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An Analysis Of Sojourner Truths ' Ar ' Nt A Woman?

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Travis Bland
Tangela Serls
AML3604.003S16
11 March 2016
Surmounting Victorian Ideology: An analysis of Sojourner Truths “Ar’nt a Woman?” During the 19th century, black women faced a plethora of hardships culminating from hundreds of years of oppression and denigration while simultaneously fighting for equal rights with all other women. One of the biggest obstacles that was necessary to overcome was one of the most common ideologies of the West, the Cult of True Womanhood. This Victorian ideal of womanhood defined women within a domestic sphere and required them to be subservient to their husbands (Broude). These women gave up much more than their rights outside of the home, they were taken advantage of physically, mentally and sexually. The majority of women during this time did not meet this standard of true womanhood and never could hope to. This ideal and the common stereotypes of the time were questioned by an African-American woman named Sojourner Truth. Born in 1797, Isabella Baumfree was an African-American slave who was sold into a harsh life. Physically strong, she was worked just as much as men on the field and her masters did not hesitate to beat and rape her. By the time her teens had ended, she had already borne several children (Gates et al. 176). When she earned her freedom in 1826, she took on the new identity of Sojourner Truth, named so due to her seeking the truth from God and fighting for women’s rights. Her experiences were used at a women’s

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