Sexual Coercion Analysis

Throughout this class we have paid a significant amount attention and time on how sexual coercion altered women’s lives, socially, economically and politically. Within this paper I will be digging deeper, to examine how sexual coercion intersected with the culture of domesticity to structure the power for both African American women and men. More specifically, I will break down the political, social, economic citizenship implications that can be made towards black women and men, discussing how white men and women played a role in procuring this. Additionally, discussing how African American women resisted white violence and attempted to maintain their rights as citizens. Interconnecting these key questions and ideas, I will use the readings …show more content…
Sexual coercion effected Harriet’s whole life, as she was a black slave who was sexually abused by her owner. She was never able to find justice as she was an African American woman, affecting the way she was treated and sexually coerced (Lecture, March 15th). Before going into hiding Harriet went to great lengths, using different tactics in order to resist sexual abuse. Jacobs would pretend she didn’t know how to read or write in order to resist such sexual assault, being unable to complete her master’s requests (Block, Pg. 182). She would also tell the wife of her slave master what was going on, and what her husband was doing to her (Lecture, March 15th). Jacobs went as far as getting pregnant with another mans child to try and force her abusive master to leave her alone (Block, Pg. 187). Unable to get justice, Harriet had to hide as a fugitive for seven years in her grandmother’s crawl space in order to stay close to her children (Jacobs, Pg. 605). This was her way in which she found resistance from sexual coercion, showing that many women went above and beyond in order to resist such acts white men placed upon