In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch faces many common difficulties from the 1930’s, both political and social. Jem and Scout are the children of Atticus Finch, a lawyer who abides by a strict set of personal philosophies, including the importance of honesty and doing what is the ‘right thing’ to do in different situations. Jem and Scout are both heavily influenced by Atticus, and both agree with his philosophies, but don’t understand when others disagree. Atticus, Jem, and Scout all live in the small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. As Macomb is a typical 1930’s town, it faces many common problems during that time period including racism, poverty, and gender roles. As Scout gets older, she becomes more and more affected
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Men were expected to provide, and have families. They were expected to have a job, but they were never expected to do any house work care for their children at home. “Men were socialized to think of themselves as breadwinners; when they lost their jobs or saw their incomes reduced, they felt like failures because they couldn’t take care of their families. Women, on the other hand, saw their roles in the household enhanced as they juggled to make ends meet”2. Women had a long list of things that they were assumed to do at home though. Women had to stay home and take care of their children in most cases, and if they had jobs, “women had to get full education just to be equal with a man who had graduated only elementary school” (Gender roles/birth control). Even so, with an education, women were paid much less and were forced to work in factory jobs. "For the most part women worked long hours for low wages in the 1930s. More than half of all employed women worked for more than fifty hours a week..."1. Women with jobs were still faced with the task of caring for their kids, cooking, cleaning, look presentable, and being a typical housewife overall. Appearance was important as well for women. It was important that they wore nice clothes like dresses and were always clean and put together. Pants were not something typically, if ever, worn by women, and it was looked down upon. Women had exponentially …show more content…
“Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of [Scout’s] attire… [she] said that [Scout] wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (108). Scout has this disagreement on clothing with her aunt during every visit, because Alexandra agrees with the gender roles for that time period. She strongly disapproves of Scout’s attire because she expects her to wear stereotypical female clothes like dresses and pearls. Scout knows that this is is the expectation, and finds it offensive to be referred to as a girl, because she disagrees with the assumption that all women only dress nicely, cook, and clean. But, Scout still accepts this reality. She understands that “‘Boys don’t cook.’ [Scout] giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron” (109). As she watches Calpurnia cook and clean throughout the day, she decides that there is skill to ‘being a girl’.She says to be a girl because she has been conditioned to assume that a boy should never do any house work. Because of these preconceived notions Scout has been taught, she often says how offensive it is to act like a girl since she doesn’t want to be considered sensitive or vulnerable. These points all show that Scout accepts these roles, but doesn’t agree with
Men were expected to provide, and have families. They were expected to have a job, but they were never expected to do any house work care for their children at home. “Men were socialized to think of themselves as breadwinners; when they lost their jobs or saw their incomes reduced, they felt like failures because they couldn’t take care of their families. Women, on the other hand, saw their roles in the household enhanced as they juggled to make ends meet”2. Women had a long list of things that they were assumed to do at home though. Women had to stay home and take care of their children in most cases, and if they had jobs, “women had to get full education just to be equal with a man who had graduated only elementary school” (Gender roles/birth control). Even so, with an education, women were paid much less and were forced to work in factory jobs. "For the most part women worked long hours for low wages in the 1930s. More than half of all employed women worked for more than fifty hours a week..."1. Women with jobs were still faced with the task of caring for their kids, cooking, cleaning, look presentable, and being a typical housewife overall. Appearance was important as well for women. It was important that they wore nice clothes like dresses and were always clean and put together. Pants were not something typically, if ever, worn by women, and it was looked down upon. Women had exponentially …show more content…
“Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of [Scout’s] attire… [she] said that [Scout] wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (108). Scout has this disagreement on clothing with her aunt during every visit, because Alexandra agrees with the gender roles for that time period. She strongly disapproves of Scout’s attire because she expects her to wear stereotypical female clothes like dresses and pearls. Scout knows that this is is the expectation, and finds it offensive to be referred to as a girl, because she disagrees with the assumption that all women only dress nicely, cook, and clean. But, Scout still accepts this reality. She understands that “‘Boys don’t cook.’ [Scout] giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron” (109). As she watches Calpurnia cook and clean throughout the day, she decides that there is skill to ‘being a girl’.She says to be a girl because she has been conditioned to assume that a boy should never do any house work. Because of these preconceived notions Scout has been taught, she often says how offensive it is to act like a girl since she doesn’t want to be considered sensitive or vulnerable. These points all show that Scout accepts these roles, but doesn’t agree with