Sexual Harassment Of Female Slaves - 1310 Words

In a book that brought the anguish of female slaves to light, Harriet Jacobs divulges into personal details exposing the jarring reality of a flawed legal system in order to ignite change as well as influence the culture of antebellum America. Sexual harassment of female slaves was a cultural norm in the South. Although women were publicly shamed for their sexual history, slave owners were never held responsible for their sexual wrongdoings and molestations against women. Linda claims that â€Å"slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women† (Jacobs chapter 14). Punished on a variety of levels, male slaves were often subjected and tortured physically; however, women were assaulted and tortured both physically and sexually, leaving physical and emotional scars. Slaves were frequently denied the right to marriage. Regardless of gaining independence from their master or not, enslaved women still struggled with subjugation to the popular idea of â€Å"true womanhood† (the idea that women should be submissive and domestic). Being a woman who encompasses all the â€Å"rules† of true womanhood, Aunt Martha endures the hardship of watching her own family become torn apart as they are sold, escape, or die due to the brutality of slavery. Female slaves tragically become dehumanized through not only the loss of community and family, but also the loss of hope of true freedom as well as control of their own bodies. Mental and physical cruelties slaves faced daily exceededShow MoreRelatedEssay on Sexual Harassment1046 Words   |  5 Pagesvictim of sexual pressure. These instances can take place at work, school, the military and even at church. But exactly what is sexual exploitation or unwanted sexual behavior? After looking at several definitions for sexual abuse I came across the following definition that I feel will help all of us to better understand what inappropriate sexual behavior is. Sexual harassment was defined by Th e Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as unwelcome advances and requests for sexual behaviorRead MoreArnt I a Woman by Deborah White Essay927 Words   |  4 Pagesfocus on the female slave experience. Deborah Gray White explains her view by categorizing the hardships and interactions between the female slave and the environment in which the slave was born. She starts with the mythology of the female slave by using mythologies such as Jezebel or Mammy, a picture that was painted of false images created by whites in the south. She then moves to differences between male and female slavery the harsh life cycle, the created network among the female community, customsRead MoreIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Essay1624 Words   |  7 PagesIn Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs writes, Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women (64). Jacobs work shows the evils of slavery as being worse in a womans case by the gender. Jacobs eluc idates the disparity between societal dictates of what the proper roles were for Nineteenth century women and the manner that slavery prevented a woman from fulfilling these roles. The book illustrates the double standard of for white women versus black womenRead MoreHarriet Jacob s The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay1121 Words   |  5 Pagesattainment of equal rights for the female folk. This offers believability to Harriet Jacob’s account of active female resistance to sexism as represented in her book, â€Å"The Life of a Slave Girl.† The story is purposed to outline the brutality of the sexual harassments that women, of yesteryears as of today, face. Notably, the story is a personal account of Harriet’s own experience of sexism, from the perspective of a slave girl. Harriet Jacob, in her narration, â€Å"The Life of a Slave a Girl’, shows many instancesRead MoreA Rose For A Slave Girl By Harriet Ann Jacobs1516 Words   |  7 Pagesphysical appearance a nd ethnical background. In the novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs, the author writes in her first point of views and recounts her experiences as a slave during this time in American history which helps brings the attention of social issues amongst African American slave. The main character, Linda, learns from late of her childhood the savagery of being a slave and the consequences she sees first hand of the hostilities her race has against herRead MoreIncidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay1614 Words   |  7 PagesIn Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs writes, Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women (64). Jacobs work shows the evils of slavery as being worse in a womans case by the gender. Jacobs elucidates the disparity between societal dictates of what the proper roles were for Nineteenth century women and the manner that slavery prevented a woman from fulfilling these roles. The book illustrates th e double standard of for white women versus black womenRead MoreLabor During The Slave Narrative872 Words   |  4 PagesLabor in the Slave Narrative The anti-bondage compositions of slaves and previous slaves that both chronicled the detestations of bondage and required the abrogation of slavery are perpetually fixed to financial aspects both in terms of their topic and the reasons for which they were made. Specifically, the depiction of bondage highlights, both verifiably and unequivocally, the way that subjugation was as a matter of first importance of financial framework which got to be fixed to racial slaveryRead MoreThe Black Body : Racial Fetishism Essay1224 Words   |  5 PagesHypersexualization of the Black Body: Racial Fetishism Sexualization is to make something sexual in character or quality, or to become aware of sexuality, especially in relation to men and women; sexualization is often linked to sexual objectification. Before the sexualization of Africans/African Americans, sexualization was given to inanimate objects, Europeans documentation of their conquest is doused with language that’s sexually suggestive to describe the nature of the â€Å"discovered† land. ColumbusRead MoreCritical Analysis of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Essay examples1614 Words   |  7 PagesThe life of a slave woman is far more complex than that of a slave man, although understandably equal in hardships, the experience for a woman is incredibly different. The oppression that women have faced throughout their lives in the struggle to even be considered equal to men is more than evident in slavery, not only because they were thought of as lesser but in some ways many women actually believed it to be true . The experiences that Linda Brent, pseudonym for the author Harriet A. Jacobs,Read MoreSexual Harassment By The Gale Encyclopedia Of American Law1278 Words   |  6 PagesSexual harassment, as defined by the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law is defined as â€Å"unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment.† An early and extreme case of sexual harassment in the United States was the sexual assault of African American women slaves by their owners, without any form available for legal recourse for the victims. Sexual Harassment wasn’t considered a