Skeeter is different than most women her age in her town because she wants to become a successful writer. After college, she gets an entry-level journalism job, because she wants to rise the ranks in her field. She does not prioritize having a husband and children in the near future the way that all of the other women her age seem to. She expects that if she works hard enough, she can become successful.

However, Skeeter’s friends and family have different expectations for her. Her mother hopes she finds a husband soon. Although she is not thrilled about Skeeter’s job, she does not work to crush Skeeter’s ambitions.

In a similar way, Skeeter’s friends cannot understand why she wants to work. None of Skeeter’s female friends have jobs. Even though they went to college, it is suggested that the goal of college for these women was to find men to marry. They are wives and mothers, although they have maids to attend to their children so they are not too busy. Although like Skeeters’ mother, they do not try to crush Skeeter’s goals, they seem to believe that once Skeeter finds the right man, she will drop her goals of being a successful career woman and settle down to be a housewife like them.