To Kill A Mockingbird- Thematic Paragraph

How are people confined by gender stereotypes?

Too many gender stereotypes may result in confined expectations.

 
Throughout the story To Kill A Mockingbird, we see Harper Lee consults themes of how gender stereotypes can confine others to unrealistic expectations. Scout, a young girl residing in Maycomb grows up within the influence of her father and many other adults in the town, starts to become conformed by the thoughts of who she “should be” as a proper, young lady. On any given day, Scout prefers to wear overalls and enjoys playing the same games as Jem and Dill. In the eyes of some of the women on the street, Scout is just going through a tomboy stage, and Scout should proceed swiftly to wear dainty dresses and grow up to be the ideal image of a Maycomb woman. It is easy to see that the town already has a strong view on females. When Scout recalls what Jem says to her, this idea shows: “I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could go off and find some to play with,” (Lee, p 119). We see that this stereotype is being carried even to Jem, that a girl should be confined to the expectations that are already set: someone who plays, imagines and can’t reach intelligence like boys can. Another example we see is of Scout’s very own Aunt Alexandra who states, “I’ll be here a week, and I don’t want to here any words like that… You want to grow up to be a lady, don’t you?” (p 109). Alexandra in particular has very high hopes for Scout to become the epitome of a sweet young lady. She wishes for her to refrain from swearing, which Scout has troubles with. She wishes to use the same language as the boys she plays with. As the story progresses, Scout conforms more and more to this expectation that is set for her. This is the story of many other children who grew up during this era, as they do not have the same freedom of expression as we do today. There were confined expectations set which were meant to be achieved by each person. In this novel, we see this idea from Scout’s perspective as she is pushed in a particular direction to achieve the stereotypes of a female that are mandatory choices one must take to become lady like.