Page 280 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

women’s emancipation movements 2057

“Ain’t I a Woman?”: Sojourner Truth’s Speech
Delivered at the Women’s Rights Convention

in Akron, Ohio, in December, 1851

Well, children, where there is so much racket there Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s
must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the this they call it? [member of audience whispers,“intel-
negroes of the South and the women at the North, all lect”] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with
talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix women’s rights or negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t
pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about? hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’tyou
That man over there says that women need to be be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to Then that little man in black there, he says women
have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps can’t have as much rights as men,‘cause Christ wasn’t
me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where
any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! did your Christ come from? From God and a
Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And If the first woman God ever made was strong
ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as enough to turn the world upside down all alone,
much as a man — when I could get it — and bear the these women together ought to be able to turn it
lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thir- back, and get it right side up again! And now they is
teen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, asking to do it, the men better let them.
and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old
but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman? Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.

and still appear cooperative rather than confrontational. undertaken vary widely. Gender may be universal, but no
The use of negotiation shows that gender attitudes and universal solution to gender inequities exists.
methods of reform are deeply rooted in culture and can-
Cynthia Curran
not be viewed as universal in nature.
See alsoWomen’s and Gender History; Women’s Repro-
Gender Past and Future ductive Rights Movements
Women around the globe are divided by their histories, by
their class or income levels, by the political basis of their
nation, by their religious beliefs, and by their social expec- Further Reading
tations.The one fundamental similarity, however, in each Bloch, M., Beoku-Betts, J. A., & Tabachnick, B. R. (Eds.). (1998). Women
and education in sub-Saharan Africa: Power, opportunities, and con-
culture is that gender provides a basis for discrimination
straints. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
and deprivation.We cannot prescribe one plan of action Bolt, C. (1995). Feminist ferment: “The woman question” in the USA and
to improve the lot of women everywhere, but the recog- England. London: UCL Press.
Bryceson, D. F. (Ed.). (1995).Women wielding the hoe: Lessons from rural
nition that gender is a crucial aspect in the consideration Africa for feminist theory and development practice. Oxford, UK: Berg.
of political and economic reform is an essential beginning. Chaudhuri, M. (1993). Indian women’s movement: Reform and revival.
London: Sangam Books.
Solutions to gender inequities are best constructed by
Connolly, L. (2002). The Irish women’s movement: From revolution to
women working together within a culture to negotiate devolution. New York: Palgrave.
change that is acceptable to the dominant power structure Evans, H. (1997). Women and sexuality in China: Dominant discourses of
female sexuality and gender since 1949. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
rather than presenting a universal program that may Gilmartin, C. K., Hershatter, G., Rofel, L., & White, T. (Eds.). (1994).
cause unintended results. Women’s emancipation move- Engendering China: Women, culture, and the state. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
ments are global in scope because gender disparities
Hahner, J. E. (1990). Emancipating the female sex:The struggle for women’s
occur everywhere, but the problems suffered and solutions rights in Brazil, 1850–1940. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.