Women In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

As the United States was continuing recovering from the Civil War and embracing the expansion of the West, industrialization, immigration and the growth of cities, women’s roles in America were changing by the transformation of this new society. During the period of 1865-1912, women found themselves challenging to break the political structure, power holders, cultural practices and beliefs in their “male” dominated world.

Everyone can agree that sexism had its talons deep in the flesh of the American mindset during the 1800's and although this is an obvious fact, few people understand just how hostile an environment it was for a woman. Among those few, were the women living in this malicious medium. From corsets to kitchens, housekeeping to health, life was not easy for even the most well-to-do woman. Although not all women decried their situation, a strong-minded minority dropped their oven mits, put their fists in the air, and called out for a change. Equal opportunity, equal right to vote, equal pay, and all around equality is what they demanded. But feminism was not only found at suffrage rallys or Grange meetings, it made its way in to every medium,

After studying women and gender history in early America for the past semester, my views about American history have changed tremendously. Having very little prior experience with history, I had many assumptions and preconceived notions from high school history classes. Women were never even mentioned in my previous learning about U.S. history, so I assumed they took on unimportant roles and had little, if any, impact on shaping our country’s history. However, after this semester of delving deeply into the women of early America, I could not have been more incorrect. Although they were not typically in the public realm, we cannot fully understand history without studying women. The following readings uncovered the roles of women in the private sphere and were crucial to my new understanding of the importance of women in American history by bringing women to the forefront.

Through Women’s Eyes by Ellen Carol DuBois and Lynn Dumenil addresses American History from 1865 until present day. The third edition of this textbook includes visual and primary sources over several centuries. I used this textbook in a history course, “Women in the United States, 1890 – Present;” I found the textbook to be engaging, helpful, and useful throughout the course. The way in which in the information was presented allowed me to learn, assess, and analyze the difficulties women faced.

When Jem tells Scout that she is “gettin’ more like a girl everyday.” he means that she use to be able to withstand playing with them but slowly she's being kinda questioning things or not all in. When she was not sure about going to look into the window of the Radley residence at night with them he was aggravated and told her shut up or go home. In my opinion, girl just simply means female. Back then girls were suppose feminine ladies that cleaned,cooked, and took care of the children. Now girls can be and do whatever they want.

Towards the end of the 1800s and into the beginning of the 1900s, the roles of women in society and in the family began to change drastically compared to what it had been in the past. Women were now allowed to own land, vote, and do more than cook and clean. Willa Cather and William Faulkner portray the roles of women in the early 1900s in their short stories, “Neighbor Rosicky” and “A Rose for Emily.” These short stories were both published around the year 1930. Because of what was happening in the US at the time, these stories are very good examples of the ways women were treated at this time.

Women were considered frail, unintelligent, and unable to make decisions in eighteen-hundredths America. It was traditional wisdom that a woman’s place was in the home. The Civil War marked a turning point for women and their role in society. Through my research consisting of books, letters, speeches, and articles, I will tell the story of a time in America when women rose to satisfy the needs of the country when most men were away fighting the war. This essay will analyze the roles of women in eighteen-hundredths America, by evaluating how women’s roles had changed; they now were nurses, soldiers/spies, and public workers/activists.

The oppression of women has occurred all throughout history across the world in the thousands of years that patriarchy has existed. During recent times as social standards have progressed, the voices of women are heard more often than long ago. Nonetheless, it is often overlooked that women of decades before used their voices in other ways in order to speak out against oppression. One of the ways these women did this was in their literary writing. Despite the progress made today to stand up against oppression of women, there is much that can be learned by looking back at problematic situations portrayed by women writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Out of all of the texts written by women only three will be discussed; Rebecca Harding Davis’s Life in the Iron-Mills, Susan Glaspell’s A Jury of Her Peers and Flannery O’Connor’s Good Country People, in which specific symbols are used as representations of the ways in which women were oppressed and how important it is to study these texts today. By narrowing down the number of literary texts to three as well as discussing only one literary device from each, one can begin to understand the importance of learning about the American women’s literary tradition.

Two-hundred years is a sizeable gap of time that allows plenty of room for change. American society had been rapidly changing from the early seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century, but despite this, the roles and rights of women have remained locked in place. There were many factors to consider as to why women were not allowed to flourish in their time and exceed these boundaries, and while some accepted it, there were many that opposed and faced these difficulties head on. Two female authors, one from colonial times, and one from nineteenth century America, have written about the obstacles and misogyny they’ve overcome in a male dominated literary career. Despite the two-hundred-year gap between the lives of Margaret Fuller and Anne Bradstreet, they both face issues regarding the static stereotype that women are literarily inferior and subservient handmaids to men.

In Anthony’s fourth paragraph, she discusses the idea that if women really are not citizens then they are subjected to living in an oligarchy. This raises an emotional response in the audience because women do not want to and should not have to be forced into being the lesser. Anthony’s second paragraph, in which she discussed the perception of mockery women were subjected to, also raises an emotional response in the audience. For example, “And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government- the ballot.” this statement evokes emotion because it allows the audience to see the humiliation women faced on a day to day basis (Anthony paragraph 2). The fact that women were not allowed to vote and were spoken to as if they enjoyed their liberty of law invokes embarrassment in the audience. This was effective because it allows the male members of the audience to feel the way the women did, in certain instances.

How much power do women have in our society? Many people argue that women do not really posses much power or contribute to our society. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tries to emphasize the ways women in the novel control and contribute to their society. Female power is when a woman has or lacks control of herself or others. Moreover, female power in the novel is seen through the three perspectives of Scout, Mayella, and Miss Stephanie. Throughout the county of Maycomb, the theme of female power is seen through isolation, fear, and education.

Even within small and introvert communities misjudgement always finds a way to divide people. In To kill a Mockingbird written in 1960, Harper Lee in detail show the 1930s through a child's perspective. She effectively conveys how judgemental and exclusive be aside from racist and misleading civilians can be. Scout being a tomboy negatively impact her ability to relate to others especially most female roles in her community and even within her family. Most female roles judge and condemn her for not matching ladylike standards due to her intoloratable dressing, violent attitude and harsh language.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, gender plays a large role in the events and character’s portrayal. Scout, the main character, is mainly labelled for her distaste for dresses and other stereotypically feminine activities, habits, and items. When she joins the missionary circle of women, Lee makes a clear statement about Scout’s preference of men over women in general. This stems from her observance of the women’s distaste for men, which reflects on Atticus’s successful raising of Jem and Scout to accept all people. Later, however, Lee shows that even Atticus has learned to harbor judgement from society after the rape trial when Jem asks why women can’t serve in court. One facet of prejudice that Harper Lee explores in To Kill A Mockingbird

Throughout the evolution of the world’s societies, the roles of women seem to act as a reflection of the time period since they set the tones for the next generation. Regardless of their own actions, women generally appear to take on a lower social standing and receive an altered treatment by men. In Mark Twain’s pre-civil war novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, lies a display of how society treats and views women, as well as how they function in their roles, specifically in regards to religion and molding the minds and futures of children. The novel’s showcase of women affords them a platform and opportunity to better see their own situation and break away with a new voice.