Gender Roles In The Movie The Help

Picture this: it was the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi, the heart of the south. The era of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement were in full force. It was also the beginning of the second wave of feminism and since this second wave was simultaneous with the Civil Rights Movement, women of color were now being included as they fought for their rights. The movie The Help explores race and gender in the 1960’s through the characters of Skeeter, Celia Foote and the two maids, Aibileen and Minny, along with their white bosses Ms. Hilly and Ms. Elizabeth Leefolt. Gender roles and expectations of both black and white women in the south in the 1960’s were oppressive, sexist and racist. Traditionally, the home is a feminine space, giving white women control and command in an otherwise sexist society. However, during this time, black women found the homes of their white employers to be a public place in which they had to fight for respect and equality. The movie The Help portrays how the home transformed into a battleground for social change, mirroring the fight at the rallies and in the courtrooms, for both women and blacks.

Feminist ideas are seen in the movie when Skeeter spoke about her bond with the maid that raised her, Constantine, which later translates into her desire to give these women a voice through her book. Through the development of her book, not only does Skeeter break the class and race divide so prominently avoided by other white southern women and challenge the racist norms of the South, she also questions the southern culture that expects women to marry, stay home, and have children. By graduating from the University of Mississippi and joining the workforce right away, Skeeter shys away from the norm of becoming a housewife and epitomizes the ideals of modern day