Beloved So Far

Historical Gender Inequality in Beloved 

 

The horror of American slavery is vividly presented in this book. Sethe's sufferings are covered throughout Beloved, giving the author a full vision of Sethe's enslaved life before her freedom. By reading Beloved through the feminist lens, I have broadened my perspective on the history of sexism and gender relations. Prior to actually reading the book, I thought that reading Beloved, a book I knew was about a female post-slave, I would find clear sexist remarks, derogatory terms, sexually demeaning situations, and obvious gender stereotypes. However, even though there were various clearly specified feminine roles and remarks, I found that the majority of the deep and historically disconcerting stuff was buried beneath the surface of the book. For instance, I did not expect Sethe to be such a strong woman, and her ability to speak freely with Paul D surprised me. This was due to my assumptions of the time period; that the women would neither be respected nor be treated accordingly, that Sethe would be weak, especially in an historical novel. Of course, there were instances where Paul D's thoughts would portray a harshness and superiority, displaying a societal undertone of how a man is important and vital in family life, but Sethe's strength altered my opinion of history I've learned so far.

I believe that through the history classes I've taken, the summarized and compacted details make it hard for a student to grasp the true content of a time period. By reading historical non-fiction or fiction story-telling books (based off of anecdote-ed history), we are able to visualize and interpret the stories of a time period, making the compacted details compelling and unique. Beloved has helped broaden my understanding of slavery and the various circumstances that could empower or weaken a woman during and after the Civil War.