A Fight For All Women By Harriet Jacobs

“A Fight for all Women”

Harriet Jacobs’ feminist approach to her autobiographical narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl brought to life the bondage placed on women, in particular enslaved black women, during the nineteenth-century America. In an effort to raise awareness about the conditions of enslaved women and to promote the cause of abolition, Jacobs decided to have her personal story of sexual exploitation and escape published. The author’s slave narrative focuses on the experiences of women, the treatment of sexual exploitation, its importance on family life and maternal principles, and its appeal to white, female readers. Likewise, through the use of the Feminist/Gender Theory, issues relating to gender and sexuality can be applied to the author’s slave narrative. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and its lack of reception during its own time disclose the strict boundaries and unique challenges Harriet Jacobs encountered and overcame as a woman in antebellum America.

In particular, the author defines femininity and its ideals in the patriarchal society and exposes how the ideas of proper womanhood and ideals were dependent upon class and race. During the nineteenth-century, the “True Woman” was idealized as religiously pious, morally pure, submissive, and devoted to domesticity. This idealization was perpetuated by both male and females in the patriarchal society of antebellum America. Jacobs’ narrative shows that this idea of the ideal female was not obtainable for all, particularly enslaved black females in the South. Slaves were considered property under the law and were afforded no rights. The author notes, “according to Southern laws, a slave, being property, can hold no property” (923). For...

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...tobiographical narrative. Nevertheless, Jacobs’ female slave narrative would eventually be discovered as an important literary achievement for the female slave and feminism.

Harriet Jacobs female slave narrative brought to the fore-front many issues relating to gender and sexuality in the patriarchal society of antebellum America. In particular, the author described how the ideals of the “True Woman” were unfeasible depending on race and class and the refusal to submit to the patriarchal male to gain the power of choice. Jacobs’ narrative’s lack of acceptance during its time also shed light on patriarchal views. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl calls out to women for a break from the tyrannical oppression of the ideal “True Woman.” Jacobs’ work is an inspiring feminist narrative describing femininity and sexuality as related to the Feminist/Gender Theory.