Analysis Of In Ar 'N' T I A Woman By Deborah Gray White

Deborah Gray White was one of the first persons to vigorously attempt to examine the abounding trials and tribulations that the slave women in the south were faced with. Mrs. White used her background skills acquired from participating in the Board of Governors Professor of History and Professor of Women 's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University to research the abundance of stories that she could gather insight from. It was during her studies that she pulled her title from the famous Ain’t I A Woman speech given by Sojourner Truth. In order to accurately report the discriminations that these women endured, White had to research whether the “stories” she was writing about were true or not.
The primary purpose of Ar’n’t I A Woman? was to analyze

Deborah White configures the preeminent perception that Southern white women had of colored slave women. The initial impression was that all black women slaves were sexual deviants that were not fully equipped to fulfill their roles as slaves as they imposed a sort of “dangerous” sexual pressure in the community. The following vison of the common slave woman was that of a motherly nature in the way that the women were subject to have children for the sole purpose of renewing the source for slaves. No matter the outlook, it is clear that the slave women of the south were being forced to be flexible with their roles in order to please the slave

emphasizes the concept that colored women had been oppressed and time after time did not receive any sort of reconciliation. White explains how it is quite difficult to find specific facts on what colored women withstood at the time but when you look actively enough, you will surely find it. White clarifies the two major archetypes that colored women were forced to identify with. The first being Jezebel, the highly inappropriate and submissive character, was created from the white man’s distorted view on colored women’s clothing choice which women chose in order to comfortably work in the most efficient way. Many of the women worked in the outdoor heat which led to them rolling up their tops and bottoms in order to avoid overheating which would lead to the slowing down of their work. The second archetype, that of Mammy, was created to comfort white women in a way. The slave owners wanted to be reassured that the slaves were equipped and efficient. White indicates that the Mammy slaves were not liked for long as they were contracting the notion that white women were of any use in their own