In her essay, Jennifer Larson argues that Jacob's writing examines the social structures that oppressed women, black and white, and kept them divided, unable to achieve a true “sisterhood.”She interprets the exploration of active and passive actions by both black and white women as a critique of the power of the “Cult of Domesticity (True Womanhood)” which was discussed in lecture and how black and white women were in unequal situations to be applied. The tenets of the cult and the slave institution presents a quandry for the women of the time, with pressures coming from two social institutions to comply to contradictory rules.
Larson urges us to examine the responses of Mrs. Flint in relation to the lustful actions of Mr. Flint towards his slaves. Because Mrs. Flint follows the passiveness (Submissiveness) principle, she refrains from direct confrontation with her husband and therefore passively allows the abuses to continue. By following a principle of the cult, the white woman allows the black woman to be disrespected and unable to follow those same principles which she is judged by. Mrs Flint's purity is also affected by her inaction because the sanctity of her own marriage and household are affected.
The story continues with Linda, failing intervention of her husband, turning her attention to Linda. She interrogates her, watches over her at night, and torments her in her sleep. The situation has turned one woman into the abuser of another with Jacobs noting, “What an unpleasant situation it must produce to wake up in the dead of the night and find a jealous woman bending over you.” The slave institution has brought out the power from a previously docile woman, and turned her into a monster with power. We see this throughout the history of Slavery, with many documentations of Mistresses being the most oppressive to their female slaves.
We can conclude that in the slave household of the Flints (and representative of many others in the time) following one aspect of the Cult causes a contradiction in the other. By upholding passiveness, Mrs Flint destroyed her purity, and the same for Linda had she given in. Instead of following the tenets, Linda chooses neither and in the end takes control of her own situation. Jacobs writes later in the book that a slave woman should not be judged by the same standards as others; The “Cult of True Womanhood” cannot be followed in a slave woman's situation. .
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.
Larson, Jennifer “Converting Passive Womanhood to Active Sisterhood: Agency, Power, and Subversion in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.”
Women's Studies; Dec2006, Vol. 35 Issue 8, p739-756, 18p
Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Accessed: 28 Oct. 2009.
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i totally agree. How it was hard for women on both sides of slavery. Slaves would always have to CATER to the master, and the mistresses would always have to DEAL with the master. which is more worse though? knowing what your husband is doing, or being part of what your master is doing?
ReplyDeleteThis essay does a good job of bringing out the impure effects of slavery on all women, slave or free. The slave women are already established as living in tortured hell because they can’t say no to their masters and at the same time they have no one to turn to. But, in this case, mistresses of slaveholding families also fall prey to the institution of slavery and almost all of them lose their humanity. Mrs. Flint’s behavior towards Harriet Jacobs or any of the other slaves were nothing short of cruel and inhumane, but I wonder if the situation was different, where she wasn’t the mistress and Harriet the slave, would she have behaved any differently knowing that her husband is laying lustful and sinful eyes on a young girl? It was a difficult era where women, free or slave, had little to no justice in their daily affairs, and the few women who protested this social nature are real heroes who paved the way for a more equal industry today.
ReplyDeleteThis post brings up a very good point about the effects of slavery on women from both sides of the spectrum. The slave women are forced to endure all the pain and suffering caused by the demands of thier master and the mistress' are forced to sit back and watch as thier husbands take part in illegal acts. The whole thing is a huge power stuggle with women on both sides coming out as the oppressed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything posted on this blog. The idea of being passive will hold anyone back frome evolving and growing as a person. Pointed out with Mrs. Flint, if you are subjected to the values of others one canot stand up for what one believes in. Thus, if you cannot stand up for yourself you will be forever lost and stuck.
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