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How Does Harper Lee Use Gender Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

776 Words4 Pages

I.S. 234 Name: Ying
Date: Class:806

How does Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, combat social issues through moral principles?

In, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she combats social issues, one of them being Gender norms. Gender norms are a way of saying a job that was assigned and should only be done by that gender. In, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout is constantly being told she can't do certain like work or be like a man as it's said only men or males should be in working. On the other hand, the men of the family had to make the money for the family and should only be doing that. Scout is combating this social issue as she is the one experiencing gender norms in, To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee uses Scout to demonstrate Gender norms as a social issue by having her go through these experiences. …show more content…

Scout wasn’t or shouldn't have been doing those things as it made it different from others. One instance that took place was when Jem stopped her and told Scout to be more lady-like, Alexandra had said “We decided it best for you to have some feminine influence” Alexandra in this is saying that since she was born a girl, she should do everything a girl would do instead of being a Tomboy. Scout says “Jem told me I was being a girl, those girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.” Here it shows that people dislike her because of what she thinks and how she looks. Therefore, she is treated differently and looked at differently by the people in Maycomb. This refers to Gender norms and Gender

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The novel took place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s so women were not really thought to be equal, they cooked, cleaned, and took care of the kids, but they didn't expect more from them. Jem, at a young age was already showing gender inequality towards Scout when he yelled at her, "Scout, I'm telling you for the last time, shut your trap or go home. "(Lee 34) This example shows how jem doesn't treat scout fairly, how he screams at her and bosses her around because she is younger and a girl.

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Gender Norms in Maycomb Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird proves how gender norms are often rebelled against, and this can also be connected to the women in Iran who are rebelling against their societal standards. During Scout’s childhood, she experienced many different opinions on how she should dress, which causes her to rebel against them. During Scout’s summer break from school, she often wears overalls and a t-shirt while walking around town with her brother, Jem. To get to town, Scout and Jem have to pass by an older lady’s, Mrs. Dubose, house.

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Think to yourself have you ever been treated a way purely based only the color of your skin? In the book, To KIll A Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many scenarios involving racial issues. In the injustice world of Maycomb made up of a majority of white people and some blacks. The book follows the lives of Atticus, Jem and Scout Finch a white not racist family, that goes through some tough times. Lee teaches her reader that racism causes people to make unjust decisions because they see blacks as half a human.

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Imagine one day you wake up and many of your constitutional rights, such as the right to vote, are gone. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Sexism plays a huge role in many scenarios throughout the story. For example, a quote in the novel states, “ ‘Scout, i’m tellin’ you for the last time to shut your trap or go home- I declare to the lord you’re gettin more like a girl every day.’ With that, I had no option but to join them.”(Lee

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In this matter, Scout is stereotyped as being one of those Maycomb women. Furthermore, young women are expected to participate in “feminine” activities that encourage them to be attractive and behave in delicate ways. To elaborate, “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” (81). In Maycomb, it is naturally assumed that women are only seen for their attractiveness and delicacy. Aunt Alexandra expresses why it is so important for Scout to participate in certain activities that pertain to women’s known roles in society.

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Scout is often found defying gender roles, so she’s very upset when Jem mocks her saying, “ Scout, I'm tellin’ you for the last time, shut your trap or go home- I declare to the Lord, your gettin’ more like a girl everyday!” (Lee 119). Scout then feels obligated to oblige in order to fit in . She then refrains from

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“I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, [Alexandra] said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (Lee 67). Aunt Alexandra expects Scout to fit into the role of a woman, even at such a young age. Another example of the harsh standards placed on Scout is shown when Alexandra is having tea with her friends in chapter 24. Miss Stephanie says, “well, you won’t get very far until you start wearing dresses more often”

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Scout said, “"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. 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...." (108). This quote illustrates how Scout pushes against gender stereotypes, and this is the root of conflicts between her and Aunt Alexandra.

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He wants Scout to change who she is to fit his idea of what being a woman is about. In Jem’s mind, women and girls should not be opinionated and “rough”, they must be feminine and frail.

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Fairly early on in the book, Scout tells us about how Jem told her to go find girls to hangout with, “I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with”(54). In this example, Scout had just finished trying to convince Jem that Atticus knew they were making fun of Boo Radley. The quote shows how Scout is expected to act like a girl and hangout with girls, because girls shouldn’t play rough with the boys. In another example, Aunt Alexandra tries to change the way Scout acts,

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Females in submissive roles were proved by giving examples of when females were looked down upon. An example was when Scout was when Scout wanted to play but was told she could not because she was a girl. Women undervalued was proven by giving the readers examples of when they were treated poorly because they didn’t meet societies standards. Finally, a difference in roles between females and males was shown by informing the readers about the ways that females were told to act compared to males and how it was unfair. Females were treated poorly and had unfair standards they were told they need to meet.

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