Gender Roles In The Help

Racism is a prevalent theme in the book "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, the story follows the lives of black maids working in white households and the relationships they form with the young white privileged women they work for. These women have dedicated their lives to raising white children and caring for their households. Despite their hard work and dedication, they are treated unfairly and with disrespect because of the color of their skin. The maids are paid less than their white counterparts and are not allowed to use the same facilities as them. Hilly Holbrook exemplifies racism throughout the book. She feels as though it is hazardous for people of colour to use the same bathroom as white

Throughout the novel, the characters are constantly negotiating their place in a world that has strict expectations for their behavior based on their gender. The black maids, Aibileen and Minny, struggle against the expectations placed on them as women of colour in the South and fight for respect and independence. The white women in the novel, including Hilly and Skeeter, also grapple with the limitations of gender roles and the pressure to conform to traditional expectations. Charlotte, Skeeter's mother, is unhappy that her daughter is still single and has various ideas for resolving it. She tries to improve Skeeter's appearance, manners, clothing, and attitude toward life. Charlotte is constantly comparing her youthful self to her daughter as she says “...here you are twenty-three years old and I’d already had Carlon Jr. at your age….” (5.66) This quote reveals the societal expectations in which these women are strangled within. The anticipation is that they will become mothers and fulfill traditional gender roles as homemakers and caregivers. It is made abundantly clear how badly Miss Celia desires a child. She has gone through several traumatic miscarriages and has kept them hidden from her husband. Her hesitation in telling him shows the deeper worry she has about losing what she feels is her purpose as a wife, which is to carry a child for her husband. “What’s he going to do with me?” (18.276) She fears that if she informs Johnny, he will too discard