Summary Of Erica Filidoro's Failed Sisterhood

1819 Words4 Pages

Sam Park Mrs. McKinnon US History I Honors 22 April 2024 “How did the inferior position of women shape their experiences and opportunities in the slaveholding world?” (Make a hook). Both enslaved women and female enslavers found their situations taking a hefty toll on their mental state as themes of jealousy and abuse grew prominent. Being a woman in the hands of an enslaver often felt suffocating as they had no choice but to accept their slaveholder’s advances without any say. Due to this abusive atmosphere, the mental health of many is depleted, leaving most women helpless. In these situations, not only did the abuse affect the enslaved women, but also the wives of enslavers had building frustration and jealousy. However, they often exerted this …show more content…

This quote further explains how her husband’s sexual advances truly afflicted her mind, driving her to an extremely negative emotional state enveloped in jealousy and spite. To further strengthen this claim, Erica Filidoro’s article, “Failed Sisterhood: Expectations and Betrayal Between the Women of the Antebellum South”, explains how the patriarchal society affected the relationship between a women slave and slave owner. Filidoro begins her article by writing about how “mistresses and slave women in the antebellum South lived and often suffered together under an oppressive patriarchy”. They all endured a kind of enslavement in a system that reduced all women to the property of White men in some way. Others have argued that issues of race, class, privilege, and jealousy prevented the formation of any sense of sisterhood between the two groups of women” (Filidoro 34). Through this explanation, it is clear that a congenial relationship between an enslaved woman who was sexually abused by the enslaver and the enslaver’s wife was

Open Document