“”He’s one of the Ewells, ma’am,” and I wondered if this explanation would be as unsuccessful as my attempt. But Miss Caroline seemed willing to listen. “Whole school’s full of ‘em. They come first day every year and then leave. The truant lady gets ‘em here ‘cause she threatens ‘em with the sheriff but she’s give up tryin’ to hold ‘em. She reckons she’s carried out the law just gettin’ their names on the roll and runnin’ ‘em here the first day. You’re supposed to mark ‘em absent the rest of the year…” During this time period having a good education was not common. After the great depression families were left with not much money and needed the children to be working to get more money so that they could support themselves. This was wrong because the kids should have an opportunity to have an education. Yes, the families needed the child to work for them but by doing that they were only holding the child back. The adult’s job as a parent is to love their child and do what is best for them no matter what it is. When the parents hold their children back from getting an education they are holding them back from so much more. Without a primary education children can’t go on to college, which results in not being able to get a well paying job, which results in having to stay where they are and live a hard life. Parents should have done what was best for their child’s future but they did what they thought was best for their own present. They should have pushed their children to go to school and learn so that they could succeed in life. I think that this relates to modern families that don’t have much money. Children can now go to public school through 12th grade for free which is amazing but what about after high school? College tuition alone is way to expensive and when you add things such as textbook prices, dorm room costs, and groceries, the price ends up being out of reach for many families. So just like the Ewells children not going to elementary school, some families cannot afford to send their kids to college.

Oh Dear, Mayella .

I could see nothing in Mayella's expression to justify Atticus's assumption that he had secured her whole-hearted cooperation. She was looking at him furiously. "Won't answer a word you say as long as you keep on mockin' me," she said. "Ma'am?" asked Atticus startled. "Long's you keep makin' fun of o' me" "Long'she keep callin' me ma'am an saying Miss Mayella. I don't hafta take his sass, I ain't called upon to take it."


Here we go again, once again women are treated like nothing , well atleast where she's from someone calls her "Ma'am" and she gets offended like they just've called her a bad word or something. Is Mayella treated so poorly that even the courtesy of the nicest man in town is offensive? Or is the real question is her father Bob Ewell , treating her so badly that accepting the kindness she deserves from a given man is wrong?

It was pictured like this
                                 Mayella                       Atticus
                                                                                                                               
                                                                             





Now a day's if someone called you Ma'am you're either elderly, married, someone somebody could look up too, or just having good manner's and showing respect. Most've the people I've met  don't usally take that offensively the way Mayella did. Maybe Mayella got offended because Ma'am makes her feel old or ancient like she's a senior citizen? Who know's maybe she was trying to get Atticus worked up about the whole trial itself , or maybe she didn't understand good manners's when they were shown.

In the trial Mayella had many diffrent answers to the question's Atticus was asking, she even agreed that her father, Bob Ewell, did act out of hand when he was in contact with whiskey.. She was very indesicive about her answers as well, when Atticus asked "Did he hit you?" Mayella replied " I don't know if he hit me or not .." then she quickly changed her mind saying "Yes, he did hit me." I wonder why she changed her mind so quickly, maybe it was because she knew her father was watching , and she knew what he was capable of if she didn't say what he told had happened the night of the accused rape?



Maury be like ;


                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                               



 I  believe that Mayella is the blame for Tom Robinson's sentence because she was cleary not telling the truth even after taking the oath and her story was kind of wishy-washy. I honestly don't know if she was guilty of what she did to Tom, or if she wanted to blame him for what had happened so her father could turn the other way and point the finger at Tom instead of her. Was she scared of Atticus that badly ? If so all Atticus had to do was scare her to get the truth.
 

Rawr.

Anyway's like a wise man once said "Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere" - Martin Luther King Jr.

Atticus destroys the ewells

Basically what happened in the court trial is Atticus "totally REKT" the Ewells and their case against Tom R. He went through and in an organized fashion appealed to the Jury while totally schooling Mayella and Bob by disproving their claims.

An example of this in the trial are several quotes throughout the trial that all came together pretty nicely that proved how Tom couldn't have done it because of his only working hand being his right and Bob's dominant hand being left which is the side of Mayella's face with the injury's.


He used what Heck Tate said on page 192, "Oh yes that'd make it her right . It was her right eye, Mr. Finch." Which he said when he was specifying where Mayella's black eye was.

On page 201 Atticus makes Bob show everyone how he is left handed with, "Mr. Ewell wrote on the back of the envelope and looked complacently...
"What's so interestin'?" he asked.
"You're left-handed, Mr. Ewell," said Judge Taylor.

On page 211 Atticus ties it all together when he make's clear to everyone that T.R.'s left arm just didn't work, "His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, hung dead at his side.


But in the end justice did not prevail and atticus and tom lost the trial because the jury with no factual evidence convicted Tom (because of course). The largest issues in this tie much more into racial issues than gender but there is still relevance. At various points in the book it talks about how rape is a capital offense and a man who rapes a woman reguardless of race (even though black men were like 700% more likely to be convicted) could be sentenced to 20 years or more in prison or even death. This shows how highly woman were valued in society, but not as people or anything reasonable like that, but like delicate flowers who weren't to be touched out of marriage and stuff. Not in defense of men or anything, but a man raped at that time in contrast to women wouldn't have such a high penalty from conviction simply because of how women were seen.

In an ideal society, or even just today what would've happened (or probably would've) would be what really should've happened, being that T.R. wouldn't have been convicted and Bob and possibly Mayella would've been punished for lying (if that is a thing, which I'm pretty sure it is).

Tom Robinsons trial

In the trial Mayella have her statement which is on pages 239-253. In these pages Mayella says that Tom beat her and raped her. On pages 254-266 Tom gave his testimony and he declared that he never hurt Mayella and only tried to help her. When Mayella tried to kiss him he tried to get out, but she tried to keep him locked in the house with her. That's when Mr.Ewell saw it and yelled and Tom ran out. That was Tom's testimony and before he gave his testimony he put his hand on a bible and swore he would only say the truth and not lie.

In the picture above is Atticus and Tom Robinson in the trial. Atticus was defending Tom and he brought to Judge Taylor evidence proving that Tom was innocent. After all this Judge Taylor declared that Tom was not innocent.

What should have happened was that Tom should have been declared innocent and would go back home to his family. Mr.Ewell was diffidently guilty, there was no diagnose from a doctor proving Mayella had been raped. If Tom had hit Mayella the left side of her face would have been affected because Tom is right handed because his left arm is crippled. Mr.Ewell is left handed and if he beat Mayella the right side of her face would have been affected... the right side of Mayella face was beaten and she had bruises on the right side of her face. It had to Mr.Ewell. Mr.Ewell should have been locked up for beating his daughter and Myaella as well should have been locked up for lying to the authorities and accusing Tom of rape.

Since the white people think they are superior to the colored people anything said by a white person is believed. Earlier before the trial Atticus said he knew they weren't going to win the trial. This was because they would believe a white person over a colored person. Earlier in the book Atticus also said they any case with a white person against a colored person the colored person would always lose.

"Separate but equal"

In TKAM the time period is the Jim crow laws because there is no equality but the African American people are not in slaved. The colored people and the white people are separated just like in the Jim crow laws they would say "separate but equal." In TKAM the churches are separate the colored people have their own church they go to while the white people have another church where they go to because they believe they have to be separate. The white people believe that they and the colored people can't be together because they the white people are the superior race. In Tom Robinsons trial in the court the colored and white people were also separated, the colored people would sit up on the balcony and the white people would sit on the bottom floor. The white people would get the better things while the colored people wouldn't get the good things the white people had. This is the same as the Jim Crow laws. 

You Declare To The Lord Jem?

Blog 1:

“I declare to the Lord you're getting more like a girl everyday" Jem says to his sister Scout in the book by Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird.

Scout must be sitting there dumbfounded thinking, What's that supposed to mean?

Well I feel you scout, I feel you, what is that supposed to mean? Are girls who like more physical activity not allowed to still be a girl? You declare to the Lord Jem? I declare to the Lord you're being a little rude to Scout here. Why do girls get judged for doing more physical activity? Girls aren't even allowed to play football because they're too fragile! Is Jem worried about his sister wearing dresses and not wanting to play with him anymore? Girls can't do CrossFit because they're not strong enough, girls are too little and weak to do sports or men work. Or can they? They did do all the work the men did for World War 2, Rosie is so right “Yes we can” but of course in this society Girls are very underestimated and put down to such low standards. Girls and Women even are expected to need help to get something off a high shelf.  Women today shouldn't work but stay home, cook, clean and tend to the kids. I think Girls are so underestimated and even the heaviest bag of groceries is too much of a challenge for a woman/girl to take part in, at least that’s what society says.

In TKAM the town is very patriarchal and the men tend to the whole town and the ladies are expected to sit on their porches and watch the men work, or in some of their cases watch the Radley house stay still and gloomy. Or if you’re Miss Maudie your house burns down.I also want this blog to take one quick turn. Today in class we talked about racism and races. Unfortunately my class has this one girl who just won’t stop arguing and doesn’t listen to anyone, you know that one girl you follow on instagram and every post is a rant? basically that’s what I had to deal with today. She ranted all day about how African-Americans are the only people that have problems in this world and I would like to add I strongly disagree with that statement, The white girl you called fat today, starves herself and the white girl you called a slut for being pregnant  she was raped. The muslim girl you blocked on instagram because she doesn’t speak your language is the sweetest person. So Miss.Rant, if you’re reading this I hope you know that white people have their own problems and are also treated awful too. Many white girls, among as black girls are kidnapped and raped every day but black girls aren’t messed with too much because they're seen as “Too Tough” maybe I’m wrong, I mean hey I don’t have all the answers but I don’t think I deserve to be not heard because my race doesn’t have all the problems. I’m not from the South, i'm from the North, where Abraham Lincoln fought to abolish slavery and still let the South join the rest of the world after the war, I hate racist people and I have some friends that will be racist and the funny thing is, they’re black, they are legit racist to themselves. TBH I don’t think whites should be called racist if blacks have racist jokes about themselves, also Miss. Rant you can’t believe everything buzzfeed tells you. #indirect. I think I’m done here

Women Are Just As Strong As Men

"You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?" Mr.Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling. There are many different dates to when women were really free I think personally women don't really have the pleasure in some perspectives. What I feel is wrong with this quote is she is being talked down on like she couldn't handle a situation without people feeling remorse. What I think should have happened was that the people involved with this situation should have treated her like a regular person, and nothing less just because she's a girl. One recent event on the news is how many people feel Hilary Clinton is equipped for president because she is a girl I feel because she's a girl she would make one of the best presidents.

Hey, Lets Marry My Cousin.

Once, when Aunty assured us that Miss Stephanie Crawford's tendency to mind other peoples business was hereditary Atticus said , ¨Sister, when you stop to think about it, our generation's practically the first in the Finch family not to marry it's cousins. Would you say the Finches have an incestuous streak?¨


Well if you ever wanted to marry your cousin whom happened to be really cute, well you could in 1932 in Alabama because it was not illegal to marry your cousin. Any incestuous marriages back then were normal and nobody had complaints about it, so it just happened until it happened enough that everybody in town looked alike. That's wonderful isn't it? Men got to choose the women who they married and women were sent off to marry early as fifteen.

What should've happened is that she would've been at the grocery store shopping for her household skipping around in her yellow, beautiful dress and a young handsome boy would've said excuse me and started the beginning of a long lasting marriage. But no that's not how it worked back then , before the gorgeous female could've  even stepped out her car to go into the store, she would already be getting married, Shameful. It's enough women in 1934 didn't even right's, but's worse it that they couldn't even marry the ones they love.

This is what i picture it as.

In 1846 Governor George N. Briggs to believe it or not wanted to study "idiot's" in the state of Massachusetts and found out that cousin marriages are responsible for death, blindness, and idiocy. Just by this one study, it led to thirteen states banning cousin marriage in the 1880's, shocking right?

Yes first cousin marriage is still allowed today all over the world even it in the United States, but it is highly not accepted for most families. You don't usually see it happen more often because there are dating websites, like E harmony, Farmer's only.com  et cetera. But remember, there's always that accidental grocery store love.  

Women deserve to think for themselves

          "She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man." This comment from Atticus was really rude and disrespectful, not only to black people, but also women. Atticus' statement basically supported patriarchy and tried to show that men are superior to women, because its practically showing that men controlled what women weren't allowed to do, and what they were aloud to do. Women should be aloud to decide for themselves and shouldn't be controlled by men, I think that everyone deserves to speak for themselves and not have others telling them what they can and can't do based on their gender.


         Men shouldn't try to intervene with a women's decision, because she should be aloud to pick what's best for her and not have to be bossed around by men. I think that Atticus should really think over what he said, because he should know that women don't need to be bossed around by men and that they can make their own decisions they don't need men to baby them and try to control their freedom. I believe that men and women should be treated equal, and no gender should have superiority over the other.
     

The history of the role of mothers in families

"Jem's growing up now and you are too," she said to me. "We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won't be many years, Jean Louise before you become interested in clothes and boys--" (pg. 145)

At this point in TKAM Aunt Alexandra is just moving in with Atticus, Jem and Scout and she is explaining why she was moving in.

At this point in history, most of the time in which defined gender roles and civilizations existed before it and a long time after it mothers were expected to be the primary role model and care taker of their children.  In particular they were a role model and educator of their daughters in preparation for them being housewives like their mothers. In a family their was a strict dichotomy between the roles that men and women served in their families,  men were seen as the mind while women were the heart. This made women "natural" teachers for their daughters to get through what they need to in life, find a husband, have kids and regulate the household. Women were generally seen as lesser then men and best for their reproductive capability. As Dr. Vesna Leskošek says in 'Historical Perspective on the Ideologies of Motherhood and its Impact on Social Work', "Woman was seen as intellectually and emotionally inferior, physically weaker and therefore fully dependent. The only function that could endow her with a certain value was her reproductive ability which consequently became an object of patriarchal ownership." 

Since Scout had no mother to fill that role Aunt Alexandra did. She put herself in place of a mother to make sure what she thought should happen with Scout growing up, did happen. With that there are several things wrong. In the bigger picture the defined gender roles of the time just overall weren't "right" which luckily have (mostly) gone away and are still an option, but not a gender defining job picked out for women from birth. With Aunt Alexandra moving in to change scout, she just shouldn't.

Another example of the defined gender roles of the 1930s is on page 93 in which Aunt Alexandra is nagging on scout about how she should wear dresses not pants and she should be playing with small stoves and should be a sunbeam in her fathers life in general. 


http://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/270/445

I can do whatever I want.

"Don't you contradict me!" Mrs. Dubose bawled.
"And you-" she pointed an arthritic finger at me-
"what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You'll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn't change your ways- a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café- hah!

Mrs. Dubose- nasty old lady, always yelling at Scout, Jem, and Atticus.

When I read this I felt like I couldn't read anymore, because I thought/think this is wrong.

Mrs. Dubose trying to tell Scout what she should wear and how she should act? Um no. 

Mrs. Dubose has no right to tell scout what she should wear.

Mrs. Dubose kept on pointing out her expectations and apparently other people's expectations on how to dress and act "like a girl".
In this case Mrs. Dubose should have respected her and let her wear what she wanted to wear.

This has happened in my life a lot and in others. For example when I was little I used to love wearing "boy-ish" clothes (as my cousins would call it) because I really liked it and it made me happy but at the same time it made me sad because my cousins would always criticize me, and they would tell me things like, "Why don't you wear dresses and jewelry on like every other girl?" They would constantly ask me that, but me being a little girl I didn't really pay much attention to what they said about me, but when it made me sad so I just kept it in.
                 

In my opinion there is no way to act or dress like a girl. Anyone can do anything as long as long as it makes them happy. No one should try to meet others expectations but just try to meet your own expectations. You don't have to follow what other people expect from you, you just have to do what ever makes you happy. Scout wanted to wear whatever she wanted to wear because it made her happy .

"Mister Jem, don't you know better'n to take your little sister to that trial? Miss Alexandra'll absolutely have a stroke of paralysis when she finds out!"

The idea that because Scout is a girl she couldn't bare to see a trial of something serious like Tom Robinson's case is unfair and very offensive to us young women everywhere. Years before when this story is taking place the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote and the first Equal Rights Amendment were put in place. However, if you ask me it doesn't seem very equal for Jem and Dill to be able to see the trial but not Scout because she's just a poor delicate girl. Scout should have been allowed see what was happening because news flash: it is not possible to hide people from the real world just because someone think it's inappropriate.

Women and Politics

The streetlights were on, and we glimpsed Calpurnia's indignant profile as we passed beneath them. "Mister Jem, I thought you was gettin' some kinda head on your shoulders-the very idea, she's you little sister! The very idea, sir! You oughta be perfectly ashamed of yourself- ain't you got any sense at all?" (Lee, 207)

In this quote Jem, and Scout are being taken home from the trial and Cal is livid because they saw the trail but especially because Scout saw it. Even though this was after the right to women's vote there was still a tension and the south was slower to change. Woman weren't huge participants of political matters. There was not a single woman on the jury in the trial. Scout being a female Cal sees it inappropriate for her to watch the matter especially at her age which could be understandable but she doesn't seem to be as upset at the fact that Jem went.

Connecting to this, on March 21,1938   after 15 years the equal rights amendment was announced to a branch of Congress. The amendment basically says that men and woman will have equal rights in the Americas. Alice Paul, who was a a large, public supporter of woman's votes and organized the largest parade at the white house drafted it. This amendment would guarantee protection from discrimination against woman. Even though the women's right to vote was passed in 1920 and the ERA was on the move woman still were not treated fair as you can see in Scouts life.

Unnecessary Comments from Uncle Jack

           Women and men both be treated with equal respect and shouldn't have certain standards for one gender. Uncle Jack had made super sexist comment to Scout, when he was aiding Scout after she had punched Francis. Uncle Jack said, "You'll have a very unladylike scar on your wedding-ring finger" (page 115). Implying that women aren't supposed to have scars, which is rude and stupid, because scars come from hard work, and being tough, so he's basically saying that women don't and are  not supposed to work hard and do the dirty/ tough jobs.
           I find Uncle Jacks comments extremely rude to women and totally unnecessary, its also wrong to think that women don't and shouldn't work as hard as men, because in reality women do risky and challenging tasks as good as men, and women definitely have as much potential and strength as men, so next time Uncle Jack should think before he speaks, and says something stupid again.

Uncle Jack is Weird

"I took a deep breath. ""Well, in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it-you just lit right into me. When Jem an' I fuss Atticus doesn't ever just listen to Jem's side of it, he hears mine too, an' in the second place you told me never to use words like that except in ex-extreme provocation, and Francis provocated me enough to knock his block off-"" (Lee, 113-114) This quote was used by a very upset Scout to a very misunderstanding Uncle Jack. It was provoked by Uncle Jack immediately taking Scouts cousin Francis' side during a fight and punishing Scout without hearing the full story. Now, I don't want to call Uncle Jack a sexist because I thought he was going to be a pretty cool character but let's face it, he is a little bit sexist. He took the boys story over the girls story without even hearing the girls story which gave some mixed signals to Scout. Uncle Jack is supposed to be this kind and cool uncle but he sides with a boy? When have boys ever told the truth? I can relate to this from being a child and my older brother having his word taken over mine. Although his word was usually more truthful while mine was more dramatic, but that's not the point. Sexism has been happening everywhere lately. Women have been trying to show the world that we can do anything that men can do and we will probably do it better and prettier. Just saying.

Keeping Quiet

"Francis called Atticus somethin, an' I wasn't about to take it off him."

"What did Francis call him?"

"A n*****-lover. I ain't very sure what it means, but the way Francis said it-Tell you one thing right now, uncle Jack i'll be I swear before god if i'll sit there and let him say somethin about Atticus."

Francis had said n*****-lover on page 84 and scout wasn't going to take any of it so she split her knuckle to the bone on his front teeth. I think Scout was right to defend her father, i would have thought of the same thing, but she shouldn't have punched him because is she was to please her father she would have handled it more mature. I think she should have left it alone and thought to herself.

one time my brother had a girlfriend and I had found out. He told me to keep it a secret but I didn't, I had told my parents and now that i think of it i should have kept quiet. 

Yeah It's A Scar, Get Over It Man.

Uncle jack gallantly bowed me to the bathroom. While he cleaned and bandaged my knuckles , he entertained me with a tale about a funny nearsighted old gentlemen who had a cat named Hodge, and who counted all the cracks in the sidewalk when he went to town. “There now,” he said. “you’ll have a very unlady like scar on your wedding finger.” 



Let’s step back for a moment,  Is he implying that ladies aren’t supposed to have scars? I’ve had plenty of scars and no one complained. Girl’s back then weren’t supposed to play outside , climb trees, roll around in grass, or get dirty. They were supposed to behave well and learn proper manners, and look as they say “Fresh as a button.” But obviously you haven’t met Scout yet and she was the complete opposite. I find it highly offensive saying that Uncle Jack said, "she'll have a very unlady like scar" because last time i checked , boys can do anything girls can do and girls are entilted just as equallly to their right's as men.



Uncle Jack reminds me of this bipolar human being, who can be nice and loving, then in the blink of a eye become mean. The picture below reminds me of when Scout got a spanking from Uncle jack and he tried to come in to talk to her.

 

Guys will be guys and girls will be girls, but that shouldn't change how they are viewed upon in 

society. They are all diffrent during the day but when you break it down at the end of the day , we're all the same.  No matter the race, the size , the culutre everybody should be treated equally no matter the cause .

I remember in 1941 when all the men were sent off to go fight, it was the women who took over the facorties. It was the women who got their hand's dirty, who produced guns , and who did a man's job. I told you those girls get tired of sipping tea with there pinky up, and reading and gardening. They actually get some hands on work and get plenty of beautiful scars. 

Therefore, Uncle Jack a "Unladylike scar" would just be a mark , to remind us of the past and remind us of how "unladylike" we acted , and we would just laugh and reminise on our porch with are grandchildren , having our bread and tea. 

Gneder roles transfer from one generation to the next

"Don't you contradict me!" Mrs. Dubose bawled. "And you--" she pointed an arthritic finger at me--"What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You'll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn't change your ways-- a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café--hah!"

At this point in to kill a mockingbird Harper Lee is first introducing the nasty, sick, old lady: Mrs. Dubose. Repeatedly throughout the chapter Mrs. Dubose screeches annoying, horrible things at Scout and Jem about themselves and Atticus.

Personally I think that everything about that event was wrong (duh). Who is Mrs. Dubose to tell Scout what she can wear? Overall Mrs. Dubose generally annoy's me, a lot, so in a perfect world (even though TKAM didn't actually exsist) she could just die and everyone would be happy or she could just keep her opinions on scout to herself (but that isn't very realistic), or even get a vision of 2015 and see her wrong doings and accept scout for who she is. 

Mrs. Dubose's screeches showed how the expectations and ideas the elderly have on things like gender roles carry over from parts of their generation to newer generations after them. They often expect things that applied to them when they were children to apply to children now (I'm not saying that all old people are like this, but some, like Mrs. Dubose are).

Even though what Mrs. Dubose was saying about what Scout should be wearing isn't crazy for the time, because what she was saying is what was expected of many girls at the time and as crazy as something like that seems in today's society Scout was the outlier. Things like that can definitely be seen in today's society more prominently. Especially in matters like gender roles and expectations, the feelings of an old person's generation about it will transfer over to how they feel about it today (not saying that is what all or even most old people feel about it) and this will also apply to younger people too whose values were given to them from an older generation will feel similarly about things. 





(I don't know why there are two old lady pictures, there should only be one, I can't remove the other old lady, ignore the one in the blue shirt)

Boys Don't Cook

What If I Can't Cook...

"Grandma's a wonderful cook," said Francis. "She's gonna teach me how."

"Boys don't cook." I giggled at the thought of Jem in an apron. 

"Grandma says that all men should learn to cook, that men oughta be careful with their wives and wait on 'em when they don't feel good," said my cousin.

"I don't want Dill waitin' on me," I said. " I'd rather wait on him." (Lee, 82)

This quote is ironic to me. Scout, the same tomboyish, overall wearing, and adventurer is enforcing a gender norm. She normally is the opposite of "ladylike" but here it is showing that even she is affected by the social idea of a woman's responsibility to her hubby. Even through she seems to obviously oppose the "normal" girl behavior she still on a subconscious level picked up on the pressures of being a woman, probably from the constant nagging of her Aunt, or watching Calapurnia cook. Also the other woman in her neighborhood who cook, and garden. It seems like an inescapable part of life. Socialization is how we often unknowingly take on the roles and customs that where established by the society we grow up in. Your family begins to shape who you are at a young age, then comes friends and peers, media and so many other factors that keep banging a certain expectation of who you need to be into your head. So even with Scouts usual "unfeminine" ways she still picked up on a certain expectation and is even shaming someone who is going against the gender norm.

Let me also add this quote really reminds me of those dumb "cool story babe now go make me a sandwich" shirts. It disgusts me whenever I see them because it is disrespectful ad makes me feel like my opinions don't matter. And in general cooking is not something I'm great at. If you give me a box mix there is an 80% chance it will taste decent but overall cooking has never been a strong point of mine so the traditional role of the woman being in the kitchen won't work out for me. And I feel like I shouldn't need to be a great cook or be the one to prepare meals. I think if both people help and work together that is a respectful relationship.

But that is only my opinion and if a woman wants to cook everything or even a man that is fine. As long as the choice is with the person doing it. People often think feminism is rejecting gender norms and stereotypes, while that is part of it I believe there is more to it. Being a girl needs to mean CHOICE. If you want to wear a dress and curl your hair then do it, because you happiness is more important than trying to please others. The same goes for if you want to wear pants and no make you are no less or more of a woman. We spend so much time trying to define who a person is we forget that both men and woman can only define who they are with what they feel on the inside whether your favorite color is pink or blue.

Sometimes I wish the bathroom didn't have mirror, it would prob. help many people feel better.

I personally love dresses and flower crowns, keeping my hair long and having it pink. That however doesn't mean I support the gender stereotype that all girls should do things like that. I don't think we should even have labels defining "girl" things from "boy" things. Makeup shouldn't be only marketed toward girls and honestly I like "men's" deodorant more than "woman's." If we can find away to change our definition on being a girl or a boy more people could be comfortable in their skin and feel less pressure to be a certain way.

Because food is awesome 

"A Great Lady?"

             "...She was a great lady." [Atticus] "A lady?" Jem raised his head. Hi voice was scarlet. "After all those things she said about you, A lady?" This quote really caught me, because I thought it was really sexist to determine if someone's a lady, by their personality and attitude. I also take it very rude that he thinks that, if a woman has a mean or bad attitude/ personality she isn't a "lady." Well obviously he doesn't know that, you can't determine a person's gender, by what they say and how they act towards others, because everyone is different and unique in their own way. Another thing Jem should know is that a lady is a lady and a man is a man, and this can only be determined by their true gender.

This sexist stereotype is very rude and disrespectful to women and just untrue.

"We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won't be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys-" (Lee,127)

This rude and unnecessary quote was said by Aunt Alexandra, the ultra housewife type character of this story. Here, she is basically telling Scout that she must learn how to be a girly girl and dress nice so boys will like her. The idea that a young girl can only find a significant other by dressing nice and learning how to be feminine is unfair because boys often expect this from girls when they don't even try. Also the assumption that Scout will even like boys is not Alexandra's choice to make. Scout can like whatever gender she chooses though in those times being gay would have been uncommon and frowned upon.

Why is Alexandra's idea of being feminine the way Scout has to be? Who says being feminine isn't wearing pants and playing sports? I think being truly feminine is being strong and having courage to think for yourself.

Men can be backstabbing underhanded passive aggressive liars too!

" 'I get more like cousin Joshua everyday, don't I? Do you think I'll end up costing the family five hundred dollars?' I now know what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work." (Lee, 152)

this is what scout thinks of some women, apparently.

   This quote insinuates that only women are underhanded and passive aggressive, which is sexist and problematic for a number of reasons, one being that it generalizes all women everywhere, and two, that all women are passive aggressive and afraid of confrontation.
   In my own life, this reminds me of how the older generation of women in my family would accuse me of being to direct, an example of what I call generational internalized misogyny (say that three tines fast), where the older members of your family (usually a conservative christian grandma) will try to mute or stifle their younger granddaughters.
   From the book, this is similar to how Scout views most of the woman on the book, though her feelings aren't entirely unjustified, as she is mostly surrounded by previously mentioned conservative christian grandmas.

your such a girl Scout

This makes women seem less because when Jem says "Your such a girl Scout," it's like saying that girls are not as good as men. Women are too whiny, women are too scared to do the things that men do, but we girls are just as good as men.
My favorite color is blue but my dad says that blue is a boy color and that i'm a girl so I should like pink not blue. This isn't true like I can be a girl and like blue that won't change my gender just because boys like blue and I like blue doesnt mean I'm a boy. If a boy likes the color pink does that make him a girl? No it doesn't him liking the color pink won't change his gender.
"Those are girl pushups." "You hit like a girl." "You throw like a girl." "You run like a girl." I'm pretty sure we have all heard this before but why do they have to put the word girl in it as implying that we girls can't do it as well as boys. We girls can do anything as good as boys can. There are girls who can do really good things that are considered a boy thing and there are boys who can't do those things, but that doesn't mean us girls are less because we are not we are just as good as men no matter what anyone says ! 

¨Scout, I´m  tellin' you for the last time,shut your trap or go home-i declare to the lord you´re gettin more like a girl everyday!¨
This quote shows how gender specific roles were. All they were doing was peeking inside a window, yet Jem brings up what the norm was for girls. In this case, it was Jem and Dill peeking inside a window and Scout wasn't sure about this. So girls are viewed as scared cautious creatures that don't take risks. Today, people would think this is a super wrong thing to say but in that time, I didn't mater. Girls had a way that they were expected to act and if they didn't, its wasn't okay most of the time. Thank God her brother is happy with her being a tomboy, then the story would be filled with quotes like this.
Many people still think this way, some say old fashion, I call it sexist. Not all girls are the same so to hold them down for acting like themselves are wrong. Its not our fault for being born female. Like today, woman's everyday products cost more then guys just because. Like I'm so sorry rich white dudes that I was born female, You could read more on that at woman's tax, where it tells you all the facts. And then with the 'recent' change in stores with naming dolls for girls and trucks for guys. Like from the book, they are labeling what girls should be doing. I'm glad I live in this time period, 1) because i'm black so ancient history or the future would be the only time period were i'm not property, and 2) females were seen as less (unless your in ancient history again in some cultures). And in this time, its okay to be a tomboy. Scout has millions of people telling her that she should act like a girl. That's so frustrating, if i was her, i would be struggling with myself.
But we are getting there, hopefully...

Here are other pictures/gifs that's related, couldn't pick just one so here!

You play like a girl!

"They spent days together in the tree house plotting and planning, calling me only when they needed a third party. But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a g-irl, I spent most of the remaining twilights that summer sitting with Miss Maudie Atkinson on her front porch." (Lee,46)

This is an example of a girl being excluded from something because she was a girl, or because she was acting "girly". Jem didn't allow Scout to join in most of the time because she was too much of a "girl". And it pisses me off so much. I. being an older sibling totally get not wanting to play with little kids, but Dill was closer to Scout in age than Jem, so that is no excuse. Dill should have, if he liked her so much, found a way to include her, if Jem was going to refuse to himself.

This is similar to the other countless times Jem accused scout of being "girly", his way of calling her weak, which obviously is problematic in that being a girl is "weak".

This reminds me of when I was maybe 6 years old, in kindergarten, something similar happened to me. A group of boys were climbing up a gigantic oak tree in the middle of the playground, and I wanted in too. I started climbing up, and one of the boys said it was to dangerous for me, "because I was a girl". Needless to say I climbed up anyway, and pushed him out of the tree, marking the beginning of my lifelong career of violent retribution against boys like him everywhere.

Jean (Louise)'s Jeans: A Weapon of the Patriarchy?

Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra's vision of my department involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father's lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year. (Lee 92)

This is how I imagine Aunt Alexandra.

When Scout and Jem are at Finch's Landing for Christmas, the narrator Jean Louise introduces us to her Aunt Alexandra.

Now, personally, I am not a fan of AA, nor am I a fan of gender norms, and I love every sassy description JL gives us. I like picturing Aunt Alexandra as the über-woman, cleaning, baking, raising her pinky over tea, and hush hushing little boys. Everyone must have this kind of adult in their life: the kind that simply doesn't want you to be you.

Here we have the reigning AA trying to tell Scout what to wear. She's "fanatical," in fact, about Scout not wearing "breeches." And when Scout protests she "could do nothing in a dress"––say, climb a tree, jump into a stream, even run from danger––the tyrannical Auntie A responds that she shouldn't "be doing things that required pants."

Even this little moment in the novel illustrates how gender norms can oppress us in everyday ways. I know it may seem like the world's smallest violin, but let me add my own story.

I have a thing against women's clothes, too. Even today I'm wearing a dress with no pockets. I mean, why would you even make clothes without pockets? Here's the message it conveys: #1 I do not have any responsiblities. I don't need my phone, I don't need money, I don't need a pocketknife. All I need is to look pretty. So where do I put all my stuff? In the hands of my husband or boyfriend, of course. Believe it or not, pockets are political.

So, maybe it's obvious that dresses aren't always going to have pockets. I mean, if you're going to wear a dress in the first place, you're already bowing down to the patriarchy. So let's talk about breeches, as JL would call them.

At least twice I have lost my wallet (yes, I have a wallet) because it has fallen out of my teeny tiny jeans pockets. This happened in a local parking lot when I was getting out of my car (out of the driver's seat, mind you). Not only are women's jeans made so poorly I can't fit my wallet in them, but they are oppressive to my lady body. Not only do you not expect me to carry things around in my pockets, but you expect me to be 120 pounds of pilates-toned muscle that leaves a gap between my thighs? I'm sorry, but I actually have responsibilities (that require me to "wear the pants" so to speak), so I don't have all day to go to Cross Fit and drink smoothies so that my keys will fit in my jeans pocket.

I feel you, Jean Louise. I feel you, sister. 

Here's what I would do if I were her: I'd burn all my dresses with my Easy-Bake Oven and then shove the pearls into Aunty's teacup hoping she will choke on them.

It's women like her who inadvertently hold women like us back.