fkiersten has 13 post(s)

Before any of the New World conquest entered, black women of Africa had lived in their bodies unmarked by Europe’s preoccupation with physiognomy. Their skin color, hair texture and their facial features were seen to be a cultural deficiency. An Englishman named Richard Ligon described what it was like seeing an African American woman for the first time. His shipped had set sail from London to the Barbados and he saw a black women for the first time. He described this black woman to be the greatest beauty he’s ever seen in one woman. He said she was large, excellently shaped with full big eyes. He compared her beauty to Queen Anne. His statement with comparing her to the Queen had a lot of controversy because it was unusual to compare someone too a monarchy, especially being a black women with how everyone else viewed them. A lot of the times, many English writers had compared a black woman body and figure to a white woman’s body. Most of the other Englishman would disagree with Richard Ligons statement and said black women to be monstrous and not feminine enough. Since many people had disagreed with Ligons views, as his journey went on he changed his view of black women. He stated that their breast would hang down below their navels and would critique their bodies. African Americans women bodies were dehumanized by the way these scholars would write about them and view them. I believe that because of these writings they did about these women, sets the stage on how society should see and views a women “perfect” body.

My question is, do you think that the sole purpose for Ligon changing his opinion on how he views black women, was based off of all the other Englishman and scholars viewing them with such negative feedback?

No matter where you are in the world, women are constantly being objectified. Although times have changed and women did eventually gain equal rights, back then it was very hard for them to maintain even a simple job. Even today, women are paid less than their male coworkers. The sole purpose of women back than was to serve as housewives. Even today, some may find it hard to believe women are 100% equal. During the reign of James I, there were plenty of riots going around where most of them were female protesting for their equal rights. Thirty seven women attacked coal miners claimed to be a village (Frederici, 83) The women back then would go out and start riots of their own just to have their voices heard, so they can impact their society and make a change within the community. They had to go out and fight for their freedom and rights on their own by starting these movements. The women were the ones who had suffered the most when the land was lost and all the villages fell apart because they were not able to easily adapt to different jobs such as working as a migrant workers and living a nomadic lifestyle (Frederici 83). The women did not have the rights to join the army, so they joined as cooks, washers, prostitutes and wives to please the men. When the land was privatized, women all over found it difficult to even support themselves because of how little rights they were able to have and the money they didn’t have because the lack of jobs that were available to them. There was a huge transition from feudalism to capitalism that took place that impacted the lives and roles of the women. The women had suffered social degradation throughout this transition. The degradation and the social discipline of women had two major factors that took place. The women were considered “non-workers”. Most of the values and jobs the women obtained were taken away from them by men which then led to them not being able to support themselves during the economic change.

In chapter 3, Angela Davis’s discusses a historical women named Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a white women who came from the upper middle class, trying to gain equal rights for women all over. She believes that depending on your gender, race and class, it will determine your basic human rights. Stanton was determined to prevent further progress for Black people because she felt as it was not fair that Black people would advance in history and receive more rights than women. She was determined to merge the women’s causes with the Black causes and make one big association out of the two. In May of 1866, equal rights were both incorporated between Black and woman suffrage into one campaign. I personally think that Stanton was a little racist considering the fact that she believed that women were far more important to receive equal rights and the rights to vote rather than Black men. Her true colors appeared when she stated this and too me, I perceived her as racist. She explained that once black men were to be freed, she believed that they would not support the women suffrage movement. Her actions behind all of this came off as competitive, and that this was a competition she needed to win. Elizabeth Cady Stanton served co-vice-president along with Frederick Douglass, to search for unity. Stanton and a few of her coworkers made sure that Black men would not receive equal rights until white women did, which is another example how she was racist. Stanton had a history of being involved in the abolition movement, but once she started to worry about the rights and freedom of women becoming less than black men, that’s when her attitude about this entire movement changed. She did not want women to support black people’s rights just incase they would advance and receive the rights before women did.