To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Standards Essay

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Scout is criticized for not wearing dresses and conforming to society’s standards for a young girl. Many of those standards still apply today. They are unrealistic and are based off of a men’s domain. Society has standards for all to follow. Many of these standards are meant for women. They range from what women wear all the way to their main purpose in society. Not only can they be dangerous, it can be a downfall in society’s advancement. Because women are criticized daily by society’s unrealistic standards and gender bias, women cannot freely express themselves. Women are constantly pressured by the unrealistic beauty standards society has set for them. They are told to dress both revealing and modest. …show more content…

In education, women are taught to act feminine. During women’s educational path they become more sexualized by both boys and teachers. Therefore, a dress code is contributed to the school policy. Subjects such as art, reading, and writing are “girly subjects.” Subjects like math and science are seen as masculine. Because of this many females are not given enough educational attention in those subjects. Only twenty-six percent of women work in the engineering and tech field (Wojciki 1). Many were not exposed to this field of work during school, and are told ‘it is a man’s job’. In the workplace, women receive unequal pay. Secret© Stress Test for Women made a commercial for deodorant featuring a women preparing to speak to her superior about the wage gap. To point out, the nation is publicly aware of the wage gap, yet they refuse to take action. Furthermore, women are also sexually harassed at work. “Of those who said they had experienced sexual harassment at work, a full seventy percent said they never reported it” (Berman 1). Gender Bias also effects media advertising, news casting, films, books, music videos, and television. Women are more likely to be shown preforming domestic household chores or sexually exploiting their bodies in these media controlled

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