The black female in America
The black female in America is experiencing some forms of oppression as the whites are using controversial words to describe them. The black Africa woman faces major discrimination in the workplace by being called nasty words such as negro. The word black negro is another term that is used to refer to dark women. The habit of calling native women nasty names in their workplace in America is lowering their self-esteem as they work and live in an unfavorable environment. The beating of dark women folks in most of American’s house is causing physical oppression and mental disturbance to most black females in the US.
From Bloom et. (pg. 73), oppression involves denial of chances and opportunities as well as ill-treatment of another person. Mistreatments can occur anywhere and to anyone but in most cases, the ones that suffer most are women, especially black womankind. Gloomy women have been oppressed since the slavery era in ways that can be legally recognized as either racism or sexism or both. Even though black women have risen to fight against oppression, some are still struggling for chances and opportunities in different places. Their discrimination not only came from white men but also black men. Black women have been oppressed in social, political, and economic situations. Different groups have stood up to fight for gender and race-based discrimination. Phillis Whitely was the first black woman to stand against discrimination when she wrote poems about slavery and her kidnapping from her motherland. Black females have been discriminated through denial of equal chances in workplaces, denial of political opportunities, in their own families, and through physical abuse. In past years before 1940, (Dorothy, 1948) black women writers tried to do what they could to erase the negative notion that all black women’s personality differs from that of everyone else’s.
Firstly, the dark womankind faces discrimination in workplaces. The pay gap between their salaries and the men’s salaries is high even when both genders have the same qualifications, technical skills, or capabilities. This is because their experiences and expertise have been devalued in most organizations. After all, organizations do not view how the work has been done but who has done the work. Work is considered of quality if it is done by a man while a black woman has to put in more effort into her work to be appreciated. Moreover, many jobs with high ranks in most companies have legally restricted black women from applying for such positions. The positions are reserved for men. Job options for black women have been limited because they are considered not fit to work in certain fields. The number of black women is less than half the number of men in technical industries because of the belief that men are physically more capable than women. For instance, black women join new industries in the hope of getting a larger salary and more benefits but the opposite ends up happening. According to King and Mae pg. (116), a black editor spent all her time writing four novels to try and prove to the white people that black women are equal to them. Her main goal was to find the resemblance between the two races instead of focusing on the dissimilarities. In addition, black women are not given enough chances for public representations they are featured in television shows, advertisements, and movies. In most movies, more than seventy-five percent of the stars are white (O’Neale and Sondra pg. 153).
Before five years ago, Dark women in media jobs and modeling companies were not allowed to model with their natural hair. They were required to put on human hair. In addition, black women have always been under the pressure of changing their natural color so that they can fit in. Most black females are forced to straighten their hair instead of keeping it natural. This is because white women’s hair is mostly straightened so their superiority complex forces organizations to make obscure women straighten their hair. (McClay) says that during the colonization period when Black people were enslaved in the Caucasian nations, the women were forced to shave their heads. They did this to try and erase their culture and try and assimilate them into their own culture (Bloom et.al pg.85).
Furthermore, black womanhood is often denied leadership changes in workplaces. Most companies believe that women are not as competent leaders as men could be. Many companies’ board of directors is mainly made up of men and if women are actually part of the board of directors, they do not stay for a long time before they are replaced by men. During the retirement periods, black women are always set to retire early with a lower retirement benefit than men. When a black woman decides to start a business, the number of people willing to invest in her business is low their capital assurances are not guaranteed. This is because people have a notion that it will not be successful as compared to when a man starts a business. In some cases, women have to offer sexual favors in order to get job opportunities or promotions in their workplaces. It always appears like they have to exchange their bodies for them to get these favors in their workplaces. They do not get fighting chances as men. Their daily work operations are highly supervised since no one believes in their capabilities to finish the job without supervision. (McGirt) examines that black women are not running multi-billionaire companies were being judged and over supervised and they were psychologically strained to try to live up to the women of other races and men.
Secondly, dark women are often oppressed in their own societies. They face physical, psychological, and emotional harassment from their families and the community. For instance, black women are seen as objects such that they are only there to be seen but not heard. Talking was considered as a sign of rudeness or disrespect. The job is solely giving birth and raising children, especially in African communities. They are also required to do household chores since the men in their lives deny them the opportunity to go look for jobs. In sophisticated countries, black women have the burden of balancing between their careers and taking care of their families while men only have to deal with their jobs only. Moreover, black women are at the highest risk of being domestically abused. In families where the husband is a drank, it is their wives that suffer the most. They suffer being beaten, denied basic resources, and being chased away with no place to go. (King, pg. 116), there were sex sexual discriminations between white women and black women. Black women were seen to have different sexual roles than those of white women.
In most developed countries, white women are treated better than black women. For instance, when black women give birth, they are forced to take their children to daycare while they go to work while the white women get maternal leaves to look after their infants. Black female youth are forced to use birth control pills yet they claim that the most important calling for a woman is to become a mother. The white women are asked to do so their own will (O’Neale and Sondra pg. 152).
In most black communities, women are not allowed to own anything. They are entitled to land ownership, property, or businesses. In some cases, they are not allowed to get maternal rights to their children such that when a marriage ends, a woman is not allowed to take her children with her. They are perceived to lack authority for the leadership of those businesses or over careers. Some countries still observe the tradition of wife inheritance and black women suffer the most. This happens when a husband dies so the brother-in-law has to marry the woman to keep her from leaving the family or marrying someone else. These traditions oppress black women’s feelings and do not regard what they wish to do with their own lives. They are mistreated by their own families by having their properties being taken away and their children left with no one to take care of them. They are not given the chance to make their own decisions hence their independence has been taken away from them. They have to consult on every move or action that they take, unlike men who can do anything they wish without answering to anyone (Wilson and Harriet 2011).
Dusky women are often under traditions that causes them emotional instability. Black women are forced to undergo female genital mutilation ceremonies which cause death due to excessive bleeding, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, and permanent disabilities. Those who are not willing to undergo circumcision ceremonies are denied the opportunity to marry and are seen as outcasts in their societies. Black females also experience pressure from their husbands and families when it comes to the gender of the children. They are looked down upon when they do not give birth to male children. Men go the extent of marrying another wife in search of a male child. Also, black women are considered as outcasts if they are not able to conceive. It is seen like it is their fault yet it is something that they have no control over. Black women are denied the opportunities to chose their life partners hence are stuck on arranged marriages where they are not happy (Smith and Sharon 2013).
Black womankind is at a higher risk of experiencing physical abuse. They experience rape and stalking from their romantic partners. Children sometimes get raped by their fathers, relatives, and baby sitters when their mothers are not around or have passed on. (Morrison) The Bluest Eye explains that the disgusting sexual desires of the men are what ruins the lives of young black children and women as well as the relationships. Gloomy women living in bad neighborhoods are forced into drug selling and being sex workers in order to provide a life for their families. In those jobs, they get mistreated, raped, and beaten. Dusky women suffer more when it comes to human trafficking cases, especially if they are immigrants in a foreign country. Without their passports, they are not in a position to ask for help from the authorities. According to Wilson and Harriet (2011), black women are forced to work long hours with little or no wages and are made to do whatever the traffickers request. In military positions, female soldiers get sexually abused by the male soldiers whom they work with. These cases are hidden from the public by those in charge.
Moreover, black females are not offered the same educational experiences academically. Black women have to work harder in school for them to secure opportunities like scholarships and internships and getting those opportunities does not guarantee that they still will not get oppressed by their fellow interns. Despite the laws existing to fight against gender discrimination, people seem to believe that men are entitled to better educational chances than women. This gives a worldwide impression that men should always have higher ranks while black women get the assisting positions. From O’Neale and Sondra (pg. 160), it was difficult for the oppositions to fight the charges of native educational superiority among the whites and encourage academic opportunities for black women.
Black females also experience oppression when they are in political environments. There are no black women in the position of power. For instance, when it comes to politics, most political positions are occupied by men. Most positions in the government are held by men. Black women end up getting the least number of votes during elections in democratic countries. The greatest challenge that black women experience is patriarchy. In politics it does not matter the political aspiration, the educational qualifications the leadership abilities of black women, it will always be believed that men will always make better leaders than black women. (Hooks, pg. 10), the patriarchal dictatorship which made men dominate seemed to enable black women to resist oppression brought by sexism. Despite the fact that black women have been living in situations of discrimination, the white activists claimed that black women started complaining about sexual harassment when they heard about sexism. The activists said that sexual harassment of black women was their problem. Black women are given less opportunity to work in judicial positions, such as the presidency, parliamentary and senate sits, being lawyers and judges. in the ninetieth century, black women were not allowed to vote and only men got chances to rule in public offices.
According to O’Neale and Sondra (pg. 145), black females are also oppressed by their religions and culture. They consider the importance of women based on their sexual cleanliness. Conditions like giving birth, menstrual periods, and breastfeeding a child are considered as repulsive. Pregnancies before marriage and children born out of wedlock are considered abominations, a situation which is usually blamed on the black women and not the men responsible for impregnating them. Blaming pregnancies on black teenage girls has caused a lot of school dropouts, suicides, abortions, early marriages, and stigmatization. These actions force women to hide themselves during these events. In other cultures, when a woman goes outside her exclusive marriage, then she is punished way more than a cheating man which shows that men have the most control over black women.
To fight the discrimination of dark women, the recommendations made included the following. Black women experience discrimination all over the world based on both their gender and skin color. In order to help black womankind, fight against oppression, governments should take the responsibility of implementing laws that help women against the discrimination of caregivers. Anyone found going against the laws should be held accountable in accordance with the implemented law. In workplaces, black women should be given equal chances as white people to fight for careers and prove their capabilities. They should be given enough maternity leaves and be offered positions at the executive management level. Investors can try to be supportive of the dreams of black women since they work just as hard as other people to make their dreams come true. In addition, the government should implement rules that help black women working in al organization fight sexual harassment. Social media activists should share their views against black women’s oppression in both workplaces and enterprises. Media should be at the forefront of promoting black women by allowing them to work on television shows, do advertisements and act movies, so long as they are talented for it. This is because having a black hardworking woman in an organization has always proved to bring a lot of success in an organization. Black women should be given chances to work in any field that they see fit. Pay gaps should be reduced in terms of working hours or salaries for workers with the same qualifications and capabilities. Black women should be given the same chance of fighting as men by getting their promotions based on their qualifications and not because they are being pressured into offering sexual favors to get opportunities.
From Smith and Sharon (2013), in societies, obscure women should be given equal rights as men to own land, to follow their careers, and manage businesses if they want to. Male children should not be preferred over female children. Men should try to solve their marital conflicts peacefully with mature conversations and discussions instead of resolving to violence and physical abuse. They should respect and treat their women with respect and stop seeing them as objects that can be owned or passed around. Men should respect their daughters and stop seeing them as objects. According to Hooks and Bell (pg.78), the government should hold accountable all the men responsible for domestic violence and rape so that actions like this can be stopped immediately. Black women deserve to chose who they want to marry, the kind of education the desire and the kinds of the field they want to work in. They should be given a chance to do all this without being told that they are good enough or lack enough capabilities. Developing countries should ban old traditions that restrict women from having University education and practices such as circumcision for women should be abolished. Barren women should not be seen as outcasts but should be supported emotionally to build their confidence and self- esteem.
Black females should be given equal chances in political positions and government offices. Women should also support their fellow women when they decide to apply for political seats in the government instead of giving men the power to think that they are not good enough. This will give Black women the chance to stand and fight for their rights and will help in reducing black women’s discrimination since having a black woman in a position of justice will help fight for their liberty. Gloomy women should be allowed to enjoy the freedom of keeping their hair the way they want to because it is a symbol of their African- American identity. They should not be forced to use chemicals and straighten their hair when they don’t want to. Black women deserve the best education just like any other person. Therefore, they should not be denied those opportunities just because they are women and are black. They should be given the opportunity to become who they want to. Black teenagers should be forced to use birth control drugs against their own will. This is a personal decision and everyone deserves to have that choice. Teenagers who get pregnant before they complete their education should not be discriminated against, made to feel like failures, and seen immoral people but instead, be given support (Hooks and Bell pg. 77).
In conclusion, the position of black women in organizational and political sectors is based on their history of slavery, sexism, and their race. Black women have struggled with oppression since before the nineteenth century. Black women have a goal to relieve themselves of the burden that has been brought by the oppression of the United States and the world in general. The success of black women is based on their ability to fight oppression. They deserve to be recognized and appreciated every day. Better pays, good insurance and allowances should be offered for them and their families. The physical, mental, emotional, and psychological stability should be considered. This is because discrimination brought by gender, ethnicity, and racism brings health issues.it can even cost the life of a person. In my own opinion, for a black woman to survive in a community full of racism and sexism, she has to stand strong and have confidence with herself. They should come together and fight for their rights and against their oppressors. All women are equal. This means that what white women can do, black women can do too and those white women should view black women the way they view themselves.
Work cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. Toni Morrison’s The bluest eye. Infobase Publishing, 2007.
Hooks, Bell. “Ain’t I a Woman Black Women and Feminism.” (1981).
King, Mae C. “Oppression and power: The unique status of the Black woman in the American political system.” Social Science Quarterly (1975): 116-128.
O’Neale, Sondra. “A Slave’s Subtle War: Phillis Wheatley’s Use of Biblical Myth and Symbol.” Early American Literature 21.2 (1986): 144-165.
Smith, Sharon. “Black feminism and intersectionality.” International Socialist Review 91.11 (2013).
Wilson, Harriet E. Our Nig: Or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black. Vintage, 2011.