Etta Mae Johnson's Analysis

For as long as women have been depicted in the arts, holy texts, and so on and so forth, an image has prevailed over most others, the depiction of the fallen woman, the mistress, the slut, etc. Despite the many forms this portrayal has assumed over time, it cannot be debated that to this day there remains the idea that a woman can behave in a “disagreeable” manner that society may look down upon her sexuality, faith, activities, etc, with scolding eyes and flaming tongues. In the case of Etta Mae Johnson, her promiscuous sexing of young black men draws negative speculation from her neighbors, who refuse to address her by her first name and simply address her as “Ms. Johnson.” Because of this Etta feels further inclined to continue her “unladylike” ways, and seek …show more content…
And while women are granted greater freedoms in the 21st Century a double-standard continues nonetheless concerning the consequences of their freedoms and the freedoms of their male counterparts. The effects of slut-shaming have a personal effect on women of all ages, and in the case of students, have sometimes concluded tragically with suicides and murders. In the article “What Really Happened to Phoebe Prince?” Emily Bazelon discussed the death of fifteen-year-old Phoebe Prince and how cyberbullying led to her untimely demise. Branded an “Irish slut” by her fellow peers at the South Hadley High School in Massachusetts, Phoebe was confronted at her school by the girlfriend of one of her friends and warned to “stay away from other people’s men,” and called a “whore.” Through Facebook students at South Hadley High School engaged in the cyberbullying of Phoebe who they now referred to on numerous occasions as that “Irish slut.” Months later Phoebe hung herself “in the stairwell with a black scarf woven with multicolor thread. Her sister had given it to