Theme Of Gender Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

Ever since human existence was known, women weren’t treated the same as a man. They were told to stay inside, care for the kids, and look pretty, as a paying man’s job was considered “too hard” for them to accomplish. But, during the years leading up to 1920, women had enough of this, they rallied and marched with a simple message, to be treated equal to a man. Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, set in a 1930’s Alabama, covers women issues at various lengths. From Scout’s tomboyish attitude, gender inequality, and gender roles, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that women should be able to have equal opportunities to men.

Through Scout’s tomboyish attitude,Harper Lee is able to highlight to wrongs in forcing a girl to

Within the book, there are instances which state that women can’t/won’t do a certain task/thing because of reason/excuse. One example of this is when Scout asked Atticus, the Finch’s father, about why people in Maycomb couldn’t sit in the jury stand and mentioned Miss Maudie, a gentle woman who never lets others forget her thorns, Atticus replied, “For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman-" (188). He says the reason for this is, “I guess it's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's."(188) and also that he, “...doubt(s) if we'd ever get a complete case tried—the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions."(188). Atticus is saying that the reason why they can’t be in the jury is because they need to ‘protect them’ and that they just slow down the entire trial process. Even though the only difference between a man and a woman is a single chromosome and organs, they can’t be on a jury just because they are considered not ready or safe enough to judge a

One such example is a common stereotypical female role, the cook. Some instances of this included when Francis, Scout and Jem’s cousin, repeats what his grandma says, “...That all men should learn to cook...be careful with their wifes and wait on ‘em when they don’t feel good”(68). This implies two things, that men should learn to cook along with the women, but that they should only cook when the women is not able too. Thus, the women has to cook every time unless she is sick. Another smaller example of this is when Scout is talking with Francis about his grandma teaching him how to cook ,Scout responds with, “‘Boys don’t cook.’ I giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron.”(68). Along with the prejudice that women have to cook, it was odd to see a man cook for himself or the family as it was assumed that it was the women’s