To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Roles

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.

How Scout Develops from a Tomboy to a Young Lady in To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus and Aunt Alexandria make the decision that Scout needs more feminine influence but Scout has a negative opinion towards the stereotypical female interests and her opinion on the matter of how she wants to grow up is ignored. These characters show the readers the effects of discrimination against women and the lack of power women had in the 1930's.

By using characterization in To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee shows how people try to drive others to follow their gender role and makes us wonder, why do people want this? In an argument with Aunt Alexandra Scout says, “I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could not do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants.” (108). We can clearly understand that Aunt Alexandra is trying to make Scout stop wearing overalls and instead wear girl clothes, in doing so, she is restricting Scout from doing the activities she enjoys like playing and running. Not only does Aunt Alexandra want Scout to stop wearing overalls which are for boys but also wants to make Scout a lady, she wants her to learn a woman's role, which helps prove my claim. In my theses I mention that people try to change others and in this case Aunt Alexandra is trying to change Scout into someone she is not, as can be seen this is not the only time people try to change the way Scout behaves. During Christmas at Finch's Landing Uncle Jack is correcting Scouts behavior, “Scout, you will get in trouble if you go around saying things like that. You want to grow up to be a lady, don’t you? (105). The reason for Scout getting in trouble is a result of her unladylike language, her uncle warns her that she is not to use that sort of language. As the book advances Scout becomes develops into a girl who is learning new skills and expressions every day, but because some aren’t appropriate for her, a woman, she is prohibited from doing so, or she will face ramifications. If Scout doesn’t want to face the consequences, she will behave and act like a lady, which is the last thing she wants to do, she will become one of several who had to adjust their lives in order to be a member of the society they live in.

To begin, one character that breaks stereotypes is Scout. A major stereotype that she faces is gender roles. Throughout the novel, she is told by family and neighbors alike to act and dress like a girl. “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

First of all, Scout is more a tomboy than a girl. Boys tend to live by the phrase, “Boys rule. Girls drool.” Scout expresses,” I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.” (45). This quote implies that Scout thinks girl things are bad and boy things are good. She has constantly been taught this. Scout believes she can avoid being a girl by not acting like one. Being a girl to Scout is more about what she does than what she is born with. Another example of Scout being more of a boy is how she reacts to the situation with Walter Cunningham and Miss. Caroline. In the text, Scout states, “Ah-Miss. Caroline? Miss. Caroline, he’s a Cunningham.” (22). The gender role of a girl would usually to sit back and watch everything go down. In Scout’s case, she is outspoken and has no filter. She has to tell Miss. Caroline what everyone else is thinking. It is in this sense and others that Scout challenges the traditional gender roles throughout the

Scout does not conform to the typical standards of southern girls in the 1930’s: she does not act like a lady, gets in fights, and curses. Scout especially hates dresses. She loves her overalls, and will do anything to avoid wearing a dress. At one point, Scout actually considers running away from her family: “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 182). Scout harbors so much hatred towards the stereotypical feminine attire that she contemplates running away. This quote demonstrates the level of distaste she truly has for dresses, and the overall confines of femininity. Scout persistently defies gender roles and acts differently from the conventional woman. This defines Scout’s personality and shapes her adventures throughout the entirety of the

Scout Finch is an unusual little girl. She’s overall intelligent, confident, and thoughtful. Scout Finch is strongly affected by the social force of gender, scouts appearance is irregular and her style does not follow the typical expectations of a girl in the 1930’s. Scout Finch is identified as a tomboy. She has short hair with bangs and chooses to dress in overalls instead of the stereotypical dresses.

Scout Finch was one character in “To Kill a Mockingbird” who broke stereotypes and labels, in this case stereotypes that were imposed on girls. Scout was expected to be polite and ladylike, but instead challenged gender stereotypes with her tomboy-like behavior. Scout wore overalls instead of dresses, held an interest in guns, and played in mud among other things. Behavior such as this upset Aunt Alexandra, who frequently attempted to force gender stereotypes onto Scout. Tom Robinson was another character who broke stereotypes of his time, but unlike Scout Finch, Tom challenged racial stereotypes.

When the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written by Harper Lee, the Southern United States was still clinging tightly to traditional values. Southern societies pressured men to behave as gentlemen, and women were expected to be polite and wear dresses. These stringent gender roles were adhered to in small southern towns because they were isolated from the more progressive attitudes in other areas of the United States. Harper Lee documents the life of one young girl growing up in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Jean Louise Finch, also known as "Scout," is a young girl searching for her identity. Scout, a young tomboy, is pressured by adults who insist she should conform to the

Gender roles have a been a large part of all societies across the world. The book "To Kill A Mocking Bird" written by Harper Lee has a lot of good demonstrations of genders roles of 1930s America. " To Kill a Mocking Bird" is an amazing representation of gender roles because it shows from the perspective of Scout a young girl being raised by her father and her brother. Having a character who sees both perspectives of gender roles shows that it is a good represtentitive of it. The author Harper Lee also shows how she was affected by gender roles by her writing.

Pre World War II era showed that men and women had vastly different gender roles, which lead to separate ideas and beliefs between the two. During the 1930s, women were expected to stay at home and be the wife and mother. They could hold some jobs, but the job opportunities were limited to things such as teachers, clerks, and nurses; however the majority of husbands did not want the wives to work because of their expected gender roles and were still viewed as being weaker than men. Men also did not like that if their wife did work that they themselves would be viewed as not being able to support their family. Women were not only expected to act a certain way but to dress a certain way as well. Women wore dresses everywhere. It was vital to wear a dress no matter if it was at home or work. They would wear dresses that gave them a figure without using a corset and would flow (Hall 232). In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout challenges her role as a female but doesn’t know what her role in society is yet. Scout is a young girl who is blind to how society works for men and women; unknowingly she becomes a pioneer for woman’s rights at a young age in many ways including actions and how she dressed.

Our nation now accepts “tomboys” and “tomgirls” without much hesitation. Harper Lee provides perfect examples of gender roles throughout her book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Right off the bat Harper Lee introduces to us Scout, who clearly has no intention on following the gender roles. Lee portrays Scout as

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.