Economic and Sexual Oppression of Female Slaves essays

Economic and Sexual Oppression of Female Slaves essays The article Female Slave Resistance: The Economics of Sex by Darlene C. Hine, focuses mainly on showing that slavery was equally as harsh for females as it was for males. In the article, Hine shows that female slaves, unlike male slaves, faced two forms of oppression. She explains and gives examples of the three main forms of slave resistance used by the females. While all slaves faced economic exploitation, women were also forced to deal with the hardships of sexual oppression. Sexual oppression was exemplified through females being required to take care of their masters children, many times instead of their own. In addition, the better-looking slave women were sold for much higher prices and often forced into having sexual affairs with their white masters. Many of the more attractive slaves were sold for prices that exceeded the amount an owner would be willing to pay for a strong, well-built field worker. In 1857, in the Memphis Eagle and Enquirer, a female slave was said to be so surpassingly beautiful that a bid of $5000 was offered and not accepted. Due in part to this sexual oppression, several different forms of resistance were practiced by the female slaves. The most common form was sexual abstinence. One way sexual abstinence was obtained was through women avoiding sex with their owners. Linda Brent, a former slave and author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, used the simple fact that her grandmother was still present on the plantation to put a halt to sexual advances made towards her by her master. Her grandmother was a former slave whom her master was afraid of. The second way sexual abstinence was practiced was by the females resisting sex and marriage to other slaves in hopes that they could eventually get married and raise their children in a world free from slavery. Another way females showed resistance towards slavery was through abortion. Because slave wo...