Examples Of Sexism In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee is taking place during a time where colored people were considered "equal" but separate from everyone else. However, being separate does not and should not mean being equal. To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the 1930's Maycomb, Alabama where race, inequality, and divisions within human society was a major problem. Examples of these issues are shown numerous times throughout the novel. Many in which can be related to the way society is currently set up. In addition, the novel brings up situations where stereotypes and sexism was as abounding to race and inequality. Lee portrays these topics in a serious, yet creative way.
To illustrate the way sexism was defined in the novel, Lee creates the narrator, Jean Louise a 6 year old girl who goes by the name Scout to be portrayed as your common "tom boy" known today. She is unlike other girls. She hangs out with her brother and guy friends. Her Aunt Alexandra is very formal and thinks Scout should dress "like a girl" by wearing dresses and playing with dolls. As a result, showing that Aunt Alexandra is unmeaning to be sexist by
Calpurnia is a black woman who is the Finches "cook", but acts more of a nanny to the children. One day she brings the children to her church where only black people go. The kids notice a distinctive change in the way Calpurnia speaks to her friends at church, to the way she speaks at the Finches residence. Calpurnia finds that if she speaks as proper as she does in the house, than she does at church, she fears her friends will think she is too good for them and better educated than them. Unfortunately, in todays society this continues to be a fear for some. Many people stereotype black people to talk with more slang making them improper to those who are white. In conclusion, we can relate the novel and current society facing these issues of those dealing with sexism and