Sunday, September 30, 2007
Elise MacDougald
I really enjoyed MacDougald's piece which discussed the task of being a black female. She discusses how stereotypical race ideas actually affect these women. For example, she discusses how black females must constantly face the stereotype that they are more permiscuous than white women when in actuality they are not. It is this stereotype and many more that make being an African American woman rather difficult. They have to deal with day to day concerns of being a women and then the added racial implications as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
It was interesting to compare McDougald’s piece to Toomer’s and McKays depictions of African American women. McDougald discussed the stereotype that black women are more promiscuous and are constantly fighting to prove that they really are not, but Toomer and McKay are writing continually about black women being prostitutes and doing what must be done to make ends meet regardless of social morality. So really not only do black women have to right what white society “thinks”, they also have to defend themselves from what black men in their very own culture are saying and depicting them as. Crazy.
I agree, McDougald pointed out that African American women faced multiple hardships based on race, gender, and economic status. One of the most significant problems that women faced was the stereotype of being sexually promiscuous. I saw a connection between this problem highlighted by McDougald and the prostitutes and sexually promiscuous women Toomer and McKay frequently wrote about. From much of the literature we have read in this class, I can see that the stereotype of sexual promiscuity among African American women was a common belief during this time. It seems to be a topic that many writers of the Harlem Renaissance addressed.
I liked how McDougald spoke about the the hardships that African Ameican women face. In class, I liked our discussion how women not only ahve to work but also have to care and provided for their children. In the past, white women have had African American women as their servant and caregivers for their children. Now, African American women are working their way up to middle class, along with obtaining jobs, and need to provided for their children. I think this was an interesting point. I also like how McDougald brings women's harships to the "table" and can identify their stuggles along with their successes.
I felt that this article stongly portrayed that as well. I think that black womenhad two fold of burdens because not only were they women but they were also black and niether was a socially equal status to have.
When I read that section about how black women are not actually promiscuous, I felt kind of confused as to why so many black, female authors continue to portray women in their writing in that kind of a light. For example, Toni Morrison's key characters in both "Beloved" and "Sula" are extremely promiscuous, to the point where it nearly destroys their lives and the lives of those around them. It definitely sheds a negative light on black women as their own subculture, and I don't understand why Morrison and other black authors would do something like that. Obviously, race doesn't determine how women lead their lives, and we need to try to eradicate these stereotypes even though the still exist in literature.
Post a Comment