Extra Credit!!!

... Which is something I do love so much...

The Extra Credits video which explored what makes a great female character helped to explain why some characters in books do the crazy things they do. I'll mainly be focusing on how the gender role affects the characters in The Help, considering all the main characters are women.

In The Help Miss Skeeter, Minny, and Aibileen are the characters most limited by their gender. Minny and Aibileen both had to drop out of school at young ages to care for the houses of white people. While young men probably dropped out of school to work in factories or in fields, all young girls learned how to do is take care of a home. They've accepted that is their position in society. That limits them to one occupation that they are able to do. Miss Skeeter is also limited by job availability. She noted while looking for jobs, the same jobs are offered to men, but pay twice as much. Society expects women to get married, take care of the household and have babies. Those few women who do choose to work, aren't paid enough to support themselves alone, therefore still having to be force to find a partner to help take care of them. But Miss Skeeter isn't accepting the fact that her purpose in life is to raise children, like her friends Miss Hilly and Mrs. Leefolt have, but she is meant to make a change.

Miss Skeeter suffers the most pressure to give in to the life destined for her. Her mother, her friends, and society expect her to find a man and get married. Miss Skeeter wants to have a job as a journalist and write about something important that may help to guide future generations stuck in her position. Something that will change society as it is. But her mother sees a marriage certificate of higher value than a college diploma, as do the other women. The standard that has been set during the 50's a 60's, for women, is they are expected to take care of their man and have children, while the male of the household "brings home the bacon." What is ironic, is that even though the women are expected to take care of the children, the maids are the ones who raise them. Aibileen raised Mae Mobley for Mrs. Leefolt as well as 19 others before her. Constantine raised Miss Skeeter and her brother. Minny has raised many children as well. So if these women are conditioned to have children and raise them, why do they hire someone to do it for them?

The characters in The Help are both stereotypical and realistic. But that makes sense right? After all stereotypes are based off the truth, even if it is in just a few cases. Minny and Aibileen are the stereotype for African American women in Mississippi during the 60's. They are living in the poor part of town, struggling to make ends meet, and getting paid to clean houses of white people. Miss Hilly and Mrs. Leefolt are the stereotype for white women during that time. They are stuck up, lazy, and the idea of use the same toilet as a black person repulses them. But Miss Skeeter breaks that stereotype and enters the realistic part of that time by being a woman interested in getting more than her MRS degree.

Now if Mrs. Skeeter were a man, what would her life be like? For starters she could have a higher paying job. She wouldn't be expected to get married as quickly, because for men there is no biological alarm clock that would push her to have children soon. Most likely she would be expected to take over her dad's cotton business, or at least get involved in it. She could live on her own, without getting looks of pity for being that sad spinster. And Minny and Aibileen? They would be working in fields . Probably in Miss Skeeter's picking cotton. Or building bathrooms for colored people, like themselves.

Some Statistics: In 1969, 43% of women were working. In 1940 that precent was %25. In 1960, 30% of married women worked. In 1940 that was 15%. During the 60's the civil right movement was happening, and also the women's right movement. In 1963 Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, outlawing discriminating in the workplace based on sex (Women).

This proves that the changes Miss Skeeter is working toward are still new and most likely not accepted in a society such as hers. She is not the only woman during that time working, but she is one of the few. That is why she feels like an outcast, and no longer fits in with her friends. Society expects women to be motherly. And that involves take care of the home. They are not expected to get a job, as a journalist no less, and not be striving toward marriage. That data also shows that in reality, women like Miss Skeeter fought what was expected of them, like she did, and created the world we live in today.


"Women of the Decade: 1960s." Discovery Education. Discovery Education, n.d. Web. 19 Jul 2011. <http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/womenofthecentury/decadebydecade/1960s.html>.