Project Blog #5 - Ain't I A Woman?

"Ain't I A Woman" by Sojourner Truth advocates the idea of woman's rights. She explains to the audience that she hears so many white men claiming how a woman should be treated, but reacts with her own account of how those ideas are really played out. It is obvious that Truth does not wish to sit back and take constant discrimination from society. In one statement, Truth points out that whites claim to have so much "intellect", but if they really possessed such qualities, they would not treat blacks, especially African-American woman, the way that they do (Truth). Consistently throughout her debate, Truth says the words, "and ain't I a woman?". She questions why so many whites claim that women deserve respect, but she herself does not feel that respect too?

As far as Truth's writing style, it can be easily compared to that of Realism. This characteristic of writing is best portrayed through simple and straightforward qualities (Anderson). In her speech, Truth uses reality as an example of her support for women's suffrage. Discrimination at the time was not an idea, but simply what countless African American's went through.

Truth continues in her sermon about the idea that African-Americans should band together and fight against the segregation and discrimination they continually go through. She says that God is on her side, and if woman had the power to mess up the entire world's fate in the beginning, then why should they not have the power to fix it now? This idea links to the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau. He believes that the common man, or in this case, woman, should stick up for what is right, regardless of society's opinion. Because of women like Sojourner Truth, African American's rights, both men and women, were granted. It can be granted that Truth knew in the back of her mind that the fight would be an uphill battle, but the end result would be more than any hard time she endured. Her resilience to these troubling events paid off as she became one of America's most predominately known suffrage advocates.

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online.

Emerson, Ralph W. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.

Truth, Sojourner. "And Ain't I a Woman." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 370. Print.