Gendering in Abina and the Important Men
When putting together historical accounts, historians can run into a lot of problems trying to discover the truth about an event. These problems stem from the fact that history was not often recorded from multiple or impartial sources, so as a result, historians often have to read in between the lines to decipher the facts about a historical event. One particular problem that historians will run into is the issue of gendering. Gendering is when an event is examined with an understanding of how gender can influence all aspects of a society, and in turn, historical events (Abina, p. 163-64). This problem was especially relevant to Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke as they assembled the graphic history of Abina Mansah in Abina and the Important Men. The story revolves around a young woman in the Gold Coast in 1876 bringing a man who had enslaved her to court. In this story, gender is the underlying driving force for many of the events that take place, and can be seen even in parts of the story that were created by the authors. Gendered issues can sometimes be subtle, as they are often unspoken aspects of society, reinforced by cultural norms and behaviors. As a result, gendering was the most important problem faced when constructing this narrative, because gender relations add a series of nuances to social interactions that are easy to overlook despite the deep impacts they can create. To start with, it is important to recognize some of the
The biological sex of a person, in most cases, today can still be considered one of the main identifying characteristics of an individual. In the past the sex of a person was more than an identifying characteristic, it was who they were. They were either men or women, there was no in between or changing it. Society today has come a long way in terms of gender identity and gender roles, but the concept of patriarchy still has the upper hand when it all boils down. Allan G. Johnson’s, The Gender Knot, provides for a more diverse outlook on the women’s expected roles in life, how they are expected to handle difficult situations in marriage, and how they demonstrate courage, in Mona Lisa Smile.
Abina and the Important Men: a Graphical History was written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. The story of Abina Mansah is somewhat an inspiring graphical history based on an 1876 court transcript. Abina, a woman of West Africa, was wrongfully enslaved and as a consequence, she took her former master, Quamina Eddoo, to court. The overall setting took place on the Gold Coast during the 19th century. The main scenes take place in the court room, which is filled with many “important men.” The men included a British judge, two Euro African attorneys, countrymen, and an entire jury of wealthy, high class local town leaders. This book is broken down into several parts; the graphical history, transcript, historical
A few good men starring Jack Nicholson Tom Cruise and Demi Moore is about ethic in the marines. Many characters in the movie are faced with moral dillemas Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholsons characters are faced with moral dillemas. The movie is about two marines who are accused of murdering there fellow officer, during the incestigation it is discovered that there is a practice called “code red” this is a unethical and unofficial disciplinary measure by the marine squad when a member goes against the unit. The offender is gagged, beaten, and then they are killed by their fellow officers. The accused put the blame on someone they said was higher up from them. They carried out the “code red” order because the officer was not living up to the
As the millenniums pass and years go by, the world continues to evolve each day. Across the world, in every society, men and women have specific roles that they carry out. During ancient times, in most cultures, women were inferior to men. This is still true in many countries today. It has taken American women many centuries to have gained the rights and privileges they have today. Women have made many immense achievements, fought for their rights and stood up for what they believed in during the past century. It is very important to understand the role of women in history because they have played an imperative part of how each society functioned. In Classical Athens, women and men were citizens however men were superior to the women.
Abina and the important Men is a book that focuses on a young lady whose name is Abina Mansah. Abina Mansah lost her freedom in 1876 from the “Important’’ Men who were British soldiers who invaded the West coast of Africa especially the City of Asante from where Abina live. These British soldiers came to the West Coast of Africa (Gold Coast because they were searching for Gold. This time period is called the Gold rush because Africa has a lot gold as a natural resource. The British also gained a major control of the local trade in West Africa. The British started to imported large numbers of children’s into the colony as worker. Unfortunately Abina was sold by Yaw Awoah who is man from the same town in from where Abina is from (Asante). After
Society has a huge impact on everyone’s life positively and negatively. In Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward she explains the tragic deaths of multiple young black men within her community. Each and every single one having a very tragic, but also questionable death of what and who was accountable. Through each death she continues to question and seek the cause for the many tragedies. Overall Ward argues that the community and social neglect are ultimately responsible for the killings in her community, as these play a huge role in everyone’s life.
Drawing on Joan Scott's "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis" and on Alice Kessler-Harris's "Just price, Free Market and the Value of Women", the following questions will be answered, How has the 'equality' of women and men been expressed according to both Scott and Kessler-Harris? Why 'gender' has become a "useful category of historical analysis" for historians? How different (other) historians view 'gender'? What are Kessler-Harris's views on the "equality," "comparable worth" and "equal pay?" Lastly, the importance of the two articles will be highlighted as it relates to the contribution to gender studies.
Contrasting this is “The Conquest of Gola”. In Gola’s (or Venus’s) society, roles are reversed. The women are in charge and running things fairly smoothly considering. It is a utopian society, with the planet and its people surviving despite countless invasion attempts by the Dextalans (or Earthlings). The men, however, are disregarded as good for only show and reproduction. While often women run societies are considered broken and unattainable, or something that doesn’t work, the Golan women have shown that this is not the case. According to the narrator of the story, “Long ago we, too, might have gone on exploring expeditions to other worlds, other universes, but for what? Are we not happy here? We who have attained the greatest of civilizations within the confines of our own silvery world…” (Evans & Stone, 98). The Golans are practically at a golden age of their world. They have advanced far past that of humanity, having generations worth of technology and knowledge to fall back on. Their society thrives to the point it isn’t much of a surprise to see their arrogance towards the Dextalans. Not only did these women show their strength in combat, they’ve driven them back long enough that only the narrator, the current ruler, remembers the invasion. Interestingly enough, working matriarchal societies isn’t fiction. According to the article titled “Gender Roles”, the Tchambali culture of New Guinea features women doing the typical work of a man, such as running their society,
In "The Men We Carry in Our Minds," Scott Russel Sanders tries to show how his views on men are completely different from the views that some women hold. He traces the problem to the country surroundings of his youth. He explains that the men he observed as a child were completely different from the men whom most women might observe. The differing viewpoints between him and the women he met in college caused him some grief. However, it was not so much an issue of gender, but an issue of class.
Secondly Abina is oppressed as a young woman. All of the important people Abina encounters on her journey are men. Author Getz depicts this on the cover of the novel showing Abina facing the outside world alone, to the backs of all these “important men”. If read very closely one can pick up hints of patriarchy in the transcript however the graphic novel does a more effective job in showing a women’s place in society. The graphic novel includes the fact that young women were the more ideal slaves to have because they were seen as “apprentices” who would not dare to run away. This on top of the already present British patriarchal ideology oppressed Abina not only as a slave but also as a woman. Mr. Brew uses this as his main argument in trial to even further oppress not only Abina but also women as a whole in that society. The graphic novel also depicts other women as oppressed and in poor light. The other young girls who were originally with Abina before she was bought are shown being paraded around in chains and very little clothing. The only other woman Abina encounters is the woman in the town market. Abina approaches a native man originally referring to
Christopher R. Browning’s “Ordinary Men” chronicles the rise and fall of the Reserve Police Battalion 101. The battalion was one of several units that took part in the Final Solution to the Jewish Question while in Poland. The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, and other units were comprised of ordinary men, from ordinary backgrounds living under the Third Reich. Browning’s premise for the book is very unique, instead of focusing on number of victims, it examines the mindset of how ordinary men, became cold-hearted killers under Nazi Germany during World War II. Christopher Browning’s “Ordinary Men” presents a very strong case that the men who made up the Reserve Police Battalion 101 were indeed ordinary men from ordinary background, and
Christopher Browning describes how the Reserve Police Battalion 101, like the rest of German society, was immersed in a flood of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda. Browning describes how the Order Police provided indoctrination both in basic training and as an ongoing practice within each unit. Many of the members were not prepared for the killing of Jews. The author examines the reasons some of the police members did not shoot. The physiological effect of isolation, rejection, and ostracism is examined in the context of being assigned to a foreign land with a hostile population. The contradictions imposed by the demands of conscience on the one hand and the norms of the battalion on the other are discussed. Ordinary Men
The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants, the political leader’s men, the military figures men. The very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women, is a sign of their submerged status.”
Heroes, kings and presidents, for so long men are the protagonist of the stories. Across the world and through the centuries, women have always been situated below men. Women were considered the weak sex, they are portrayed as delicate, obedient, naive and passionate. “Never trust in women; nor rely upon their vows” (44). As the wives of the kings on The Arabian Nights, whose passion brought them to cheat on both their husbands. They ended up being executed because they threatened the kings’ power. Or bringing danger into the families, as the wives of Kasim and Ali Baba, who wouldn’t think of the consequences of their actions and would act by the pure instinct of greed and naiveness. Yet, seldomly acknowledged, women have had to step up to fix troubled situations, the few stories told of women of scarce resources who have manage to triumph over the standardized society. This not only shows how women take advantage of the resources at their reach but how their
The theme of female struggle against male dominancy is presented throughout the novel and the narrator,