“The Help” by Kathryn Stockett effectively and accurately uses the setting of Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s to discuss social issues such as racism and sexism. Both Minny and Aibileen, along with many other black maids and citizens, experience racism in varying extremes. For example, Medgar Evers, the Field Secretary for the NAACP, was shot and killed by the KKK. Comparatively, Minny and Aibileen faced less extreme racism: Hilly refusing to use the same bathrooms as the maids for fear of “diseases” (Stockett, 10) that black people carry, or the bus driver telling Aibileen to get off the bus, while he would keep driving the white passengers to safety. Minny, Aiblieen, and Skeeter all experience sexism, even if it is not direct; they are
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Of course, that’s not to say I never deal with sexism, as this is very much a man’s world. I once had a teacher who taught a subject that I used to love. Once he became my teacher, though, I began to absolutely dread going to class. Not only was he a bad teacher, he also very clearly favoured the male population in the class as opposed to that of the female. When he would be giving a lesson, he would only ever choose boys to answer the questions, even if I, or other girls in the class, would be swinging our hands in the air. It was only if a girl clearly did not know the answer that he would call on them. Also, while reviewing for tests, only the boys would get the help they needed, while girls would be cast to the side and ignored. Quickly, I completely lost interest in what was arguably my favourite subject. The moment I decided to stop giving this man any time out of my day, though, was when he pulled one of my best friends aside to tell him that I “wasn’t worth it” because I am “just a girl” and my friend is “too smart for me.” It seems rather ironic to me that while my teacher saw me as just this stupid girl, I completed the class with the highest mark out of all my classmates. Just as Skeeter constantly had to deal with sexism in a society that views men as the better sex, I had to deal with this teacher who clearly held
Of course, that’s not to say I never deal with sexism, as this is very much a man’s world. I once had a teacher who taught a subject that I used to love. Once he became my teacher, though, I began to absolutely dread going to class. Not only was he a bad teacher, he also very clearly favoured the male population in the class as opposed to that of the female. When he would be giving a lesson, he would only ever choose boys to answer the questions, even if I, or other girls in the class, would be swinging our hands in the air. It was only if a girl clearly did not know the answer that he would call on them. Also, while reviewing for tests, only the boys would get the help they needed, while girls would be cast to the side and ignored. Quickly, I completely lost interest in what was arguably my favourite subject. The moment I decided to stop giving this man any time out of my day, though, was when he pulled one of my best friends aside to tell him that I “wasn’t worth it” because I am “just a girl” and my friend is “too smart for me.” It seems rather ironic to me that while my teacher saw me as just this stupid girl, I completed the class with the highest mark out of all my classmates. Just as Skeeter constantly had to deal with sexism in a society that views men as the better sex, I had to deal with this teacher who clearly held