Sexism In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

The act of prejudice is one that everyone experiences. Whether it be, a person who is distributing hate, or a person who is receiving hate, everyone has contact with it. Although it is present all over the globe, it is prominent in the United States. Both in the present and the past, endless acts of discrimination have taken place and left a monumental impact on the country. The effect that it leaves can be seen in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In this story, sexism, racism, and isolation, are demonstrated in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. As the story progresses, Lee compares these concepts to one another and uses them to make a statement about the problematic nature in America.

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.

Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, one of the main characters, Scout, is impacted by sexism from her family, peers, and community. The book is set in the 1930’s when women were definitely not thought of as equal. There were certain social rules that girls should follow and the ways that society told them to act. The scout is a character that is impacted by sexism throughout the story. She is a young girl that changes because of the oppression that is placed on her by her family and peers. The character Scout is affected by sexism, which Harper Lee uses to develop the reader’s perception of Scout from indecisive and confined to determined, criticized, and conflicted and finally to confident, conflicted, and decisive.

Because of what people have heard about Scout, they stereotype that she isn’t ladylike because she acts like a boy and wears overalls. Mrs. Dubose, the Finch’s neighbor, says, “’…what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways- a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café-hah!’”(Lee 135). In this case, Scout is considered a stereotype, but she changes her ways. Scout is confronted with her own stereotypes in the novel but as she grows and learns, she begins to regret her actions. Scout changes her ways throughout the book in order to get rid of the label people put on her. Even though she is still a tomboy at heart, Scout learns how to control her actions and act more like a lady.

Although some people think that the problems of civil rights is gone, it is more present than ever. Racial discrimination is occurring in many ways and prejudice is a huge contributing factor which many people don’t realize. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a family in the South during the 1930’s, experience prejudice at the extreme. Young Scout, who is the narrator, lives in Maycomb, Alabama where there is a lot of racism. Because of this, many problems erupt when people try to change the towns ways. Scout grows throughout the book as she experiences many events that test her strength. In the novel, Lee uses the characterization of Scout to demonstrate that innocent children who witness cruelty, often question

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

In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, sexism is a prevalent issue that has yet to be tackled. In Chapter 4, Scout relates a comment made by her brother, Jem, saying, “I was not so sure, but Jem told me that 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” (Lee, 54). This instance is one of many in which women are being degraded by fellow males. Due to the constant and never-ending harassment by Jem, Scout is convinced that “acting like a girl” is unfavorable, seldom wearing dresses or practicing ladylike qualities. This issue of sexism is still very much present in today’s society, because, based upon an article published by the National Partnership for Women & Families, “In Kentucky, median annual pay for a woman who holds a full-time, year-round job is $33,704 while median annual pay for a man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $42,203. This means that women in Kentucky are paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to an annual wage gap of $8,499” (“Kentucky Women and the Wage Gap”). With this difference in pay rates between men and women, Kentucky women lose a combined total of around five billion

Another type of prejudice is sexism is a problem all over the world, just as it is in To Kill a Mockingbird. Sexism is an “attitude or behavior towards people that judge or belittle them in the basis of their gender”. ( megaessay.com) women have been more effected by sexism through out a number of years, women were to only wear dresses, not aloud to work but to only stay home clean, look after the house and the children. Also they were not allowed out without a male escort and were not eligible to vote in elections. In the novel, Scoutt Finch is always dressing like a boy in overalls. Scoutt’s Aunt Alexander was always trying to get her to wear dresses and telling her to be more lady like. One day Scoutt and her brother were playing and Scoutt got upset

Throughout Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Jean Louise Finch, or Scout for short, has come a long way and learned an awful lot of vital life lessons. However, perhaps the most important lesson of them all, Scout learns that ultimately, people will act the way that they have been taught. She learns this lesson on several occasions in the novel, but primarily in the way gender expectations are maintained in their society, and exclusion together with abandonment. Both are fairly controversial, and that is a direct result of the way that people have been taught and the knowledge that they have. Prior to the mid 20th century, gender was extremely one sided.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee instills the old idea that all women should be homemakers. They should be caring mothers. They should be obedient wives. These are old, sexist views, set in stone by the simple passing down of values; some of which still occur today. Considering that the Finches lived in Maycomb, Alabama, these ideas are all around them, but it’s not until Scout and Jem’s

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee develops the theme of gender roles through characterization. During the 1930’s, stereotyping between males and females were prominent and even today in our society .Scout challenges the idea of gender roles to remain a tomboy. She challenges characters such as Aunt Alexandra and Jem. Primarily unconventional in terms of gender, these role models fluctuate between different ideas. Lee describes characters that resist agreeing to the example of masculinity and femininity and instead fill middle positions between the stereotypes, as Scout’s tomboy a behavior exemplifies.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the children of different genders were treated differently. The females were expected to stay home and learn how to take care of a home, whilst the males were expected to horse play and make up games. With this in mind, The Role of Women in 1930s South and Women Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird was an integral part of the history that inspired

Harper Lee demonstrates the gender inequity In to Kill a Mockingbird through the description and words of the female narrator, Scout. The prejudice of Maycomb is shown so clearly, even an innocent child like Scout can see the raging extent of gender prejudice that surrounds her. Scout having traits that are more masculine in quality automatically makes her an outcast and disliked by Maycomb's many conforming ideals. Scouts innocence allows the novel to develop through an unbiased perspective. Women had little to serve in juries and there was the constant expectation all women had to act and dress like a Lady. Aunt Alexandra an evident example of having strong beliefs on how separate genders should behave, constantly scolding Scout for wearing her overalls and behaving too tomboyish." I was not so sure, but Jem told me i was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, thats why other people hated them so, and if i started behaving like one i could just go off and find some to play with. (4.119) Scout is raised to believe boys were better than girls, raised in a bigoted and heavily bias community, scout finds it a difficult and unfair experience trying to understand the unjust perceptions of the adults around her. Having Scout narrate the whole novel allows Harper lee to highlight the gender inequity in Maycomb.

After her dry but sexist conversation with Francis, Francis insulted her father for defending a black man in court, which likes most people, in raged her causing her to act “unfeminine” by beating him up. In this scene of the novel Scout is defying the gender role of a delicate woman who will keep your floors shiny. This scene in the book would have almost been empowering, and Scout would have been considered a feminist if she hadn’t briefly told her cousin that women do the domestic work. Unfortunately Scout is not a feminist she may defy gender roles but that’s just because her role model is a little boy. Scout not only encourages gender roles but she also finds them amusing. For example, Scout asks Atticus, who is a lawyer, why they never see people like her and Miss Maudie, one of the family’s neighbors, Atticus responds with the reason that Miss Maudie is a woman and when Scout appears confused Atticus replies with a joke, “I guess I’ts to protect our frail ladies from sordid case like Tom’s. Besides I doubt if we’d ever complete a case –the ladies’d be interrupting to ask questions, Jem and I laughed” (Lee, 206). Atticus is implying that women are dumb and too weak to handle a case that consists of rape, and after making that sexists joke Scout laughed with Jem, this scene in the book shows how Scout has even adopted the same gender belittling scence of humor as her father and

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is an ideal display of feminism that takes place during the period of depression in the south. It portrayed the two kinds of women found in the south during this time, the women who were pro the feminist movement, and the average Southern women. Sadly some women mistakenly rebelled against the ideals of society, by just being themselves. Men and women were to conduct themselves as ladies and gentlemen, were men were expected to dress in suit and ties and women were expected to wear dresses and be courteous. Since southern towns were so sheltered from the liberal views of the rest of the world they had no chose but to abide by these gender roles.