Blog post #2
"Jem was scratching his head. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Atticus," he said, "why don't people like us and Miss Maudie ever sit on juries? You never see anybody from Maycomb on a jury--they all come from out in the woods."
Atticus leaned back in his rocking-chair. For some reason he looked pleased with Jem. "I was wondering when that'd occur to you," he said. "There are lots of reasons. For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman--"
"You mean women in Alabama can't--?" I was indignant.
"I do. I guess it's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's. Besides," Atticus grinned, "I doubt if we'd ever get a complete case tried--the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions."
Ahh, good old misogyny.. even at this young of an age, Scout, as a woman herself, is being told that women are lesser than men. While Atticus does seem to be messing around a it with scout, it's still not sending a good message. Little hints of this same kind of thing are spread out throughout the book. For example, in one section, Aunt Alexandra is pushing Scout to dress "more like a lady" and act better. Scout counters this by stating that she can't do anything in a dress, which is true, but Aunt A won't have it.
I mean, this isn't anything new. In fact, the oppression of women has been a thing for a looong time. But in the time that this book takes place, the 1930's, women weren't just going to accept any orders thrown at them. Because of the Great Depression, many riots and protests were taking place. There was a sit-down protest in February of 1937 of the female factory workers for a cigar plant. The manager fire the entire committee, but from Feb. 16th to the 19th, the female workers sat. Even though this was completely peaceful, many people were angered and became violent.
Overall, the '30s were a time of empowerment for women striving for equality, even though they were put down along the way. Scout has been discouraged many times, even by her own brother, but yet she still sticks to her beliefs and keeps her head up. She also questions a lot of things, which I respect her doing. it shows that Scout is keeping an open mind to the world, but isn't too impressionable.
"I do. I guess it's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's. Besides," Atticus grinned, "I doubt if we'd ever get a complete case tried--the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions."
Ahh, good old misogyny.. even at this young of an age, Scout, as a woman herself, is being told that women are lesser than men. While Atticus does seem to be messing around a it with scout, it's still not sending a good message. Little hints of this same kind of thing are spread out throughout the book. For example, in one section, Aunt Alexandra is pushing Scout to dress "more like a lady" and act better. Scout counters this by stating that she can't do anything in a dress, which is true, but Aunt A won't have it.
I mean, this isn't anything new. In fact, the oppression of women has been a thing for a looong time. But in the time that this book takes place, the 1930's, women weren't just going to accept any orders thrown at them. Because of the Great Depression, many riots and protests were taking place. There was a sit-down protest in February of 1937 of the female factory workers for a cigar plant. The manager fire the entire committee, but from Feb. 16th to the 19th, the female workers sat. Even though this was completely peaceful, many people were angered and became violent.
Overall, the '30s were a time of empowerment for women striving for equality, even though they were put down along the way. Scout has been discouraged many times, even by her own brother, but yet she still sticks to her beliefs and keeps her head up. She also questions a lot of things, which I respect her doing. it shows that Scout is keeping an open mind to the world, but isn't too impressionable.
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