Essay on The History of African American Women being Victims of Rape
African Americans are the inhabitants of the United States belonging to the Negroid race and having full or partial African descent. They are descendants of slaves brought to North America in the 17th-19th centuries. At an early stage of human development there appeared an idea of the differences between men and women, forming behavior and distribution of responsibilities. Unity and confrontation of male and female principles were central to the traditional African society. Biological sphere was a source of controversy between the sexes. Physical abilities and the traditional function of women – motherhood were considered when demarcation of roles between men and women. The ability to reproduce was vital for all peoples of the continent. Wives and daughters were considered the main wealth of the family. Woman stood over the man in her functions. In this regard, there appears an idea of imaginary uncleanness of women in certain physiological periods (menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth). So, during these periods women are dangerous and can disrupt the harmony between human and nature. The man didn’t have such biological and social disadvantages. Thus man got a major role in the family and tribal collective. Women were imposed different kinds of taboo, for example, prohibitions on certain activities. In an African village women’s status depended not only on gender, but also on her social role. Married African women were given the last place within the family, she was considered inferior kind. Researchers G. Bissila and M. Felu note that motherhood isolates woman from a biological standpoint, physiology isolates her aesthetically, religion makes a conviction (Amutah, 2012). African women lived by the rules of social isolation, utter dependence on her husband, lack of voting rights, inability to be head of the family. Family relationships in an African village could be considered as a collision of two clans in the property, social and religious aspects. African woman was deprived of individuality, her personal interests and needs were nothing compared to the interests of the community. African woman was passive due to her workload in agricultural work and responsibilities at home. They worked on the land, took care of harvest, brought home water and firewood, prepared food.
From 1619 to 1865 the United States had a system of slavery, most slaves were Africans. They were taken by force from places of residence. First African slaves were brought to Virginia in 1619. Entrepreneurs often used black slave labor, thus reducing the wages of white workers. Such competition from Africans led to the fact that many white workers shifted to work in other places. That developed racial hostility. According to the Act of 1661, Africans were recognized lifelong slaves. Later, law about African slaves and their posterity was passed. Such “Black Codes” converted Africans into eternal property of slaveholders (Lang, 2011).
Children of slaves were owned by the owner of their mother. African American women have experienced great suffering in the forced separation of families and the sale of children. Separation from family was extremely traumatic for women. Experiencing the pain of loss, woman changed forever. She became a victim without the right to change something. Codes introduced bans on trade, slaves were not allowed to learn to read and write, to drink alcohol without the owner’s permission, it was forbidden to hire horses, to keep dogs, guns, and they had no right to testify against white people. For the slightest offense slaves were succumbed to severe punishment. Slaves were in the same row with the cattle, implements and furniture. By the end of the colonial period there appear free blacks in the New World, but they were also limited in their rights: they had no right to participate in elections, to serve as witnesses in court proceedings conflicts between whites.
For men, slavery was real flour, for women it was even worse. She was oppressed three times: as a slave, as a black and as a woman. They had a very hard work in the field. Cotton pickers wore heavy bags, their daily rate was 150-200 pounds (Bent-Goodley, 2013). Ones, who didn’t fulfill it, were punished. Pregnant women stopped working just a month before delivery. And they started working in the field a month after birth. Rest of the time women spent in housework. Female slaves had not only hard work, but also sexual exploitation. Sexual relations with African women, irrespective of their faith, were a kind of self-affirmation of white men. The superiority of one group over another group of men was shown by the forcible possession of women. In the places where there was a large number slaves, and the percentage of white women was small, liaisons between white men and black women were common. Another problem for female slaves was compulsory reproduction. That was especially practiced since 1807, when the slave trade was brought to an end, but high demand for labor remained. Then reproduction of labor power became a source of wealth of slaveholders. Black women were forced to have children as often as possible. The family was unable to protect young girls from encroachment of white men. In the 19th century, there appeared the American women’s movement, represented by white and African-American women in the struggle for the abolition of slavery. In the mid- 60s, in the United States the movement for women’s rights was formed, it received the name of “feminism”. It attracted public attention not only to the issues of gender equality, but also to sexual abuse, which was previously silent. Feminists achieved passing a number of favorable laws for women. By the 90th, popular feminist writers have done much to change the established views of society, but the complete victory was still far. As a result of the Civil War of 1861-1865 in the United States, slavery was abolished (Bent-Goodley, 2013).
Nowadays, rape is one of the most serious forms of sexual harassment. Many researchers and doctors regard rape as a product of socialization process in the structure of the “normal society.” Modern researchers have proved that American women are raped far more often than residents of other countries. Trying to prove this fact, scientists consider psychosocial and socio-biological factors. In several studies anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sunday showed that rape is largely a cultural phenomenon. She compared the level of rape in 95 societies (Franiuk, 2011). Research have shown that incidence of rape in any society depends on the nature of the relationship between the sexes, women’s status and the way of bringing up boys during adolescence. It has been proven that in societies ‘provoking violence’ aggressiveness of men is a common phenomenon. In those cultures, men have high economic and political status, they don’t commonly take care of child-rearing and housework. In a society that is free from violence, relationship between men and women are different. They share power and authority, as well as contribute equally to the general welfare. In such societies, boys and girls are taught to appreciate care and avoid aggression and violence.
In the USA, rate of rape is higher than in any other western country, one of the main causes is associated with stereotypical gender roles. Men are taught that power, aggressiveness and ability to get his own, even with the use of force, are an integral part of the traditional male role. Boys learn almost from childhood that they should strive to have sex and expect to succeed not stopping before unethical means to achieve their goals. American men perceive aggression as quite valid tool for obtaining sexual access to women. “Sexual assault is a logical continuation of the system, where men are taught to conquer what they want, while women should be passive, compliant and put men’s needs above their own” (Clay-Warner, 2009). Woman of any age can become a victim of a rapist. Recent studies show that more than 50% of American women survivors of rape have been first abused before the age of 18 years, and 22 % of them – before 12 years old. The fact that a woman has experienced rape before the age of 18 years highly increases the likelihood that in the future it would repeat (Wong, 2013). The level of reported rapes has cultural differences. For example, Asians report about rapes much than white American and African American. In the late 20th century, it was shown that women with lower socioeconomic status more often became victims of sexual assault in all ethnic groups. Obtained data can be explained by noting that people living in squalid conditions become victims of various crimes more often. African American women were subjected to forced sterilization in order to prevent the proliferation of people who were considered carriers of defective genetic traits. African American women were sterilized in many states against their will, sometimes even without their knowledge. In the USA, African American women were subjected to forced sterilization more often, as it was believed that they were unable to control own sexual life. That was performed in order to limit the growth of black families applying for social security benefits. The greatest number of sterilizations took place in California from 1909 to 1964. Sterilization was subjected even to those who were healthy. Forced sterilization existed in the USA until 1974.
Professor of sociology in the University of Maryland Bart Landry said that negative image of black women in the United States was formed back in slave times when black families were separated and white slave owners raped black women. Upon completion of slavery, African American women began to be considered as a part of the workforce. Black woman who has achieved success at work, who is a caring mother and wife – such an important image is represented by Michelle Obama. Today, the USA is a home for about 42 million of African Americans. February 2014 was declared a national Month of Black History.
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