During the 1960’s here in America whites and blacks were still separated, even 100 years after the american civil war. Both in public and in the home black women especially received heavy criticism from white women even as they worked for less than minimum wage. The movie The Help gives us a look at this time period by introducing us to two black females, Aibleen and Minny, that are maids for some of the local privileged white families. In particular one woman, the employer of Minny, miss Hilly is particularly unfair with her essential control over Minny. At the time blacks were still though of uncivilized and unsanitary. Even though we know this is completely ridiculous Hilly sill insists that Minny can not use the restroom in house. The two ladies have their differences, but the conflict comes to a climax when Hilly finds Minny using her restroom. Hilly ends up firing Minny on the spot and kicks her out into the rain, an unfitting punishment to say the least. Hilly can unfortunately get away with this injustice because of societies views of what is expected from white women and that of black women. This is what is known as female respectability. The belief of this is that white …show more content…
As we’ve found out Hilly has a real problem with this because of her assumptions about Minny. Again, these assumptions come from the social expectations of female respectability and what that means for blacks versus whites. When Hilly knocks on the door asking what miss Minny is doing in there she absolutely losses it when she hears Minny flush the toilet. Hilly orders Minny out of the restroom like she owns her then promptly fires her on the spot, sending her out into the rain. Her reasoning for getting so upset over such a small little thing is her ideas of female respectability. She doesn't think her white womanhood should have to mix with the ideas of the exotic womanhood that Minny
...African-American women domestic workers in Atlanta during the periods between Reconstruction and World War 1 demonstrate they were active participates in the economic, social and political life of the New South. In addition, the private and public spheres accorded to white woman was non-existent for African-American women. Hunter concludes that the strategies employed by the washerwoman’s strike are inconclusive at best and evidence is lacking whether their demands for wage increases ever materialized. She does note however, that washerwoman did maintain the appearance of independence not enjoyed by most workers.
She establishes "the 'do' and the 'don't' of behavior" (Smith 132) in her children and believes, "If you could just keep from them all the things that must never be mentioned, all would be well!" (Smith 142). At the same time, the southern white woman sits atop the pedestal of Sacred Womanhood that her husband and his ancestors built for her (Smith 141). She meekly sits there, a symbol of southern society used to benefit men's ideals, feeling empty and powerless against everything going on around her (Smith 141-2). The whispers in her children's ears and her presence on that pedestal fulfill the white woman's role as protectress of Southern Tradition, but does not fulfill the southern white woman. In fact, the roles of the southern black woman and the southern white woman are equally important and equally oppressive: "In a culture where marriage and motherhood were women's primary roles, neither black nor white women were free to be fully wives or mothers, and neither were able to shield their children from the physical and psychic destruction of the racist society in which they lived" (Gladney 6).
Similarly important was the role black women on an individual level played in offering a model for white women to follow. Because black men had a harder time finding employment, black women had a history of working ou...
In the case of Bhagat Singh Thind, the court no longer found themselves bound by the so-called science of the time, instead, they said white is something understood by the common man. Basically, this allowed the Supreme Court to determine white by anything they deem, without regard for the science of the day. In fact, the court contradicted what it’s previously argued by saying that Thind may be caucasian, but that doesn 't matter, it still doesn 't mean he is white. What determines whiteness, according to the decision of the Supreme Court, is the opinion of the “common
After arriving to Eatonville, Joe has become the new mayor of the town. The people, in excitement of the changes the town is experiencing, want to hear some encouragement from Janie on behalf of Joe being the mayor, but Joe replies, "Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home" (Hurston 61). Joe thinks that women do not have the intellectual capacity of men and should not be allowed to speak. He cuts short any chance for Janie to make herself heard because society considers a woman’s place to not be in the public eye, but to be in the privacy of the home. Joe refuses to let Janie speak out, and by not allowing her use her voice, he isolates her from everyone. Society wants women to isolate themselves and inevitably, their voices are lost. Likewise, when Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, kept on repeating Daisy’s name,Tom got so mad that he punched her in her nose Tom dominated Myrtle by, “making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). To assert his dominance Tom used forceful tactics to control Myrtle and keep her quiet. Due to Tom being so powerful, Myrtle was afraid to stand up for herself because she knew women were not as powerful compared to men. This proves that society has created a “rule” on how women are to be subordinate to men. When women don’t follow
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
For this assignment, the movie “The Help” was chosen to review and analyze because it presents a story of fighting injustice through diverse ways. The three main characters of the movie are Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a young white woman, Aibileen Clark, and Minny Jackson, two colored maids. Throughout the story, we follow these three women as they are brought together to record colored maids’ stories about their experiences working for the white families of Jackson. The movie explores the social inequalities such as racism and segregation between African Americans and whites during the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi.
She was not aware of the hatred many had for her, especially Hilly, for marrying her ex boyfriend, hiring her ex maid (who also put her feces in a “special pie” she made for her), and wearing raunchy skin showing clothes that distracted the husbands of many, including her own. Minny attempted to teach Celia that it was not okay for her husband not knowing that she had not only a maid, but a black maid. In addition to that, she also taught her other various things, and they bonded during the movie. Similarly, Hiram had the same situation. He met Emmett Till, a chicago raised negro, who didn’t know that he had to treat the whites in a particular way in the south. In one section of the book, Hiram gave a very famished Emmett the rest of his lunch. R.C., a rambunctious 18 year old who Hiram had known since he was a child, awoke from his nap, was furious of what he did, and tortured and beat Emmett. Just from witnessing that, Hiram finally knew what his dad had always argued about with his grandpa. Celia also realized that Minny had been mistreated by the women of the high society. After some time, these two character knew the hateful and evil acts of many of the Southern people, and would not stand for it. They were the outsiders, the odd men (and women
Moody’s position as an African American woman provides a unique insight into these themes through her story. As a little girl, Moody would sit on the porch of her house watch her parents go to work. Everyday she would see them walk down the hill at the break of dawn to go to work, and walk back up when the sun was going down to come back home. At this time in her life, Moody did not understand segregation, and that her parents were slaves and working for a white man. But, as growing up poor and black in the rural south with a single mother trying to provide for her family, Moody quickly realized the importance of working. Working as a woman in the forties and fifties was completely different from males. They were still fighting for gender equality, which restricted women to working low wage jobs like maids for white families. Moody has a unique insight to the world of working because she was a young lady that was working herself to help keep herself and her bother and sister in school. Through work, Moody started to realize what segregation was and how it impacted her and her life. While working for Mrs. Johnson and spending the nights with Miss Ola, she started to realize basic di...
The title of this book comes from the inspiring words spoken by Sojourner Truth at the 1851, nine years prior to the Civil War at a Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. In Deborah Grays White, Ar’n’t I a woman her aim was to enrich the knowledge of antebellum black women and culture to show an unwritten side of history of the American black woman. Being an African- American and being a woman, these are the two principle struggles thrown at the black woman during and after slavery in the United States. Efforts were made by White scholars in 1985 to have a focus on the female slave experience. Deborah Gray White explains her view by categorizing the hardships and interactions between the female slave and the environment in which the slave was born. She starts with the mythology of the female slave by using mythologies such as Jezebel or Mammy, a picture that was painted of false images created by whites in the south. She then moves to differences between male and female slavery the harsh life cycle, the created network among the female community, customs for slave families and the trip from slavery to freedom, as well as differences between the female slave and the white woman, showing that there is more history than myth. (White, 5) Thus, bringing forth the light to the hardships and harassment that the black woman faced in the Antebellum South.
Feminist theory is a term that embraces a wide variety of approaches to the questions of a women’s place and power in culture and society. Two of the important practices in feminist critique are raising awareness of the ways in which women are oppressed, demonized, or marginalized, and discovering motifs of female awakenings. The Help is a story about how black females “helped” white women become “progressive” in the 1960’s. In my opinion, “The Help” I must admit that it exposes some of our deepest racial, gender, and class wounds as individuals and social groups, and that the story behind the story is a call to respect our wounds and mutual wounding so that healing may have a chance to begin and bring social injustice to an end. The relationship between Blacks and whites in this novel generally take on the tone of a kindly, God-fearing Jesus Christ-loving Black person, placidly letting blacks and whites work out their awkwardness regarding race and injustice. Eventually both the black and white women realize how similar they are after all, and come to the conclusion that racism is an action of the individual person, a conclusion mutually exclusive of racism as an institutionalized system that stands to demonize and oppress people based on the color of their skin and the location of their ancestry.
In the story “The Help” written by Kathryn Stockett we are taken back in time to Jackson, Mississippi in August of 1962, were we meet three women by the name of Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are black women who work for white families as the help. Skeeter is a young white woman in her early twenties who befriends the other two and gets them to tell their stories of what its is like to be the help. The reluctantly hesitate, but eventually give in knowing that the stories they are telling are more important than the negative impact it could have on their lives.
Harsh, cruel, and stressful are three words to describe the life of African American women domestic workers during the Civil Rights Movement. During the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, there were many contributions other than just the typical marches, speeches, and violence that everybody hears about. One of the many topics that have not been heard about frequently is the life of the colored maids during this time period. What were black domestic workers? These women worked for many white families usually in the south for practically their whole lives taking care of their employer’s children and working their houses cleaning and doing many other tasks. The life of a black maid had many responsibilities and difficulties that challenged these women on a daily basis.
Minny showed that her husband is violent, " 'Why? Why are you hitting me? ' .... I was trapped in the corner of the bedroom like a dog. He was beating me with his belt. It was the first time I’d ever really thought about it. Who knows what I could become," (485) and "I ain 't telling, I ain 't telling nobody about that pie. But I give her what she deserve! .... I ain 't never gone get no work again, Leroy gone kill me..." (24). Also, it shows that Minny is forced to work for her family to earn money in order to raise their family up. It 's different from Skeeter 's situation in that Skeeter is hoping to continue her career but Minny has no choice to change her situation. Minny is a strong character in the book and she even took revenge against Hilly after she spread rumors about Minny. However, Minny seems so weak, vulnerable and under the mercy of her husband Leroy. Even if Leroy abuses Minny, she endures it because she loves him. Sexism here is in the superiority of men over women that give them the right to abuse them. According to Skeeter, in early 1960s, Sexism appeared in jobs that were open only for men, "My eyes drift down to HELP WANTED: MALE. There are at least four columns filled with bank managers, accountants, loan officers, cotton collate operators. On this side of the page, Percy and Gray, LP, is offering Jr. Stenographers fifty cents more an hour," (68). Characters from
The characters of Aibileen, Skeeter, and Minny display the utilitarian ethical principle; their intentions are to expose the unethical treatment of the maids. However, during this time period the state of Mississippi had laws of conduct for whites and non-whites that limited interactions and could result in imprisonment. Hilly and Elizabeth thought they were doing right by alienating blacks from using their bathrooms and excluding their own race from their exclusive clubs; they were only following the law and its spirit. Throughout the movie there are several ethical dilemmas the black and white women encounter on a daily basis.