One the most heartbreaking times that a mother can have, is when her little girl begins to rebel during the child's teenage years. Mothers often lament, "What have I done wrong?" Or, "doesn't she know that I'm telling her all of this for her own good; why does she have to get so angry with me?" In the post-colonial Caribbean, this problem is compounded by mothers that have been conditioned to raise their daughters to the standards of an outside oppressor. One might ask, "What are the struggles of a teenage girl when she knows she must break the bonds of sexual oppression?" Harder still, "What if the mother herself were conditioned to aid in that oppression?" Men can scarcely understand this dynamic, and moreover, most women don't seem to precisely …show more content…
Kincaid demonstrates in, "Annie John," how minority women in the post-colonial Caribbean, must first break free of their pre-conditioned mothers, before they can obtain their own sexual freedom and personal …show more content…
Annie is closely bonded with her mother, but her mother has grown up under colonial ideologies, and does not understand why her daughter would want to rebel against the old colonial ways. (Oczkowicz 143) When describing the mother-daughter bond in many of her works, Kincaid calls this bonded relationship, "a shadow that never leaves...for I could not be sure when it was really my mother, and when it was really my shadow standing between me and the rest of the world"(107). When a young woman is bonded this tightly to her mother, there is little cultural or self-identity (Kincaid 107). When analyzing Kincaid's perspective, Fulani notes that, "individual identity is blurred so that the demarcations of individual personality and personhood are unrecognizable"(128). Furthermore, Louis F. Caton describes the need for the breaking of these mother-daughter bonds before Annie can gain her individual identity in "Romantic Struggles: The Bildungsroman and Mother-Daughter Bonding in Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John" (131). Caton believes that at some point during the maturation process, there is often a natural emotional separation between mother and daughter. This is usually initiated by the daughter; who typically causes the initial tensions within mother-daughter relationship. As independence is gained, Kincaid's daughter character of Annie often thinks back on
Here it is seen that McClung is developing and proceeding in her fight to provide equality among the sexes, by allowing girls to participate in sporting games. She was providing her female students with the privileges they rightfully deserve. Furthermore, she again went against the norms of a woman in the nineteenth century by simply being a teacher. All of which making Nellie McClung an example of a strong, feminist activist for other women of her era to follow She successfully taught at Hazel school for seven years. It was also at Hazel school that Nellie met the woman who would make the largest impact on her life, Annie McClung.
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
Men felt superior, “Hombres with the devil in their flesh who would come to a pueblo… never meaning to stay, only to have a good time and to seduce the women,” which made women feel inferior. Women were only used for a man’s pleasure. For that reason, they would not wed them. As generations progressed, they soon found an exception to wed, which considered the woman as the man’s property. Women were never looked as individuals if they got married. Women found control within themselves to not be recognized as only a man’s property, but that they have the opportunity to achieve much greater things than just being a housewife. The women found that their bodies shouldn’t be used for pleasure, but for greater achievements such as widening their education career. Worry, her uncle went missing. It affects the family’s lifestyle since her uncle did not land in the U.S. but somewhere unknown. Mamá, “went wild with worry” which is normal since it is her son (33). Her son is missing, while Mamá’s husband had premonitions of where their son could be located. Terror filled mamá with the “nightmares… she saw her son mistreated and worse,” which can be a mother’s worst fear (33). Mamá fears for the life of her son, the tone is fear and worry. In a Puerto Rican woman’s life, this is far one of her top priorities, her family. Family is one of the biggest priorities in a woman’s life, especially if they sense
8. Shepherd, Verene. Engendering History: Caribbean Women in Historical Perspective. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
“Poverty and exploitation of women in Latin America can never be alleviated because they are rooted in machismo,” meaning that because of the way society was run in Latin American, women can’t advance from the ancient state of mind that they belong in the private sphere and should stay there, because only men are good enough to be out in the public sphere. The reason why society was run in this manner, was because of the machismo feeling engraved in the minds of men and, in some cases, women in society. Alicia, Carolina, and Nancy don’t really have any other choice, than try to survive on their own by doing acts that are not “approved” by the society they live in. Even now, because of their actions, we could even disagree with the way they decided to approach their situation, because even now a day, we could think that selling one’s body or being involved in “off the book”
The mother-daughter relationship is a common topic throughout many of Jamaica Kincaid's novels. It is particularly prominent in Annie John, Lucy, and Autobiography of my Mother. This essay however will explore the mother-daughter relationship in Lucy. Lucy tells the story of a young woman who escapes a West Indian island to North America to work as an au pair for Mariah and Lewis, a young couple, and their four girls. As in her other books—especially Annie John—Kincaid uses the mother-daughter relationship as a means to expose some of her underlying themes.
Brown, Kimberly Juanita. "Black rapture: Sally Hemings, Chica Da Silva, and the slave body of sexual supremacy." Women's Studies Quarterly 35 .1/2 (2007): 45-66. Print.
Annie [played by Aileen Quinn] is a story written by Martin Charnin about a little girl who was left for the doorstep of an orphanage when she was extremely little and goes on to live a miserable life of working at the orphanage. Until one day a person named Grace Farrel [played by Ann Reinking] came along and invited one orphan to stay with her and Oliver Warbucks [played by Albert Finney]. During Annie’s stay Mr. Warbucks realizes how much he likes Annie and wants her to stay. In a way to tell her he gives her a new locket. Without knowing, Annie doesn't accept the locket in result of her own was given to her by her parents before she had been given up. With this knowledge a search is sent out with a reward of $50,000. With
She sheds a light of how early Black feminist scholars such as Collins have been criticized for relying too heavily on colonial ideology around the black female body. Subjectively neglecting the contemporary lived experience of Black women. Critiques such as these highlights the Black female agency in the representation of the body. viewing this as a human and sexual rights or health perspective has been lending to the contemporary Black feminist debates about the representation of Black female bodies and Black eroticism within the culture of
Beckles, Dr. Hillary, Verene Shepherd. Caribbean Slave Society and Economy. The New Press, New York. New York, N.Y. 1991.
The women of the late sixties, although some are older than others, in Alice Walker’s fiction that exhibit the qualities of the developing, emergent model are greatly influenced through the era of the Civil Rights Movement. Motherhood is a major theme in modern women’s literature, which examines as a sacred, powerful, and spiritual component of the woman’s life. Alice Walker does not choose Southern black women to be her major protagonists only because she is one, but because she had discovered in the tradition and history they collectively experience an understanding of oppression that has been drawn from them a willingness to reject the principle and to hold what is difficult. Walker’s most developed character, Meridian, is a person who allows “an idea no matter where it came from to penetrate her life.” Meridian’s life is rooted under the curiosity of what is the morally right thing to do, at the right time and place. Meridian pursues a greatness amount of power, which is based upon her individualistic and personal view of herself as a mother. She looks for answers from her family, especially the heritage by her maternal ancestors, and seeks her identity through traditions passed on to her by Southern black women. In exploring the primacy of motherhood, African-American writer Alice Walker’s novel, Meridian, shifted the angle of seeing from the female perspective how the certain experiences affect their interpretations of motherhood.
“Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is essentially a set of instructions given by an adult, who is assumed to be the mother of the girl, who is laying out the rules of womanhood, in Caribbean society, as expected by the daughter’s gender. These instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. The reader may see these instructions as demanding, but these are a mother’s attempt, out of care for the daughter, to help the daughter to grow up properly. The daughter does not appear to have yet reached adolescence, however, her mother believes that her current behavior will lead her to a life of promiscuity. The mother postulates that her daughter can be saved from a life of promiscuity and ruin by having domestic knowledge that would, in turn also, empower her as a productive member in their community and the head of her future household. This is because the mother assumes that a woman’s reputation and respectability predisposes the quality of a woman’s life in the community.
The way in which Benítez-Rojo and Mintz tackle the question of Caribbean identity in their articles, is a removed, objective ideal, in contrast to Michelle Cliff’s portrayal of Jamaican identity. Cliff’s portrayal touches the heart and soul of Caribbean identity. While Mintz and Benítez-Rojo are investigating trends in the Caribbean as a whole, from an outside perspective, Cliff offers the personal, tactile imagery of what it is to live in the Caribbean, utilizing the objective account of history as a background. Furthermore, Cliff deals with Jamaica, one island in the Caribbean, while Mintz and Benítez-Rojo are dealing with the Caribbean on a grand scaled overview. The fact is neither article can be taken as complete truth. In fact, although Cliff uses history in her novel, I believe the account of history from someone who has completely accessed the interior of a place, is always going to be biased. Likewise, Mintz and Benítez-Rojo in making their hypotheses, are lacking an insider’s view. It is the difference between a Caribbean person and Caribbeanist, respectively. Therefore, while on a logical level, an analytical level, Benítez-Rojo and Mintz’s, conclusions as to Caribbean identity could rightly be accepted, these two authors do not possess the experience and intensity to make me as a reader, convinced of their conclusions.
“ For years, the Caribbean has been plagued with the pervasive and enduring problem of gender inequality. Gender, as a social construct, became popular during the 1960’s and 70’s and refers to “a set of qualities and behaviors expected from males and females by society” (United States Agency for International Development [USAID], 2005, p.12). While ‘sex’ refers to differences between males and females which are biologically determined and constant, ‘gender’ refers to those differences which are socially constructed and subject to change” (Coomarsingh & →, 2017)
Nnoromele, Salome C. "Representing the African Woman: Subjectivity and Self in The Joys of Motherhood." Critique 43.2 (2002): 178-190.