"'Scout, you'll get in trouble if you go around saying things like that. You want to grow up to be a lady, don't you?' I said not particularly. "Of course you don't.'" (page 105)
In this quote, Uncle Jack is telling Scout that she shouldn't be cursing, and referring to the activity as unladylike. Then, he asks her "You want to grow up to be a lady, don't you?" and she tells him that she doesn't and he responds with "Of course you do."
This angers me because he is setting a certain standard for women and what is ladylike. Why is it normal and accepted for men to cuss, but not for women to cuss? Also, he asked her if she wanted to "grow up to be a lady" and she says no. He then tells her "Of course you do." This implies that he wants all girls and women to follow a certain standard, and doesn't even give Scout a say in her own thoughts about her adulthood. This is just so wrong in my eyes because Scout's uncle shouldn't be telling her to act a certain way. When she gets older, she doesn't have to act ladylike and can cuss if she wants to. The only thing I thought was right about this situation is Scout telling him honestly that she didn't want to "grow up to be a lady." I like that she stuck with her own values and stood her ground, even when Uncle Jack didn't like her response. I think to make this right, men need to realize that they have a privilege and are oppressing women all the time. I think men need to understand that not all women are the same. Also, I would like to know what "ladylike" means, and why Uncle Jack thought that all women should be like that. Also, to make this right, I think that men should imagine if they were all expected to act the same way and think about how difficult that would be.
This relates to a scene also in TKAM on page 108 when Aunt Alexandra is telling Scout that she should wear dresses and act a certain way, and not do things that require pants. The scenes both involve people telling Scout how she should act and dress, when she wants to just live her life and do what she wants. Both of these scenes anger me, and I would like to tell both Uncle Jack and Aunt Alexandra to leave Scout alone and fix their own lives and opinions before they start judging other peoples'. The thing I found interesting about this scene, though, was that the oppressor was a woman herself. This happens in every day life, when some women want others to act like them for reasons I don't understand. Why shame others for wearing something different than you or acting different than you when it doesn't affect your life? I will never understand these people and what caused them to think it was okay to try and control other people's actions and preferences. Don't shame women if they like wearing dresses, don't shame women if they don't. It's quite simple.
-Ellie
I think you are right about the oppression of women by men and that it should be fixed (we're slowly making progress) and as I read this, it becomes more of a rant about your views on the patriarchal society we live in but in a good enlightening way. However, this book takes place in the 1930's, so it isn't too surprising that women were still treated like Scout was in the story as this was the time right before women's rights and social statuses were about to start changing for the better. Btw, I think you could relate this to many things today and the "ladylike" that Jack was mentioning was more of how they've been treated for a long time, as 'delicate and defenseless damsels' that followed a certain ethic-like code thingy. A lot of stuff around this era have women's oppression b/c it was the social norm for them (recall from history how women have been oppressed over the years and there's your answer, especially if you look in Europe and China). Though good job overall, keep it up. ;)
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