To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Discrimination Analysis

Although it is not the most pressing matter of the novel, sexism is touched on during several occasions. During the 1930’s, it was not uncommon for unfair treatment of women. Lee hints at this by subtly incorporating acts of sexism into the text. For instance, throughout the story, most women are denied the rights that men have. One of these rights is having the opportunity to work. This can be seen in Miss. Maudie’s character who “can’t serve on a jury because she’s a woman,” (Lee 296). Even though she is more trustworthy than most and is suitable for the job, the reality of that happening is little to none because of her gender. Lee also weaves sexism into the novel by using women as an insult. During one of their many childhood outings, Jem

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.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in July 11, 1960, shows the discrimination throughout the small town of Maycomb. Scout, the daughter of a white lawyer named Atticus, tells what she saw while she was growing up. Harper Lee uses foreshadowing throughout the entire story. When Atticus defends Tom Robinson in an alleged rape case. The people of Maycomb automatically start calling him, Scout, and Jem “nigger-lovers” for defending a black man.

Discrimination is prevalent in the story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the most obvious being the excessive amount of racism (Lee). Racism is the easiest to see but there are more forms of discrimination (Lee). Boo Radley is ostracized from the community when truly nobody really knows him (Lee). People discriminate Scout for being a tomboy not a lady (Lee). The last one that no one ever thinks about is how reverse racism is seen when people threaten Atticus for defending Tom Robinson in court (Lee). Discrimination in any form is a controversial topic but everyone knows that it is not right to discriminate against people.

Throughout the book, you can often see sexist beliefs. Written in the 1950s, based in the 1930s, Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird to challenge and expose many injustices occurring in society in those time periods. One of those injustices is Sexism. Sexism is the discrimination of someone based on their gender. In the 1930s, the sexism was usually towards women. Sexism often promote discrimination in jobs, discrimination from men to women through comments, and discrimination from every one through actions.

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 novel Scout was faced with many gender prejudice. Because she was a tomboy, Aunt Alexandra told scout that she can even hope to be a lady if she wore trousers. She expects Scout to play with stoves necklaces and tea pots. Aunt Alexandra wasn't the only person being prejudice against women. Atticus was also prejudice against women, even though he doesn't judge people. On page 221, he told Jem that women are not allowed to serve on juries in Alabama because the court might never get a complete case because the women would interrupt just to ask questions. Scout also showed gender prejudice to Francis. Francis told Scout that his grandmother was going to teach him how to cook and Scout said boys are not suppose to cook.

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

Scout is also criticized late on in the novel by Mrs. Dubose. As Scout and Jem were going down town Mrs. Dubose insults Scout by saying “what are you doing in those overalls you should be in a dress and camisole young lady!” (Lee101). Mrs dubose saying this shows that girls are restricted to a certain clothing style which they must follow. This is discriminatory because she implies that girls should be kept from wearing some things because of her gender.

According to the United Nations Foundation, 62 million girls around the world are refused education and mentorship programs, such as Step Up, helps to maintain girls in school to get them closer to achieve their dreams. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, focuses on the lives of Jem and Scout, as Scout retells three years of her childhood in the span of 372 pages. The story is about growing up in Alabama during the 1930s, after the Great Depression. During this era, there happened to be rampant discrimination, as such, there was also the same level of discrimination in the small fictional location of Maycomb County. Through the eyes of Scout, readers see how her father, Atticus, is very passionate and dedicated to his

People judge others all the time. Just because someone does not get paid as much means they do not try hard enough, and someone who has a different skin color is automatically a bad person. These thoughts are called prejudice. People have thoughts like these everyday, every hour, every minute, every second, this does not mean it is right. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the people of Maycomb have these thoughts against people like Tom Robinson or Walter Cunningham. But there are some strong characters that go against all the discrimination against these people.Harper lee conveys that a person's income or race does not make them less of a person through the words, thoughts, and actions of Calpurnia, Dill, and Atticus.

It is not fair that women must go through these circumstances of being discriminated against. In the world, there are many stereotypes based on women and they affect how women succeed in life because they are called “weak”. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, presents various topics, including sexism against women, which, in America has not changed from past to present, based on the lack of change of many stereotypes about women which limits women’s freedom and the unfair treatment being done on women which is gender discrimination. In the past, women were often stereotyped and discriminated against. Dennis mentions in the Encyclopedia of the Great Depression states that at an early age children would grow up to follow their gender

In today's society we come across subtle racism so much, it is almost always overlooked. Subtle or convert racism are small thoughtless actions that reflect racism, much like being ignored or being treated differently because of a persons' skin colour. This form of racial discrimination is often based on fears and/or racial stereotypes. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird we come across subtle discrimination shown to Tom Robinson by Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor in his trial. Mr. Gilmer refers to Tom Robinson as "boy", in contrast Mayella is referred to as "Miss Mayella" or "Ma'am". Treating Tom differently (with lack of respect) than Mayella even if its the same situation but for the colour of his skin is subtle discrimination. Shouldn't everyone

Gender Inequality Implanted Through Past and Present In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout says, “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 155). In this novel, Scout, the main character, is adventurous and experiences the world from an unbiased perspective. Scout must follow the strict rules of her “mother figure” Aunt Alexandra.

Gender differences is something that was a major problem in the book with Scout. Scout is a tomboy and she does not like to wear dresses and prefers to wear overalls like Jem, she would rather get into fist fights then sit down and be lady-like. This is also why she is named scout rathe then Jean Louise her given name, but Aunt Alexandra does not like this and tries in every way to get Scout to become a lady, without a mother in her life Aunt Alexandra and Calpurnia are the closes things she got with Calpurnia not caring as much and Aunt Alexandra caring a lot more. Scout does try to be a lady when Aunt Alexandra missionary group comes over and sits down with them and makes conversation as best she can, but she does not fit in with them and