What Is Scout's Femininity In To Kill A Mockingbird

Aunt Alexandra disapproves of Scout because she doesn’t dress or act lady-like. For example, instead of wearing necklaces and dresses, Scout wears overalls and pants.

When Aunt Alexandra came to town more than once Scout struggled with her. One time Scout asked Atticus if she could go to church with Calpurnia to which Aunt Alexandra replied no. Scout threw a fit and was scolded by Atticus. Scout later followed Jem upstairs and scolded her too: “Scout, try not to antagonize Aunty, hear?’ … My feathers rose again. ‘You tryin’ to tell me what to do?’” (137). Jem feels that he is doing the right thing by telling Scout to leave Aunt Alexandra alone, but that’s not how Scout sees it. Scout thinks that he has no right to tell her what to do.

In chapter twenty-four and twenty-five of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout begins to show changes on her views of gender roles. Scout shows a major change by being a part of Aunt Alexandra’s missionary circle. This is surprising because Scout’s earlier encounter with Alexandra’s missionary circle ended in Scout leaving, and Alexandra upset with her. However, Scout joins the ladies in their discussion, but is soon unable to follow.

Instead she follows the social expectations which is hanging out with people of your own social status. A lady would never be with a person like Walter and that was the message Aunt Alexandra was trying to get across. Even though their relationship has been damaged by this incident, Scout still grows closer to being socially expected by the people of Maycomb

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.

As girls grow in life, they mature and change into women. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, begins to mature into a woman. In the beginning of the book, she is a tomboy who cannot wait to pick a fistfight with anyone, but at the end, she lowers her fists because her father, Atticus, tells her not to fight. Scout's views of womanhood, influenced by how Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, and Calpurnia act, make her think more about becoming a woman and less of a tomboy.

“‘You want to grow up to be a lady, don’t you?’ I said not particularly” (Lee). Jean Louise Finch is a tomboy growing up in a world where a girl is expected to become a lady. Submissive housewives and proper ladies were the expectations set for women in the time To Kill A Mockingbird took place. Scout Finch lived in a household that had a strong male influence; aside from Calpurnia, she had no real present example of what she was supposed to become. Because of this, Scout refused to conform to the ways of the rest of the women in Maycomb and the world (Lee 84).

Scout does not like the frilly and girly way of life and resists the pressures put on her. When her uncle asks her if she “want[s] to grow up to be a lady,” Scout responds with “not particularly”(Lee 90). Even adults in her own home encourage her attune to the standards of femininity. To Scout, “Aunt Alexandra offers criticism, she is still more

She only wants Scout to be a true woman; a woman who knows proper manners and the obligations of being a women. “Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.” (Lee, 84). Aunt Alexandra has this vision for Scout which was her to do

Aunt Alexandra thought Scout needed to begin acting like a lady and she expresses these thoughts to both Scout and Atticus. 5) Uncle

While lecturing Scout, Aunt Alexandra portrays, “‘The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people’” (Lee 300). Aunt Alexandra has the temerity to discriminate against the lower classes of Maycomb by telling Scout that she isn’t allowed to play with Walter Cunningham, a poor farmer boy. Scout enjoys Walter’s company and wants to be nice to him because of all of the things his family has done for the Finch’s, but the boy isn’t as well mannered, smart, or as associated as Scout. Aunt Alexandra doesn’t allow Scout to tarnish the Finch namesake or her position within the society. Family name, authority, and respect within the community are all important aspects in Alexandra’s daily life. She realizes that by fraternizing with someone of lower status in the community, their family may be thought less of. Without even realizing that her commentary is hurtful, Alexandra disgraces the Cunninghams and discriminates against the farmers and poorer folk of Maycomb by not allowing Scout to be friends with

Gender roles are another cause of social divisions and inequality the Harper Lee teaches about. Scout defies gender roles and she is looked down upon by many of the women in her community for doing so. Scout’s Aunt Alexandra is one woman who looks down upon scout for this. “Aunt Alexandra was 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 pants,” (108). Aunt Alexandra believes ladies are not permitted to be taking place in activities that require pants. She disapproves of how Scout likes to participate in activities she sees as unladylike. This shows the inequality in this society due to gender roles. Another woman who challenges Scouts appearance as a lady is her neighbor Miss Stephanie. When Aunt Alexandra has a

Scout however, always seems to follow her own decisions on what to wear and how to act even though everyone she knows seem to want to change her into what a woman should be like. Even if traditional femininity isn't weakness scout continues to stick to her own personality and style instead of what her aunt wants for her because her gender does not have to define

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

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