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Ar'n't I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the Plantation South Paperback – February 17, 1999
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"One of those rare books that quickly became the standard work in its field." ―Anne Firor Scott, Duke University
Living with the dual burdens of racism and sexism, slave women in the plantation South assumed roles within the family and community that contrasted sharply with traditional female roles in the larger American society.
This revised edition of Ar'n't I a Woman? reviews and updates the scholarship on slave women and the slave family, exploring new ways of understanding the intersection of race and gender and comparing the myths that stereotyped female slaves with the realities of their lives. Above all, this groundbreaking study shows us how black women experienced freedom in the Reconstruction South―their heroic struggle to gain their rights, hold their families together, resist economic and sexual oppression, and maintain their sense of womanhood against all odds.
Winner of the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize awarded by the Association of Black Women Historians.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
- Publication dateFebruary 17, 1999
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.7 x 8.3 inches
- ISBN-100393314812
- ISBN-13978-0393314816
- Lexile measure1480L
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Product details
- Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; Revised edition (February 17, 1999)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0393314812
- ISBN-13 : 978-0393314816
- Lexile measure : 1480L
- Item Weight : 7.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #108,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #22 in U.S. Civil War Women's History
- #666 in African American Demographic Studies (Books)
- #677 in Discrimination & Racism
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Written by Deborah Gray White, an esteemed college professor, this book began as her doctoral dissertation. While the subject matter is absolutely fascinating, be prepared for writing that is more academic than colloquial.
The book describes with extraordinary depth and feeling the life of female slaves in the Southern states—from myths to facts. It begins with an examination of the ultimate dichotomy of how so many whites viewed slave women: They were either a Jezebel or a Mammy. Were they overly sexual and promiscuous creatures? Or were they the idealized slave who was a beloved part of the family?
Other topics:
• Find out why men and women slaves were treated so differently and how this affected the female slave's pattern of resistance.
• Learn about the moral code of sex, marriage, and motherhood in the slave cabins.
• Discover why slave women had more stable relationships with each other than with their husbands.
• Find out why men and women were equal in slave society while the white mistress was totally subjugated by her husband.
• Learn the sad fact that slave women were the only women in America who were sexually exploited, beaten, whipped, and worked from dawn to dusk and then some.
• Find out how Southern whites brutalized freed female slaves. This chapter is so horrific it's very difficult to read.
This not an easy book to read both because of the disturbing, tragic subject matter, but also because of the academic-style of writing; however, it is a remarkable, insightful, and very personal look at a shameful part of our nation's history. And that makes it very important.
The author weaves together quotes from enslaved Black women to tell her story. As other reviewers have noted, there does tend to be something of a feel of a feminist slant to the writing. I certainly would not argue against her basic premise of White male abuse of Black female slaves. However, having researched the White female slave owners, I would contend that women of the South were as guilty as the men of evil and condoning evil.
Reading firsthand accounts of these Black "sisters of the spirit" is the only way to truly gain a feel for what they endured and the larger cultural evils. Three examples include: "Behind the Scenes," "The House of Bondage," and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl."
Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Spiritual Friends, and Soul Physicians.


