ISP Blog Post #2

As I view the novel The Book Of Negroes through a feminist perspective I notice that women are very limited to what they can do. Back in the 18th century woman had no voice especially if you were a woman slave like Amanita.

Before Amanita was even captured and sold there village had certain gender roles that people followed. The women would help in the fields, catch babies, cook, and clean. While the men hunt, trade in other villages, do the heavy lifting, and work in the fields. In our society today this is a typical stereotypical case were the boys are stronger than the girls so they do all the manly jobs. While of course the women are taking care of everything in the home and cooking for their husbands when they come home from a long days work. 

Hill express women like Amanita and her mother as strong working woman who can hold there own but they still have certain roles to do. It is clear that Amanita and her mother have a strong voice, it just comes into question where and when they can use it. There are very few times where the can express their views to others. Like Amanita's mother she tries to carry herself as brave, although she represents it well because of what she has been through already in the novel.

As Amanita moves to the planation her life changes. A woman that is kind but also teaches her the way they do things there takes her in. The other slaves mind their own business when it comes to her. The women assume their usual roles but here they also have to work for a man, which means all 50 slaves have to work long hours harvesting indigo. Amanita unfortunately does get raped by the ‘Master’, which she then is classified as a sex object to him until he finds another girl. Most Negro women are classified as sex objects to the white men, because the white men think they own them and can do what they want with them.

As Amanita moves once more we see a new character introduced who is a white Jewish woman. This lady still has more voice then the Negro women slaves but her husband is definitely more dominant. Her husband takes care of all the income and always buys the slaves; he has the more dependent job that a women back then would never be allowed to have. Also the husband is always able to walk the streets alone, and not be questioned.

Woman's lives are definitely restricted in this novel they don't have any power and don't get their own way. If a woman acts out or doesn't want to do something there are consequences, which include a beating, burned belongings, and/or minimal food and water. Women are highly limited in this text because back then it was a man dominating world, the men made all the decisions and woman could not do anything about this.