Oppression is a systemic problem, where individuals are treated as minorities. Both women and slaves are examples, as one another share similar oppressions. African Americans were among the most common slaves, and were treated as minorities. Those of higher power kept slaves oppressed, preventing them to overcome their oppression. As stated, “that all Negroes, mulatoes, mustizoes or Indians, which at any time heretofore have been sold… shall be bought and sold for slaves, are hereby declared slaves; and they , and their children are hereby made and declared slaves”(Rothenberg pg. 506). Not only did slaves get punished, but the children of these slaves and owners were punished. Children, despite being born on US territory, were considered slaves because of their skin color. Slave owners were punished as well if their slaves were causing problems, or the owners were trying to conceal a convicted slave or provide shelter for runaways. Slaves were not allowed to be educated, as it might cause slaves to “excite dissatisfaction in their minds, and to …show more content…
produce insurrection and rebellion” (Rothenberg pg. 512). There was a constant fear that slaves would realize their oppression, and would revolt against their owners. Although history would fix Slave’s oppression, the effort made to keep slaves in the minority creates a systemic problem. Similar to slaves, women too are an example of a systemic problem.
Although women wanted to achieve the same rights as a man, they were oppressed by man. Women were often considered a minority due to their different characteristics compared to a man. Often considered as a mother or for only sexual activity, men considered a women’s place is in “the bedroom” or the “kitchen”. Women were also not allowed to own property, vote, use their own money and etc. Men were the ones who could control their women and as well dictate how they would live their lives. Not only did men oppress women, but some women would believe their accusations. Women of higher social class, would side with men to oppress the women. This created anti-women movements because these women feared that their own lives would cease to exist. They enjoyed the life they lived, and if the oppression among women were to end, they would lose their relaxing
lives. In Frye’s example of the Birdcage, the bird cage and its bars represents a person’s struggle to break free from oppression. Similar to intersectionality, each of the bars in the bird cage represent different views of oppression a person can face. In Sharon Kowalski and Karen Thompson’s cases, they were oppressed in three modes, ableism, heterosexism and sexism. Both Kowalski and Thompson were oppressed for being lesbian women and Kowalski for being disabled after a car accident. Thompson struggled to gain the rights to stand by her side, as Kowalski’s parents refused. Even with them being married, the parents of Kowalski could not acknowledge that their marriage was legal and denied further information on her status. The court and doctors also were at fault of oppression as they did not allow Thompson to continue to visit her and Thompson was completely “helpless” at her current conditions and could not be helped. If the situation was composed of a heterosexual couple, then this type of oppression wouldn’t exist.
Women were not encouraged to get a job or go to school women were taught pretty much that they were just property owned by men women stayed home and cleaned while men went out and worked, went to school, also went to college. Women were not allowed to have custody of her kids or own land all of it went to the man women were not even allowed to vote Can you imagine life being told your just there to serve men and carry your kids for nine months just to get told they are not yours they are your husbands . So women decided they were done with that and put there foot down and some women created some kind of groups which are the NAWSA (National Woman Suffrage Association).
Women slaves were subject to unusually cruel treatment such as rape and mental abuse from their master’s, their unique experience must have been different from the experience men slaves had. While it is no secret that the horrors of the institution of slavery were terrible and unimaginable; those same horrors were no big deal for southern plantation owners. Many engaged in cruelty towards their slaves. Some slave owners took particular interest in their young female slaves. Once caught in the grips of a master’s desire it would have been next to impossible to escape. In terms of actual escape from a plantation most women slaves had no reason to travel and consequentially had no knowledge of the land. Women slaves had the most unfortunate of situations; there were no laws that would protect them against rape or any injustices. Often the slave that became the object of the master’s desires would also become a victim of the mistress of the household. Jealousy played a detrimental role in the dynamic the enslaved women were placed within. Regardless of how the slave felt she could have done little to nothing to ease her suffering.
For most American’s especially African Americans, the abolition of slavery in 1865 was a significant point in history, but for African Americans, although slavery was abolished it gave root for a new form of slavery that showed to be equally as terrorizing for blacks. In the novel Slavery by Another Name, by Douglas Blackmon he examines the reconstruction era, which provided a form of coerced labor in a convict leasing system, where many African Americans were convicted on triumphed up charges for decades.
However, the hardships and misfortunes of other groups of women due to race, religion, sexual orientation, etc are not often mentioned because feminism has a widespread message and definition worldwide. In the United States, black women or any women with darker skin complexions were treated inhumanely and did not, also still today did not benefit from white privilege. As explained, referring back to the era of slavery up until the American Revolution black enslaved women were mistreated due to the color of their skin and they were without a voice because of their lack of power in a society where man had more power over women and blacks were overpowered by those with lighter skin. Overall, it is important to note and realize that all women were subjected to unequal treatment due to many variables, but some women more than others because of certain variables as
(i) Women were limited regarding the responsibility for, obliging them to wed in order to acquire, hence keeping them from achieving genuine autonomy (it is this issue which practices proto-women 's activist scholars like Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë). (ii) Women did not have full rights over their own particular body, which implied they had no lawful security against sexual viciousness (e.g. the possibility that a spouse could assault his better half was not conceded as law until late in the twentieth century). (iii) Women were victimized in the working environment, which not just implied ladies were paid not as much as men for the same work, it additionally confined them from applying for certain occupations, denied them advancement, and made no stipend for maternity take off. A considerable lot of these issues hold on
When I look at the word oppression, images come to mind; images like being inferior and downtrodden. The word “oppression” can and is a powerful weapon. Let’s look at the meaning of the word, “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel or unjust manner, the state of being oppressed.” (dictionary.com, 2013). During South Africa’s fight for freedom from the cruelty of apartheid, Steve Biko made many speeches to help raise the consciousness of his black brothers and in one of his speeches, he made this statement, the most important weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the MIND of the oppressed.” (Boddy.Evans, 2013). This is a powerful statement and it makes the meaning of “oppression” very clear. Words like oppression and discrimination are powerful and painful. They are tools that have been used in the past and are still in use today. You can be oppressed and discriminated by words as well as action. There have been many times when certain groups have been oppressed and treated with unbelievable cruelty. I am referring to the enslavement of the African people and to the mass killing and displacement of the Native American Indians. During that time, blacks were captured from Africa and brought over to America to do hard labor. They were treated as property, shackled like animals and they endured unbelievable cruelty. This is what I would call the ultimate meaning of oppression. There rights and dignity as a human being was taken away from them. Slavery lasted in this country for over 300 years. That time was during slavery in America. (Schiller, 2011). The American Indians were beaten almost to annihilation just because the land that they were on was coveted by the American settlers. (“North American Indians, 2013). We live in a society that has thrived on discrimination
This movement had great leaders who were willing to deal with the ridicule and the disrespect that came along with being a woman. At that time they were fighting for what they thought to be true and realistic. Some of the great women who were willing to deal with those things were Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Jane Hunt, Mary McClintock, and Martha C. Wright. These women gave this movement, its spark by conduction the first ever women 's right’s convention. This convention was held in a church in Seneca Falls in 1848. At this convection they expressed their problems with how they were treated, as being less than a man. These women offered solutions to the problem by drafting the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. They cleverly based the document after the Declaration of Independence. The opening line of their document was “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal” (Shi & Mayer 361). In this declaration they discuss the history of how women have been treated and how men have denied them rights, which go against everything they believe in. This convention was the spark that really
Women had no rights compared to a man. Women had to fight for the rights which led to a change in the United States which last till today. Women in 1920s the fight to have rights was called the women’s suffrage movement which impinged on how they have rights; and have to fight against a dissident to get the 19th amendment and how the suffrage movement affects today.
Women have been oppressed since the beginning of time, they have always been thought of as lesser to men in our culture, and they still are. Although some people may disagree women are still put at a lower bar to men. They have a lower chance of getting certain jobs, making more money and being put into places of higher power. People of color have also been oppressed for a very long time. Back in colonial times this sexism and racism was even stronger and more powerful. Women couldn’t get any jobs that had to do with government and had very little power over what they could or couldn’t do. African americans were almost all slaves and if they weren’t they still had little to no rights, it was extremely difficult for them to find jobs. This
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slavery was cruelty at its best. Slavery is described as long work days, a lack of respect for a human being, and the inability for a man or a woman to have gainful employment. The slaves were victimized the most for obvious reasons. Next on the list would be the families of both the slave and slave owners. At the bottom of the list would be the slave owners. Slavery does in fact victimize slaves, slave owner and their families by repeating the same cycle every generation.
History accounts for the great contributions of women in promoting social justice, particularly in uplifting the morale and functions of women in the society. From being the oppressed gender, various women managed to change the traditional roles of women by fighting for their rights to be heard and for them to given equal opportunities. These women boldly stood against gender stereotypes of women and proved the entire world that they could defy conventions. Particularly at the turn of the 20th century, women battled against the oppressions brought by patriarchy in different ways. These activist women had crusaded for the promotion of their civil rights, sexual freedom, and pursued careers which were once forbidden to them.
African Americans have overcome many obstacles throughout their journey to freedom. Slavery began in the United States in 1619, in Jamestown, Virginia. Although the Union’s victory in the Civil War ended slavery, it continues to be a huge part of history to the United States. The culture of African Americans has been greatly shaped by the tribulations their ancestors suffered throughout their journey to freedom. African American slaves lived lives in which they were consistently treated inhumanely on a number of different levels, yet they found methods to endure and overcome these cruel times (Facts).
The word “slavery” brings back horrific memories of human beings. Bought and sold as property, and dehumanized with the risk and implementation of violence, at times nearly inhumane. The majority of people in the United States assumes and assures that slavery was eliminated during the nineteenth century with the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth; rather, slavery and the global slave trade continue to thrive till this day. In fact, it is likely that more individuals are becoming victims of human trafficking across borders against their will compared to the vast number of slaves that we know in earlier times. Slavery is no longer about legal ownership asserted, but instead legal ownership avoided, the thought provoking idea that with old slavery, slaves were maintained, compared to modern day slavery in which slaves are nearly disposable, under the same institutionalized systems in which violence and economic control over the disadvantaged is the common way of life. Modern day slavery is insidious to the public but still detrimental if not more than old American slavery.
Then there was the woman’s movement and women felt they deserved equal rights and should be considered man’s equal and not inferior. The man going out to work, and the wife staying home to care for the home and the children would soon become less the norm. This movement would go on to shape the changes within the nuclear family. Women deci...
Women have always been essential to society. Fifty to seventy years ago, a woman was no more than a house wife, caregiver, and at their husbands beck and call. Women had no personal opinion, no voice, and no freedom. They were suppressed by the sociable beliefs of man. A woman’s respectable place was always behind the masculine frame of a man. In the past a woman’s inferiority was not voluntary but instilled by elder women, and/or force. Many, would like to know why? Why was a woman such a threat to a man? Was it just about man’s ability to control, and overpower a woman, or was there a serious threat? Well, everyone has there own opinion about the cause of the past oppression of woman, it is currently still a popular argument today.