To Kill A Mockingbird Sexism

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Emma Watson, Oxford and Brown University graduate and successful actor once stated, “It is time that we see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.” For thousands of years, women have not been seen as equals to men. They were not given the opportunity to have jobs or even participate in the military. For most of American history, they were not even allowed to make choices of their own once they stated their marriage vows. Although these disadvantages have been slowly improving, the mindset of many Americans has not changed. Women are still looked down upon as weak and useless factors to society despite their success in education and/or experience. The United States has struggled with gender discrimination since its

In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the topic gender discrimination has been brought to attention in several events throughout the novel. In chapter 12, the protagonist, Scout, narrates, “Calpurnia seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl” (Lee 117). This text states that Scout now believes that being a girl has some usefulness; contrary to what she previously believed. This statement revealed that the community that Scout grew up and learned from convinced her that women rarely accomplish anything besides wearing dresses, going to church, and cooking. The sexism towards women in this book was so severe, that Scout did not want to be a girl at all. In the short story by Laura Hale, a response to the question, “What is your personal experience in gender inequality?”, the reader can recognize the social unfairness between boys and girls. In this story, the author shares the disappointment in her young self because of the lack of equality her peers on the wrestling team showed to her. Later in the story, the writer states, “There were a couple of times when I was at a wrestling meet where boys would not wrestle against me because I was, you know, a girl… Some of the local schools in my district knew I was coming so boys would go up or down a weight class to try to avoid having to wrestle me” (Hale 2). As a kid, it was not easy to handle this situation. If the boys accepted her as simply just another wrestler, Laura would have enjoyed the sport much more than she had. It was not just the decision of the kids, however. Many of the coaches forbid their athletes to compete against her. These influences are what caused girls, similar to Laura, to feel in their own community. Overall, the theme of sexism in