based on the civil rights movement and segregation, but this movie was the first one that I saw that focus on African American women experiences during the civil rights movement. After watching the movie, years later I decided to read the book that based on. The book “The Help” was published in 2009, by the author Kathryn Stockett. This story is about African Americans women working for white households in Jackson Mississippi, during the early 1960s.

Despite its recognition for giving a voice to the unheard African American domestic workers, the multi-nominated book turned movie, The Help written by Kathryn Stockett, still perpetuates numerous stereotypes (Stockett). The book and movie pull characters that match into the black mammy, strong

Throughout history, sexism has went from being one of the most undiscussed topic to being one of the most diverse, controversial topics in the United States. Sexism can be described as “Unfair treatment of people because of their sex; especially; unfair treatment to women” (Merriam- Webster). Thesis

Gender bias, also known as sexism, is a full of attitudes, laws, taboos, preferences, and behaviors that differentiates and discriminates against either sex. These may be a position of which male dominance and female subjugation in the modern society. It could also be a form of sexual stereotypes between men and women, these are commonly experienced in employment versus other positions. A final place that discrimination is faced is the academic environment, the female to male ratios are not in sync in certain programs and courses because of this and it is pressuring men and women to not go into certain fields and do what they love and please. Most advertisements on Television, magazines, newspapers, online ad’s, use a charged sexually image with a female as the star. Women are to be a pleasure for men, and nothing else. Many people have different opinions on genders and sexuality and that is okay, but sometimes you just need to keep them to yourselves.

The Color Purple by Alice walker is a book about a woman named Celie who lives in the southern part of the united states. She had a difficult life because she was consistently oppressed by the men in her life but eventually stood up for herself and her situation greatly improved. One passage on pages 199 - 201 addresses a common topic in this book being patriarchy. In this passage the author shows how oppressed women in this society were and how they overcame it.

Throughout history man has always felt superior to women. Though most believe that America has moved past this discrimination, it is still very much so practiced. Of course in the news we hear about how women are treated in other countries. They either work all day for the family, have little to no rights, or in general are put down. In the U.S. the discrimination may not seem as bad, but with how advanced America is, any discrimination should not be practiced. Whether it be receiving lower wages or an easy target to abuse, women in America are still greatly chastised for being who they are. Other countries not as advances as the U.S. or who have different customs provide the women their with little respect as well. They have specific duties

"The Women's Rights Movement, 1848–1920 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives." The Women's Rights Movement, 1848-1920. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/>.

The acclaimed book, The Help, explores these ideas. As the novel shows poor African American women who work as maids for upper class white women expressing the way minority women are overshadowed and ignored in society. At the beginning of the novel the women are all portrayed very stereotypically and very oppressed by both their bosses and the world around them. It reveals the way many minority constantly are under attack by the social circumstances. However towards the end of the novel the women start to change and come out from under their stereotypes, feminist literary critics praised these aspects of the novel and how the women overcome their racial and gendered oppression. This contemporary literature showed and used many aspects of

The Help (2011), based on Kathryn Stockett’s novel of the same name, follows the stories of Skeeter Phelan, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson in 1960s’ Mississippi. These women come together to write a book from the perspective of the “help”, a group of African American women who are mistreated by the white families they work for. I chose this movie for its strong female protagonist and the brave women who risked their lives by letting their voices be heard.

Society has changed and evolved throughout time. Perhaps one of the most significant changed in contemporary American society is the treatment towards African Americans. “The Help” a feature film directed by Tate Taylor is based on the non-fictional novel “The Help” written by author Kathryn Sockett. The feature film explores the life of African American maids of Jackson Mississippi, in the early 1960’s. The 1960’s displayed all African Americans to being left out of the “American dream” through neglect and racism. African Americans faced prejudice and discrimination in almost every aspect of their life, from jobs to housing and even their education. They were denied the right to sit at the same lunch counter or use the same public rest

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary