Gender Quotes in The Help

For the white women in the novel, being a successful married woman (read: successful woman) means be able to have children. The pressure of this almost destroys Celia Rae Foote, who has several miscarriages before she understands that her husband loves her for herself, whether she has babies or not.

As Skeeter observes, in the early 1960s employers were totally allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender, race, and national origin.

Since Skeeter hasn't married early enough by her mother's timetable, she fears that Skeeter is a lesbian. We can see how sharply defined the rules of what a "normal" woman should be like are in Skeeter's community.

Minny is dead-on, at least where Johnny's concerned. He loves Celia for herself, not for her baby-making capacities. Although the novel has its share of nasty men, its focus is more on the nastiness of women. Through characters like Skeeter's dad and Johnny Foote, The Help takes pains to provide sympathetic white male characters in addition to nasty pieces of work like Raleigh Leefolt, Elizabeth's husband.

One of Aibileen's deepest regrets is that she didn't do more for John Green, who was beaten daily by his father with a stovepipe because he seemed to be attracted to boys and cross-dressed. This detail helps us understand the rigid gender roles for both men and women.

Gertrude is Minny's pseudonym. The quote is from Elaine Stein, editor of Help. Minny takes this as a high compliment. What does Stein mean? Well, Minny, because she is a Southern black woman, is expected to bow her head and stay in her place. But she defies expectations of how a black woman is expected to act toward white women, and how women in general are expected to act.

We aren't sure why Celia has always been so disturbed by the mimosa tree – likely it's linked to something bad from her past. When she begins to see that she's valuable even if she can't have children and doesn't fit into the social scene, she is able to chop down that tree.

Mae Mobley's racist teacher isn't happy about this. But Mae Mobley has herself transferred right out of that class by letting her dad hear her telling Aibileen's civil rights stories to her brother, then blaming them on the racist teacher – pretty clever for a kid. Already, Mae Mobley is an intelligent young lady, learning to survive in a society that is already treating her like she doesn't belong, because she doesn't fit the ideals of beauty and cuteness.

Aibileen wants to hear that Mae Mobley remembers that she is a valuable person. Slyly, Mae Mobley complies, but turns the praise on Aibileen. Aibileen, we suspect, will remain Mae Mobley's female role model for a long time to come.