Societal Norms In The Help

The movie “The Help”, shows that many people will avoid being different in order to fit in with societal norms. When given a choice, societal expectations are considered more important and valuable than embracing differences. Different groups have different expectations that are held sacred to them. These rules are good and bad as they provide a safe acceptable path for people to follow, but also creates a wall that no one dares pass in fear of being belittled and scoffed at. If anyone does happen to intrude past this barrier, then they would be reprimanded by others for their brash behavior. These groups are made based primarily on a person’s sex and race. Throughout “The Help”, the many groups clearly display that societal norms are held

The most influential and important norm is that the white society view themselves as superior to other races and this is shown how white families dominate over the black maids whom are there to help serve their white masters. From the white society, the norms branch out into the two separate sexes. As the movie was set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960sd during the Civil Rights Movement, many aspects of the social norms at that time are very different from now. The women are expected to cook, clean, and have babies, the men, on the other hand, are expected to work and support the family. In the movie, Skeeter did the exact opposite of what was expected. She graduated from the University of Mississippi, remained single, and got a job writing for a column in a newspaper. Because this is not what people were used to women doing, the other girls decided to “help” Skeeter by setting her up on dates and trying to conform her into one of them. When Skeeter continues to be herself and not act like the other girls, barely any of the other girls talk to her and when they had to, it was often done in an acrimonious tone of voice. Among the white society, it is clearly shown in the movie that the people greatly value societal norms and if someone is not like them, others will try to assimilate he or she to fit what they think is

This is because many people consider different as bad and dangerous. Uniqueness allows people to stand out and be who they are, but this isn’t always a good thing. Being different may sometimes be good but other times it isn’t as pleasant as the person would be the “odd man out” and be disliked by many people. It takes courage to be set apart and maintain this difference with pride. Skeeter had to muster up lots of courage, especially when she began to write her book about the life of black maids in Jackson. Not only was the book illegal, no one supported her. Even her own mom wouldn’t stand beside her and her work. The movie took place in the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, many black people were killed for being black and any white people sympathizing with blacks would be murdered as well. So this meant that Skeeter had to do her work in secret or she risked being attacked. Minny is another person who dared to be different. After being fired by Hilly, she decided to take revenge by giving Hilly a pie baked with her own excrement added. This was very risky as no black person would dare performing such a dangerous act on any white person, let alone Hilly, the most influential white woman in all of Jackson. Minny had to have been very brave to have pulled off a stunt like the one she did. When Skeeter