Gender stereotyping from the 1930’s to modern day: How gender roles are communicated to children through their everyday lives. In our modern day, we are constantly exposed to information. In fact, the average person sees 5,000 advertisements per day (Sharille). Many of this media is also subconsciously embedding the idea of gender roles in youth. But this subconscious absorption of gender roles did not start with the invention of the phone, television, or other modern luxuries. As seen in book To Kill a Mockingbird sexism has other ways to make it into our lives. Scout like 8 year olds today are getting the idea of gender roles through looks, social interactions, and jobs. The idea of the Southern Belle was still prominent when the book To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. According to the wikipedia article “Southern Belle” “the image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and gloves. As signs of tanning were considered working-class and unfashionable during this era, parasols and fans are also often represented.Southern belles were expected to marry respectable young men, and become ladies of society dedicated to the family and community.” The "Southern belle" archetype is characterized by Southern hospitality, a cultivation of beauty, and a flirtatious yet chaste demeanor” (“Southern Belle”). The Southern Belle represented the social ideal that was strived for. Scout often got remarks on how she will never grow up to be a Southern Belle and therefore not be pretty, marry rich, and “happy”. Scout would have gotten her gender role information from the older women in her life who were already living their supposed place in society. For example, Scout’s Aunt Alexandra who “ was fanatical on the subject of [Scout’s] attire.” Her aunt said that Scout “ could not possibly hope to be a lady if [Scout] wore breeches” (Lee 108). While Scout was expected to be pale and wear a corset and hoop skirt (See image 2.1), girls today have a different standard. The 8 year old girl today shops in stores like Justice. (See image 2.2). Most of what is sold there is sparkly pink dresses, tank tops, and short shorts. They also sell hair accessories and makeup. Girls today are meeting the ideal of long hair, short shorts, a tank top, and vans shoes. This shows girls their gender role. They are to be like the “perfect” models; Beautiful, tall, thin, sparkly, and without a blemish on their skin. Modern day, like the 1930’s, is encouraging girls to be pretty and cute because that’s all that matters. If you are pretty enough, you can marry someone rich and have the “perfect” life. For example, a modern “trophy” wife. Young girls are also shown their place in society by how they are talked to. Today, many parents may not realized that when they tell their girls that “they look cute today” they are reinforcing the idea that looks are the only thing that matters. Intellectual comments, on the other hand, like congratulating them on learning their times tables shows that a better achievement are those in school. Other times gender stereotyping takes place in our everyday speech are saying like “happy wife, happy life” or “Throw like a girl”. Other examples are when a group has both boys and girls but referred to as “guys”. These are only a few examples when girls are referred to as 2nd to boys. Many wedding traditions also place women behind the men. Such as a father giving away his daughter. (Donovan). For Scout, these interactions are mostly with her brother Jem like when he says that "Scout, I'm tellin' you ...you're gettin' more like a girl every day!" (Lee 69). The situation this quotes was said in implies that Scout being like a girl is a bad thing. Since he was trying to get Scout to do something risky, Jem implies that girls are cowards. A common quote today is that our action are what define us. For Scout, she witnesses several different types of actions in her female neighbors. Ms. Crawford likes to gossip, a traditional “feminine” pastime. Scout’s Aunt Alexandra takes over the role of managing the Finch’s household. Ms. Maudie although a more independent figure, still spends her days doing domestic tasks like baking and gardening also traditionally associated with women. (Lee 57). Today in the media girls are also being exposed to women doing these traditional roles. For example, Disney Princesses are often seen cleaning like Cinderella or baking like Snow White. Both of these princesses were also pretty and then got to marry a prince at the end. (Geronimi). Today, certain jobs are commonly associated with one gender. This makes it hard to break gender stereotypes. Many people are not accepting of a female plumber or a male nanny. Saying that women are not strong enough to be in heavy labor jobs and that a man is not caring or nurturing enough to take care of kids for a living. Gender roles have always been around as a way to structure society so that all the work get done. It was a divide that created a more efficient system. But in today's world, such a divide is obsolete. The more efficient system for our modern society is one where people do the job that they are best fit for. Such labels that keep women in the house and men at the office are no longer relevant. But after the centuries of programming that dictates the gender roles the best we can do is inspire girls to rise above the social expectation on their own by providing positive role models. Disney is trying to create stronger female roles like Merida from Brave. (Chapman). The next step is to reboot magazines. Take the example of American Girl Magazine. It focuses mostly on girls and has a lot of pink and flowers. Although they tell empowering stories of girls, they also don’t encourage traditionally masculine activities. Instead, there is lots of baking and yarn crafts. At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says that most people are nice when you get to know them. (Lee 376). By not giving into societal norms, Scout showed her true self. We need more Scouts today. Girls who are not afraid to stand up for her family, or be curious. The themes of To Kill A Mockingbird are still existent in modern day. Works Cited Sharilee. “How Many Advertisements Do We See Each Day?” What's Working in Marketing, Telesian, 16 Apr. 2014, blog.telesian.com/how-many-advertisements-do-we-see-each-day/. Accessed 5 June 2017. “Southern Belle.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_belle. Accessed 5 June 2017. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. 50th Aniversary ed. New York: Grand Central Publishing, n.d. Print. Donovan , Laura. “5 Wedding Traditions We Still Do That Are Stunningly Sexist.” ATTN:ATTN: 29 Apr. 2016, www.attn.com/stories/7805/sexist-wedding-traditions. Accessed 5 June 2017. Geronimi, Clyde, director. Cinderella . Walt Disney Productions . Chapman, Brenda, director. Brave. Disney, 2012.