Gender Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee

The main issue of the section we are acting out of Chapter 11 in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is the prejudice that Ms. Dubose holds. She is both sexist and racist, both forms of prejudice that were common back in her generation, but were finally starting to change at that time. Aunt Alexandra and Ms. Dubose, most likely having been raised in the same time period, were both offended by Scout wearing pants. Ms. Dubose specifically asked ‘What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!’ (Lee, 101), which is greatly reminiscent of what Alexandra said at Christmas. Obviously, they were both raised with the same morals about having to wear dresses, causing them to be unintentionally sexist and myopic.

It began as an ordinary day in Mingora, Pakistan, for a young girl returning home from school on her school bus. Suddenly, a masked gunman rushed into the bus and shouted, “Who is Malala?” Her friends on the bus looked back at her, and in the blink of an eye she was shot on the left side of her face. This incident was the spark that ignited a call for change in education around the world. Malala Yousafzai was the face of this change. She made significant contributions to female education rights by being an education activist and urging children to speak out and fight for their rights. She forever changed the lives of Pakistani girls who today benefit from free education and resources with numerous schools around their country.

Across the world people think of Malala Yousafzai as one of the most revolutionary women in the world for her stance against heresy and gender discrimination. She has showed through example that she is willing to give her life in the defense of her beliefs regarding women’s rights to education. Malala is an equal rights activist; she continually fights for women to have the same rights as all other people. Malala has endured a long and dangerous path to make people aware of the discrimination and dangers that women are facing in Pakistan and all over the world. Her famous journey and non-violent methods has had a profound effect and has resulted in the world taking a more active part in her fight for equal rights and women 's education.

Atticus said, “They’ve done it befor and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it-seems that only children weep”(Lee 285). To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee. It is about two siblings , Jem and Scout, who live in a small town called Maycomb. Their father Atticus, is a well known lawyer, who is defending an African American that was accused of raping a white women. Throughout the novel, Jem and Scout are introduced to discrimination and learn that it’s an everlasting problem. Prejudice and discrimination are important themes in To Kill a Mockingbird because of racism, sexism, and ageism.

Scout was particularly affected by gender discrimination as she was a girl. She was told she acted too much like a boy when she should be acting like a girl. Scout described Aunt Alexandra as “Fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to 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 pant” (108). Aunt Alexandra discriminated Scout for not wearing lady like attire and told her that if she continued to dress that way then she could not be a lady. Aunt Alexandra soon became determined to put an end to Scout’s non-feminine behavior. Atticus tried to explain to Scout that "She asked me to tell you must try to behave like the little lady and gentleman that you are. She wants to talk to you about the family and what it's meant to Maycomb County through the years, so you'll have some idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly"(178). Atticus decided to take his sister’s word and told his children what they should act like despite him not approving of this. Scout’s behavior is what leads her Aunt Alexandra to discriminating her and telling her she will never be a lady if she continues to not dress

Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until

Throughout the span of the human race, many people and organization have stood up for the right of others. Some scientists raced against time to produce vaccines that saved millions if not billions of lives. On the other hand, many speakers traveled across the globe to promote individual’s freedom and rights. In wartime, more people regardless of their backgrounds worked tirelessly to save lives of many individuals who faced genocide. Undoubtedly, history has foretold that at any moment in time, people are working tremendously so that other people may have a better world to live. Regarding education, Malala Yousafzai, known as Malala, has put all her efforts in promoting education to every child living on earth. She was a target of an insurgent group, but now she is the savior of many children. Thanks to her works, many children now have an education which they have never once dreamed they would have. Her moral courage will be a legacy that she leaves for humans.

"The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about yet refuse to investigate" -Dr. Wayne Dyer. During the 1930s, the period of the Great Depression displays various forms of discrimination in TKaM, a historical novel written by Harper Lee. Coming out of the Civil War, the 19th Amendment, and the Roaring Twenties people living in this poor Alabama county can not fix their racist and intransigent mindset. Racism towers over all prejudice in the tiny Maycomb County. Interaction with a black person to them is an interaction with a devil on earth. Besides the profound racism, the novel shows bigotry which affects the majority of citizens in the large society of straight-minded people. Having divorced parents, being exceptionally poor, and being a woman are just three examples of kinds of differentiation characters endure shame for. The most obvious form of discrimination in the novel is racism; however, there are other types of prejudice and

In Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, she illustrates conflicts in modern day society. Classism and Gender Bias were common terms during the 1930s. During this time, segregation was strongly observed, Lee uses this knowledge to create racial tension between classes and genders. Her characters represent all areas of life in the South. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, she illustrates classism and Gender Bias through the characters of Aunt Alexandra, Atticus Finch, and Bob Ewell.

There are many examples of literature that exhibit gender stereotyping. Too often, classical pieces of literature that are read in high school also showcase and help contribute to these negative gender stereotypes present in modern society. Classical literature reinforces negative gender stereotypes through objectification, sexist language, and gender roles. Objectification of women is present in many pieces of classical literature. Women in these pieces are portrayed in such a way that they are made to be owned and are treated as material objects.

The impact that racism has on To Kill A Mockingbird creates several complications throughout the novel. Many of the characters experience being racially profiled, their self-esteem being lowered publically and having stereotypes put on them. The combination of these acts against the African Americans in this novel allows Scout and Jem to realize the effects of discrimination and allows them both to learn lessons. The morals that are taught from witnessing the opposing race being treated as less than human helps guide people in the right direction in the future using the knowledge gained from past experiences. Most of the characters witness unfairness throughout the novel, which contributes to them making brave decisions.

First and foremost, To Kill A Mockingbird illustrates the theme of prejudice by incorporating a gender prejudice. A gender prejudice is a stereotype that can be used against both genders and is often known as sexism. The sexist stereotype is shown when Aunt Alexandra moves into the Finch household as a “feminine influence” for Scout. Scout had grown up with her father and her brother, but without her mother. Atticus did not mind if Scout acted more like a lady or if she kept her boyish behavior and acted the way she had been acting her whole life.

Malala Yousafzai’s is a women’s activist for youth education, but primarily for girls. On July 12th, 2013, she delivered an address at the Youth Takeover of the United Nation. This speech is powerful, eye opening and deserves to be heard. She is addressing two audiences, one being the people that follow her same belief for education, some of those people would be at this convention and the other being the people that disagree with her purpose, like the Taliban. Yousafzai was in 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan, which used to be a popular tourist destination. As of now the region has been taken into control of the Taliban. Her father is also an anti- Taliban activist and educator. She, her father and tons of others just want thing to be like they used to. Where they had a safe neighborhood and didn't have to worry about violence. She delivered a speech riddled with excellent use of rhetoric to convey her argument. Malala’s whole purpose for her fight for education of the youth is so that it will stop future violence, She displays this purpose in her speech by using outward focus, compassion and personal experience to her audiences.

“They will not stop me. I will get my education if it is in a home, school, or any other place” these are the words of Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel peace prize winner, a human rights activist, and a Pakistani girl, who has traditions, stories, and a unique experience. She was named after Malalai of Maiwand, the greatest heroine of Afghanistan, and she lives up to her name as a heroine for girls education. Despite the cultural traditions of Malala Yousafzai’s community, she has grown as a world leader in spreading world peace throughout the globe, through her challenges, her accomplishments, and her growth in publicity, with her common goal being an education for all girls.

On July 12, 2013, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, delivered her first public speech, to the United Nations Youth Takeover, where she persuasively articulated her aspiration to reach out to young, adolescent advocates the deficient nature of education, specifically in regards to women and young children. During Yousafzai’s advocacy for children’s right to education, her spoken ambition was to reach a global audience in hopes of bringing awareness to a troublesome issue. Likewise, throughout the speech, Yousafzai effectively expressed her gratitude to the people who have made an influence in her life, including the champions of the world Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah as well as the countless teachers she had who motivated her to persist in further educating herself. Nevertheless, she also commendably reveals through her Nobel Peace Prize Speech that the award is not only for herself, but, consequently, for those “disregarded” children who continually yearn for education on a daily basis. This successfully demonstrates that she is not above those children, but, instead, stands with them. In several illustrations, she conveys the notion that she is not going to stand idly by and witness young girls being denied their rightful education. Accordingly, Yousafzai deliberates, it is moral and upright to fight for what one believes in.