Category: Struggle

The struggle for women to acquire sports equality has been a long and incomplete battle. The first time women participated in high-performance sports was in 1900 during the Olympic Games in Paris, France. Even then they were limited to sports that were considered to be less physically demanding such as golf and tennis. (1)

The idea that sports are exclusive to men emerged as a result of society’s view of what the ideal woman should be. During the Victorian time, women were considered and expected to be gentle, submissive, and essentially the weaker sex. (2) Encouraging and allowing women to be involved in exercise and sports undermined the concept of femininity because it opposed this ideal. This had deep and long-lasting implications in women’s involvement in sports. Until recently the rhetoric of women being muscular and exercising has been linked to manliness instead of acknowledging that women can take on rigorous physical activities while also preserving their identities.

The physical differences also played a role in limiting sports to men. A woman’s body can carry and nurture for an unborn child and instead of appreciating it, society puts barriers on its capabilities. Women are also considered to be fragile beings that think with their ovaries and are overly emotional as a result. The historian Kathleen E. McCrone states that “on the basis of no scientific evidence whatsoever, [society] related biology to behavior.” (3) This view and criticism not only hindered women from participating in sports on a societal level but it also resulted in them internalizing this rhetoric. This society also wanted to make sure that women were allocating their time and effort in their reproductive abilities instead of partaking in sports.

A combination of factors contributed to challenging the idea that modern sports were exclusively for men. Historically prior to Title IX, college sports for women were unestablished and ignored. Colleges allowed women to partake in sports for educational rather than competitive purposes. Equal opportunities were not presented to women in intercollegiate sports until basketball was introduced in Smith college in 1892. (4) This jump-started a ripple effect and women’s basketball not only spread to other institutes but encouraged students to advocate for women’s intercollegiate sports. However, this was opposed by many physical educators because they wanted to gatekeep competitive sports. The first intercollegiate competition amongst women was between the University of California, Berkeley vs. Stanford University and Washington vs. Ellen Normal School, both of which occurred in 1896. (5) This paved the way for women in sports to get the representation and acknowledgment they needed and deserved. Once Title IX was introduced in 1972 women were able to infiltrate the sports sector. Title IX states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” (6) Title IX was essential for women in sports as it was a nondiscrimination policy that forced educational institutes to give women equal opportunities as men.

The women’s suffrage movement also contributed immensely to the efforts of women in sport. In 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted and women were allowed to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment states that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by ant State on account of sex.” (7) The right to vote put emphasis on women’s freedom and it gave them further encouragement to fight for equality in sports.

The Second World War (WWII) also further challenged the roles of women. Many men joined the military and this left a gaping hole in the industrial sector and efforts in the home and war fronts. This created an opportunity for women to step up to the task and demonstrate their abilities in partaking in physically rigorous work. This not only changed how women are perceived globally but also gave women the confidence to further challenge the gender-stereotypes that existed at the time. After WWII there was a renewed sense of empowerment amongst women and this contributed immensely to the involvement of women in sports.

It is to reinforce the gender binaries and maintain male domination. We have seen time and again that women face barriers to sport mobility. And this is because society struggles to grasp what is considered to be uncommon. Sports were used to contribute to the toxic masculinity of men as Karin A. E. Volkwein-Caplan states “physical activity was a good way to maintain one’s virility and athletic manhood.” (8) Allowing women to get involved in sports not only undermined the values of women’s femininity but also disturbed the maintenance of masculine hegemony.

The pressure that women applied in demanding better representation and equality in the sports sector was successful to an extent. As a result of all the hard work women did in the past we now see women participate in world sports. However, when you compare the representation that men get versus women, it becomes evident that there are clear disparities and that further strides need to be made. For example, on March 8, 2019, “the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation.” Although the women’s soccer team has been more successful than the men’s, the women are experiencing institutionalized gender discrimination in regards to their pay, support and working conditions. (9) Furthermore, the fact that society considers physical masculine attributes to be superior can be seen through the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) implementation of testing for women with high testosterone levels in 2011. Although there was no real scientific backing at the time, women athletes with high testosterone levels had to either get medical treatment to lower their testosterone levels or dropout. (10) Research done recently at the University of Colorado Boulder showed that high testosterone levels in women don’t give them a comparative advantage. (11) This shows that women are still expected to abide by the frigid binaries set forth by society. Although there remains room for improvement it is important to acknowledge the work that women have done in the past and continue to do now in surpassing society’s expectations and fighting for equality.

This study focuses on the victimization of men and women of lower class who are exploited by the powerful based on their wealth and ‘material production’ which leads the ‘subordinate classes to engage in a struggle for economic, political, and social advantage’. It can be said that Marxist theory in some way or the other is associated with the workers movement as some critics of Marxism have mentioned this association. The main prospect of Marxism is made the targets of money, which justifies an individual’s class and status in a society.

The study here uses some bit of ideas collectively from Marxist theories of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, George Lukacs, Louis Althusser, and Vladimir Lenin and their relation with class struggle in the discussion. Some of the theories discussed below have been used in chunks towards the development of the study-

To be more specific about this Marxist theory of class struggle it must bring up the important notions to the understanding of Marxist – Leninist conception of class struggle. It believed in the maintenance of the important concept of ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’. According to this theory, class struggle in relation to the, “state every democracy is a dictatorship. Capitalism is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and socialism will be the dictatorship of the proletariat; but they cannot be equated: The bourgeois democracy is the dictatorship of a minority of exploiters, but the proletarian democracy will be the dictatorship of a majority of workers and exploited; moreover, their goals are not the same. The bourgeois democracy combats to maintain its positions, while the proletarian democracy fights only for its further transformation, and in these combats the state is used as a means but again in different ways”. (pg. 389. Jstor)

In support of the above theory the French Marxist theoretician Louis Althusser asserts that the ‘democratic mind of the proletariat is more honest than the bourgeois one’. Because he wants to make the point clear that the bourgeois can go to any length in order to see the degradation of the proletariat and the further instance of this is they allowed the access of democracy to the proletariat but then in a partial manner. Thus the overall discussion clarifies that there is no security of the proletariats even from democracy hence they have to rely on their own abilities in a capitalist society. So it can be said that the proletariats still exist in societies and so thus class struggle. This class struggle will find new forms but the fundamental issue will still be the same: Capitalistic relations of production and exploitation of the weaker section.

Class struggle has also associations with the concept Ideology, which is a key concept of Marxist theory. Political unconsciousness in Marxism is called Ideology: “Human consciousness is constituted by an ideology – that is, the beliefs, values, and ways of thinking and feeling through which human beings perceive, and by recourse to which they explain, what they take to be reality. An ideology is, in complex ways, the product of the position and interests of a particular class. In any historical era, the dominant ideology embodies, and serves to legitimize and perpetuate, the interests of the dominant economic and social class” (pg 203-4, M.H. Abrams).

Another concept proposed by Bertolt Brecht in Marxist criticism studies is the ‘alienation effect’. He borrowed this concept from Russian Formalist’s defamiliarization. In the context of the present study the concept has been used to show the alienation and distancing of emotional sympathy between relations in a social setup.

All the theories mentioned above have been engaged to some extent in the work.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Since the topic of the study is very clumsy yet diverse but then as its main focus is about the approach of class struggle in relation to Marxism. The few of the books mentioned below have been a great source of enlightenment in the further discussion of certain aspects of Marxism in the proposed arguments of the novels. Das Capital (1867)

Karl Marx offered a great help to the understanding of Capitalism, socialism, class struggle, wage laborer also alienation. Although he book have been divided in several volumes but the overall concept of the book is related to the exploitation of the working class by transferring them into commodities by the capitalist class. Its rootedness in social realities in global a global scale makes it worth a theoretical text. Marx in the book also proposes a scope of reforming these social and economic politics that have its beginning in pre-ancient times.

ARGUMENT

Toni Morrison is a writer who takes liberty to mention the prevailing concerns of classism and oppression in American society. Although the impact of racism is greater in her African American writings, this paper tries to address the victimization of the lower class (proletariat) in the hands of the powerful. The present discussion however is an attempt to explore the concerns for identity through the construction of experience of her characters. This two novels along with her other novels tries to present the individual lives of people, their hopes and fear in relation to the experience of slavery in a capitalist society where material succession is the grounding truth.

The study is concerned about a Marxist theory of class struggle therefore it presents the main agenda of Marxism that is to create a classless society where there could be equal and similar control of material possession and welfare. Although to attain this was never easy therefore throughout history Marxism witnesses the gradual development which is arising due to the struggle for power in varied social classes which is creating the barrier even greater day by day in struggle for economic, social and political stability in the competitive world. This clash between the social classes leads to the victimization and manipulation of the lower class by the powerful class which is more or less evident in the modern era of industrial capitalism. The outcome of these humiliations is not only faced in commercial fields only but also by the workers who were working in the households for some amount of wages hence the consequence of this is that it created more ‘alienation’ in the relationship between the worker and the master or to say between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie in particular.

However, it should be kept in mind that this study is about class struggle on a large scale including both the whites and non-whites comparatively regardless of Morrison’s projection of the black presences in both the novels.

ABOUT TAR BABY AND A MERCY

In the discussion the study would deal with Toni Morrison’s two novels – Tar Baby (1981) and A Mercy (2008). A brief description to the stories of the two novels by Morrison consecutively have been given below-

Tar Baby is Morrison’s fourth novel where she talks about two major characters. One is Jadine, a graduate whereas her opposite character is Son, a runaway criminal who is uncivilized unlike Jadine. Morrison here represents a love affair between these two black characters, who comes from two distinct world. Jadine is a beautiful fashion model and a graduate from the Sorbonne, Art Historian who has been financially supported and also received family advantages by a well to do family called Streets- where Jadine’s only aunt and uncle worked as domestic household servants. Unlike Jadine, Son is though fortuneless and a criminal on run but he is strong willed and passionate person who unknowingly reaches into the Caribbean mansion of the Streets in the Caribbean island. The story takes a different turn when Jadine and Son becomes more close ultimately falling for each other. With these there arises many revelations and breaks the disjunct family even far worse. While Jadine and Son takes a drastic step in between the chaos and lands up in the United States. However the main crises arises after they both flees in search of a home which can held them together, in the States which is very difficult to attain in a land which demands rough labour, struggle and compromise from the people like Jadine and Son.

The second novel is A Mercy, which is the ninth of Morrison’s novel amongst her other unique creations. The novel is about slavery in America. The narrative revolves around the lives of the slaves working in rural Milton, New York farm of Jacob Vaark. By profession he was a trader who eventually ends up in slave trade as he brings the protagonist of the novel Florens from a debtor in his farm. The main reason that he brought her is to please his wife Rebekka as she was going through a hard time because of the death of their children’s. In the novel, the character Rebekka also had a past as she came on a ship from England to marry Jacob whom she never knew and met before. Thus she did many compromises to become settle in a new house with unknown people. However she had Lina another Native American who worked as a laborer in the farm. They both shared a good mutual bonding in the farm. Lina was like a surrogate mother to Florens In the farm we also come across a character named Sorrow whom Lina disliked the most. The life of these people in the farm goes upside down from the death of the master Vaark and then the mistress suffering from small pox disease. Although for Florens it was her turning point in life as she was allowed to go out from the farm in search of a blacksmith who could cure the mistress to life. Morrison through the novel depicts a dark side of slavery that these characters had suffered from.

DISCUSSION

TAR BABY

In both the novels Tar Baby and A Mercy the growing concerns of capitalism and material succession is observed. Morrison in Tar Baby exhibits varied criticism of capitalism. This growing concern of succession can be directly linked up with Karl Marx’s philosophy regarding this pursuit, “What individuals are … coincides with their production both with what they produce and how they produce” (Marx and Engels). So bringing in Marx’s book Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (1867 – 94) the study can internalize the concept of commodification, the market value and also the labor theory of value in the context of Tar Baby, when Morrison puts her disappointment with capitalism through the juxtaposition of Capitalist Valerian and Socialist Son with reference to L’Arbe de la Croix owned by Valerian and Jadine’s obsession to the ‘fur coat’ which shows the so called consumerist attitude of the ruling class.

Being a Marxist thinker George Lukacs comments: “the commodity relation… stamps its imprint upon the whole consciousness of man”. Based on this we can assert that it’s not the only products that can be commodified but also feelings and emotions, more than that it can structure a man’s thought process in the world according to the Marxist prejudices. While in the novel we come across Jadine commodifying her body in the market premises and Valerian’s hope in the trade value. The novel focuses on the various relationships in the attractive Caribbean household cum mansion beginning from the relationship between the couple Sydney and Ondine Childs who are the butler and the maid of the household and the relationship between the owner of the mansion L’Arbe de la Croix Valerian Street and his much younger wife Margaret and also the relationship between the two native outdoor yard workers, Gideon and Therese. However the central focus of the novel is in the relationship between Jadine Childs, a European educated successful fashion model and Son an American black from the small town of Florida.

The setting of the house in the opening of the novel itself suggests a clear gesture of Marxian capitalist ideology: “to own a big, cozy home, is a capitalist ideology” (M S Nagarajan, 226). As the grand and elaborate description of the house connects this to that “It had been designed by a brilliant Mexican artist … the windowsills and door saddles were carved lovingly to perfection….’the most handsomely articulated and blessedly unrhetorical house in the Caribbean’” (Tar Baby, 10-11). This description of the house as a ‘hotel’ gives a clear relevance to the capitalist ideology of commodifying sine Valerian boasts himself as the ‘owner’ and ‘operator’ of the hotel. Simultaneously, Valerian’s jokes about the Christmas plans that the house looks like a ‘train’ giving the house qualities of commodity that it is like a market place where people comes and goes every time is a fact that its less a home and more a mode of commodifying which carries market value can be added to the former. This is how the bourgeoisies objectify things in and around them.

Beginning from the relationship of Valerian with his wife Margaret where it can be related to Marxist theory of capitalism and class struggle even at a heightened level. Valerian in the novel is a true capitalist and a bourgeois by consciousness. He uses his money to impress others. So he buys expensive clothes for Margaret and pays Jadine’s college tuition. We notice his oppressive tone and class remarks to his wife in the house during the dinner hour which shows her insecurities of her class in the past: “She was usually safe with soup; anything soft or liquid required a spoon….It came to her in a flash –oysterettes- and she had dipped her spoon happily in to the soup but had hardly begun when Valerian complained” (Tar Baby, 63). Valerian is truly a ruler in the relationship since he keeps an eye on whatever Margaret does starting from her bond with Ondine the maid who’s status doesn’t match hers and so he puts a stop to their relationship saying ‘she should guide the servants not consort with them’. Later to his comment to her when she calls guests in the Christmas without his concern that Margaret was there to follow his orders and therefore must not ‘defy’ his any constructed rules for the people in the household. It clearly shows his dominating attitude to his wife and the people in and around him. When Valerian was in his early seventies he saw Margaret who was in her early forties he desired her since she looked like ‘the principle beauty of Maine’. Even the food in the novel represented a certain class in the novel. However there is other instances which justifies Valerian’s capitalist tendencies, as his name was named after the candy “Valerians” set up by his uncles and the appearance of Margaret resembled that candy: ‘She was all red and white, like the Valerians” this shows his obsession with capitalism that he sees himself as the commodity hence he saw his own image in her as the commodity and owned her. Although Margaret faced oppression under Valerian, it could never erase the reality that she was also a true bourgeoisie in nature while treating their son, Michael as a commodity for her own purpose.

Likewise the relationship of Jadine and Son also depended on the philosophy of commodity and market value in the novel. As the first appearance of Son to Jadine was not so impressive and more of a ‘savage’ and ‘ugly’ which shows her class consciousness and believes her status is above Son. But as soon as she sees the man “in a white shirt unbuttoned at the cuffs and throat…he was gorgeous” at once her attitude towards him changed since he now equals her status. More than that to her most attractive was the fact that he was wearing the branded “Hickey Freeman and a little Paco Rabanne” so she seemed “impressed and relieved by his looks” which also clarifies that she was interested in the trademarks more than the man. Being a fashion model in the United States it is clear that Jadine applied an exchange value on her body in the fashion market. She uses her body as a mode of capitalist commodification and sold her body pictures to the magazine called Elle and received money in return. It suggests that she was no different than Valerian who in an argument with Sydney calls his own son “company” to which Sydney replies “It’s your own Son. Michael’s not a company”. Jadine was so obsessed with consumerist capitalism life that she even fetishizes with the “fur coat” send to her by a person called Ryk. This is a literal example of Jadine’s fascination with commodity as if the fur coat was capable of giving her sexual pleasure resulting in alienation of her with the outside world.

Jadine in the novel also alienates herself from the cultural heritage and starts adopting white values which would suit her status in society. As Son brings out this motif of her by saying that she should stop acting like a white superior lady and start behaving like what she really are startles her and she felt a kind of identity threat. This is further seen when she visits Son’s birth place Eloe in Florida when she sees the other people in the place as rural, poor and uneducated. Despite the fact that her cultural roots goes back to these people she despises. Thus, racism and sexism, although equally oppressive, are treated as byproducts of capitalism in Tar Baby.

The proletariat or the situation of the working class in the novel was more seen through the couples Sydney and Ondine Childes and through Gideon and Therese. From the opening pages of the novel we see that Ondine and Sydney are indebted to Valerian Street since he was patronizing all the money for their niece Jadine Childes. So they would always be at the mercy of Valerian. However Valerian and Sydney seemed to share a friendly butler/master relationship but at times Valerian reminds Sydney of his position that he is just a butler and can be replaced if goes out of his commands: “….And maybe then I could hire somebody who wouldn’t keep things from me…” Even Margaret remarks that servants should work according to what they are said “They tell us what to eat. Who’s working for who?”. This is further seen in the conflict of Christmas evening when Ondine slapped Margaret, which was an act above her social status and she demanded that the kitchen was hers more than Margaret which makes Valerian frown at her: “Your kitchen? Your help?”. There are also instances when Gideon and Therese were subjected to the similar kind of oppression as to when they both were fired from the job by Valerian ‘Two people are going to starve’ just because they stole some apple from the house. From this it is clear that Morrison’s emphasis in Tar Baby is on class struggle — the struggle between the ruling class and the subject class.

It is also true that some lower class like Ondine, Sydney and Jadine Childes wishes to be like these ruling class at power as in the context of the novel as to when Sydney boasted in front of Son, “I am a Phil-a-delphia Negro mentioned in the book of the very same name…. while yours were still cutting their faces open so as to be able to tell one of you from the other”. This is again seen in the beginning chapter when Ondine judges Margaret’s desire to eat mangoes: “Even the colored people down here don’t eat mangoes”. To which Sydney replies only “beggars” and the “yardman” can eat mangoes. Classism is found at different levels in the text as Gideon was called “Yardman” by everyone in the house, including Ondine and Sydney, a general derogatory term for the poor black population of Queen of France. No one knows his real name. And both the women were called “Mary,” for no one has any interest in their real names either. Ondine shows her irritation that she cannot give Gideon a written list of chores and errands because he is illiterate, so she gives him an oral list instead which was a typical act to show her social upbringing than these people and that they represented the African petty bourgeois. Even their surnames symbolize the fact that they are really the Child’s of Valerian inheriting his class and capitalist ideologies.

Son in the novel emphasizes on the socialist value unlike the dwellers of L’Arbe de la Croix. He is the antithesis of Toni Morrison as he is a man who judges people equally not in terms of wealth and qualification. This we see in his debates with Jadine for calling Gideon a ‘Yardman’ instead of calling by his name. Whatever the status of Gideon and Therese was he had established a good connection with them. On the Christmas evening he showed his affection for both the couples Gideon/Therese, and Sydney/Ondine as he deliberately speaks up for Gideon and Therese’s removal from the work by Valerian while he gave Sydney and Ondine to dine with the family together despite the difference between a master and a servant. More than that he tried his best to alter Jadine’s ideologies and gave her true picture to the condition of their people however she instead chose to be guarded in the liberal life supported by Valerian. However there is not given any clear cut response from the text that his socialist values defeated Valerian and Jadine’s capitalist values. Because the dictatorship of the proletariat demands collective energy which Son alone can never up bring.

A MERCY

Toni Morrison’s A Mercy is also an attempt to the aspects discussed above. In the novel there are traces of capitalistic fervor and its connection to classism in the presentation of Characters like Jacob Vaark, D’Ortega and through the portrayal of the Rebekka’s character is observed. Just like Valerian Street here Jacob Vaark also carries the same mentality and wishes to own a big house just like D’Ortega’s, the owner of ‘Jublio’ plantation in the novel. However both Jacob and D’Ortega behold capitalistic mentality we see that D’Ortega’s status is much above a ‘gentleman’ than Jacob Vaark because he was a farmer and latter became a trader. As in his narratives from the novel we come to know about “his previous dealings with this estate had been with the owner’s clerk….A trader asked to dine with a gentleman?” , points that classism exists in the text since Morrison emphasizes that there is a clear class division between the owner’s class and the trader’s. So we find that being an orphan Jacob is not a gentry like D’Ortega but he dreams to possess wealth like Ortega however he dies at end of the novel and could not live in the big house he made. However he is a true capitalist since he shows his hypocrisy first narrating that “flesh was never his commodity” then accepting the deal with Ortega he said “you said ‘any’. I could choose any…” and later his ideology of a slave as a commodity “not if I can’t use her”, end the deal with choosing Florens in exchange of the debt shows his true capitalist ideologies. More than that the patriarch Jacob probably was the reason behind Sorrow’s pregnancy since the narrative never clarifies the person behind her sexual exploitation. However, Rebekka at the beginning remained obedient and virtuous but after the death of the producer she became hostile and tried to commodify her servants as a capitalist villainess. Just like Margaret making her own son a plaything for herself.

This classism is more highlighted through the suffering of the slaves and the labors in Jacob’s farm. No matter what color they belong to economic instability and class increased their suffering more. Beginning from the mistress, Jacob’s wife Rebekka in the discussion it can be seen how her lower class status brought her to a new world which she probably never thought of. Just like Margaret in Tar Baby Rebekka’s character can be juxtaposed in the paper. As a poor girl she was abandoned by their parents to marry Jacob Vaark for the sake of money. Here we see how Jacob offers a market value on Rebekka turning her into a commodity bride. Although different struggles the characters go through in the novel but their plight occurs from the same lower class status in the novel. Therefore, they can connect to each other through their sufferings and class boundaries as Rebekka observes the prostitutes in the ship and feels pity for their condition unlike hers who have been sold to become a mistress of a farm. This connection which overrules class order’s can be seen in her relationship with Lina the house maid too: “Together, by trial and error they learned; what kept the foxes away; how and when to handle and spread manure…” Despite being a mistress and a servant they have managed to retain a reasonable relationship between them since Lina became a good help to her when she arrived at the farm. However, in Tar Baby, this mutual bonding could never take place between Margaret and Ondine not because they have been denied by Valerian but probably because they never tried more than that. This relevance of same class oppression Rebekka also relates with the whores with whom she journeyed as the lower class passengers in the ship are given in “Light and weather streamed from a hatch; a tub for waste sat beside a keg of cider; a basket and a rope where food could be let down and the basket retrieved”. This shows Morrison’s observation on the dehumanizing conditions of the lower class people and how ill treated they are including Rebekka who later becomes the slave mistress is a contrasting effect in the novel.

Moreover there are similarities between the character Jadine, Ondine and Sydney in Tar Baby to the character named Blacksmith. Although he don’t have a name in the novel his attitude to his social status he feels is above Florens’ in the text: “marry, own things, travel, sell his own labor”. Although Florens and the Blacksmith belonged to the same race there is a certain kind of differences in their status since Florens is a case of enslavement whereas he could not be bounded like the other slaves. Because by profession he is a craftsman and also possesses traditional healing knowledge and therefore he is superior in status from Florens. This may be the reason that he abandons Florens despite having a physical relationship with her. This is similar to the abandonment of their people by Sydney, Ondine and Jadine in Tar Baby. Apart from that the relationship of Jadine and Son also ends in a similar violent manner just like Florens and the Blacksmith’s.

In A Mercy similarly one character alone can never defeat the bourgeoisie mentality of the people. The lower class people must come together to fight the social inequalities. This is the reason that Florens act of protest by hitting the orphaned child though dehumanizing but a grotesque act of sheer hatred to the oppressors. But as there are so many diversions and lack of mutuality among the people of the same class the novel probably fails to show the hidden voices hitting back the dominant voices in person.

CONCLUSION

Thus the paper can be concluded by surmising that it had tried to explore economic instability which leads to class struggle. Money and status creates social injustice and dehumanization of human being at large scale. It also somehow discussed how dangerous different ideologies could be in the context of achieving certain kind of success in life. The paper has also managed to show that this pursuit of capitalism and status leads to alienation and loss of human values putting relations at stake. Although we see some scattered values of socialism that could not be completely attained in the argument as the impact of classism and capitalism was too power throughout the narratives of the novels. The paper to some extent have been able to probe the point that though Morrison take in consideration the racism aspect in this two novels, there are clear presence of both the non-white and white subjugation based on their social class. Therefore keeping the racism constraints apart it is found that the pursuit of attaining individual identity by the marginal characters in the novels remained partial and incomplete

In the book The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, there are many themes that are covered. The theme I will be talking about is the struggle for survival. The reason that I believe this is a good theme is because in the book there are many parts where the characters are struggling with life and trying to overcome it. This is a theme that is important in today’s society because we all struggle in different ways that we may or may not realize. Our struggle for survival comes in many ways that often vary by person to person and from group to group. In addition to this, the book demonstrates the different types of survival whether it be about your skin color or your socioeconomic background.

This theme is shown in chapter two when Khalil gets shot by the officer. The struggle to survive is shown when Starr says “My parents haven’t raised me to fear the police, just be smart around them. They told me it’s not smart to move while a cop has their back to you.” (Thomas 23). This shows that in our society if you’re an African American you have to be more cautious around police officers than a white person would have to be. It is inferred that in the past African Americans have had a harder time with officers so they really have to think about how they act around persons of authority. A real life example of this is shown in Apnews’ article, Timeline of events in shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson which tells us about the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in 2014. (Apnews). Micael Brown, an unarmed African American male was shot by officer Darren Wilson after an altercation broke out about walking on the sidewalk. Brown was unarmed yet he was still shot and killed which shows that as an African American male, you have to be mindful of your actions. In my opinion, if Brown was another ethnicity such as a white male, the interaction would have been different and he would still be alive today.

Another example of this theme is when Starr witnesses her friend Natasha getting killed because of a drive by when they were kids playing at the fire hydrant. Starr’s struggle here is when she explains to us, “I dove into a rosebush. By the time I got up, somebody was yelling, “Call nine-one-one!” (Thomas 29) Even as young children, you have to be careful of your surroundings. The environment that they grew up in was not the best and that was not in their control. This is not something you should have to worry about at such a young age considering that they were only ten years old. As a result of this, Starr lost her childhood best friend and she also has flashbacks of this memory to this day. Starr’s struggle for survival here is that she has to overcome the environment that she is raised in. Other children may not have to deal with these types of situations because they may be raised in a different socioeconomic environment.

An example of them trying to survive in Garden Heights is when two teenagers come up to Starr and Seven. Starr describes their appearance saying, “There are two of them. They look thirteen, fourteen years old and are wearing green Celtics jerseys. Garden Disciples, no doubt.” (Thomas 145). As you can see, Starr already knew that the two teenagers were gang affiliated because of their appearance. Although Starr and Seven were not in gang attire the struggle that is presented here if the situation was flipped is that you have to be aware of what you’re wearing because you might be representing something that you don’t intend to. Aside from the book an example of this is when girls go out they are always advised to watch what they are wearing because you never really know everyone’s true intentions, whether they’re good or not. There’s instances where women are raped because of what they’re wearing and oftentimes the rapist counters that by saying “she was asking for it” just because what the women were wearing is deemed provocative.

In chapter ten, Starr and her family spend the night at Uncle Carlos’s house because of the riots that occur after the shooting of Khalil. (Thomas 164). The reason Starr and her family have to spend the night at Uncle Carlos’s house is because the riots are making their part of town unsafe. The struggle for survival here is that the intention of protesting is to bring awareness and attempts to bring change to the cause but it is becoming violent which is not good. Because the protests have become violent riots it’s causing more harm than good. As you can see the riots are becoming chaotic leaving the family with no choice but move to a safer area.

In chapter ten Starr and Big Mav talk about the Khalil’s family situation. “When the Khalil’s get arrested for selling drugs, they either spend most of their life in prison, another billion-dollar industry, or they have a hard time getting a real job and probably start selling drugs again.” (Thomas 170). The reason Khalil started dealing drugs was because his mom owed a lot of debt to the gangs because of her drug addiction so he felt the best decision was to work for King dealing drugs. In life people don’t make the best decisions so people other people have to pick up for their slack. In this case it shows that there are times that you are forced to do things that might not be ethical in order to get through daily life. We don’t always have the best opportunities so we take what we can get in order to deal with the problem the fastest.

In the article Struggle For Existence it talks about how predators have to hunt for their food and the prey has to escape for their life. This is similar to the cycle of life because everyday us humans are competing with others and sometimes even ourselves. We generally all have the same end goal which is to survive so we have to compete with each other to be better. Along with competing with others you are also competing with yourself. For example trying to get rid of your own bad habits and temptations so you don’t hold yourself back. This is important because at times you can be your own worst enemy.

The struggle for survival is a theme that is important in today’s society. The book shows that in many of the events that take place. After talking about the struggle of survival this essay explains why it’s hard to live in certain areas. The struggle of survival is important because as humans we have to live life by choosing the next best option available that is the most reasonable in the moment. As human’s life isn’t handed to you freely, you have to go out and work for what you want. This essay covers the theme by showing the different ways we struggle for survival and how we work our way through those tough situations. The essay also has one outside source that shows African Americans being mistreated by white police officers.

Works Cited

1. Darwin Endless Forms ‘ Struggle for Existence, www.darwinendlessforms.org/gallerydarwin/struggle-for-existence/.
2. Thomas, Angie. The Hate U Give. Balzer & Bray/Harperteen, 2017.
3. “Timeline of Events in Shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 8 Aug. 2019, apnews.com/9aa32033692547699a3b61da8fd1fc62.

My full name is Arinda Febritasari, in the environment around my house, I am often called arin. .but different in the environment where I seek knowledge, sometimes by my friends, I am called arin or rinda or even arinda or arindut, who knows where the name arindut came from, maybe because my body is quite contained but not fat.actually there is no specific meaning of my name, but the philosophy is Arinda’s name is taken from the names of both parents namely Hari and Indah and Febrita from my birth month which is February and the last is Sari taken from the name of a midwife which helped the process of my birth into this world.

I was born in Sumenep on February 25, 2000 on Friday. On Friday it was an event where I would start to enjoy the beauty of this world. but on that day my mother did not go through everything easily, my mother had experienced a very great process of struggle. Where at that time I was born not under normal circumstances. at that time the midwife told my mother to have an operation but she didn’t want to because she was afraid so she stayed in that position. until finally for his struggle I was born into this world even though I was born not in a crying situation, I was born without speaking like a baby who had died. at that time my parents panicked, but with God’s permission within a few minutes I finally let out my cry for the first time. both of my parents must be very happy and so am I very proud and happy to have parents like them.

My father’s name is Didik Hariyanto and my mother’s name is Sri Indahyati and for now I already have a sister named Adinda Nurul Camelia and also a brother who is not biological with me but is blood related because we are the sameMy father is named Warits Kurniawan, he was adopted as the son of my father’s brother and he lived in the same house with my father’s brother .

I was born into a simple family, not rich or poor. When I was little my body was so thin that it looked like a living skull until I entered kindergarten. but in that period my parents kept trying to make my body grow even though I was very difficult to eat. Even though my parents still spoiled me. until finally my parents found someone who helped my body to develop where I was given a herbal drink, and that herbal medicine made my appetite greatly increase until finally my body began to look a little fatter.After finishing in kindergarten I continued to elementary school, the location of my elementary school is in front of my house. So I just crossed the aisle to get to my elementary school. My friends think that I am an intelligent person but I feel that I am just an ordinary person. .maybe because I often get the rank in class. From grade 1 elementary school to grade 6 I got the second rank except when I was in grade 2, I was very proud of it even though it persisted and did not improve. and my parents are also proud of it, I am very happy to see my parents’ proud smile. Because what I have done is only for my parents and my future .

After graduating elementary school I continued to junior high, my junior high school location was a little far from home so I was escorted by motorcycle by my parents. when I was in junior high was not much different from when I was in elementary school, I was grateful to still be able to survive in the top 10 in the class, especially in the 9th grade of junior high, it was an achievement that I dreamed of at that time when I managed to get first place, mevery happy and proud because my efforts and prayers were not in vain.

After graduating I went on to enter my favorite high school in Sumenep where I was accepted through the PMDK without testing there, I immediately told my parents and my parents were very happy especially my mother to shed tears andhug me.in high school I still get ranked in the top 10. God is very good to me, I’m very grateful .

During the school period I was often included in competitions especially in middle school, such as painting competitions. I did not understand why I could be included in the competition even though I thought I was not skilled in painting. I also entered other academic competitions. But from these contests, none of them succeeded, all failed. Every time I enter a race, it won’t work until the end. Even though I tried my best.

SMA has finished and I decided to take SNMPTN at PTN that I want. At first I was confused about which university I should go to and majored in what, and finally I made my choice. Long story short, the announcement of the results of the SNMPTN was announced 1 day before I had my school farewell party. and I tried to see the announcement at night, and I was shocked at that time because I was not accepted at the PTN of my choice, I cried for a long time in the room and felt very disappointed because I had much hope in this SNMPTN but the resultsnot what I want it to be.but at that time I tried to get up and keep up the spirits and finally I decided to follow the SBMPTN .I learned as much as I could to enter the state university that I wanted, but what happened, God had the will and I failed at the SBMPTN at that time. I do not feel sad because there is still another place for me to be able to enter, namely the official school. I applied to STMKG to take the initial test or SKD, and for this test I was very earnest in studying and praying as well as my parents who also helped me with their prayers even though the time was very tight for me to studybut I keep trying for it.in the handbook for the next test was not told the time of its implementation so I only focused on studying for the initial test first, the SKD test.

Long story short, by the permission of Allah and my and my parents’ efforts, I finally passed the initial test to enter the official school because at that time the announcement of the results could be seen immediately after that test, I was very happy and movedshed my tears.I thank God for helping me. After that there was an announcement that the SKB test or the next test would be carried out 2 days after the SKD test. I was very surprised because there was no preparation at all for this SKB test, moreover the location of the test place was very far from my home in Surabaya, and I had to go back to Sumenep to study because I had no material to studythere.I try as much as possible to learn by utilizing the available time even though the time is very little.

SKB test implementation has been completed and I failed the test. I felt a little sad because my parents really hoped that I could attend the official school, but God had other wishes. but that’s okay, at least I passed the initial test and saw the happy expression of my father who knew that I passed, it was a pride for me and showed people that I could even though I had failedmany times.

Because everything I had gone through and I followed finally to the final decision I chose to register at PTS in the area of ​​Sumenep namely UNIJA for the registration of the last wave. I registered online but when I wanted to register suddenly there was a notification in the WA group that registration at STIEBA MADURA had been opened. STIEBA MADURA is a newly opened campus. with confidence I decided to register at STIEBA MADURA and not register at UNIJA, because at that time my father had advised me that if the Registration for STIEBA MADURA was open this year I would have to go there. At STIEBA MADURA I took accounting courses because at that time there were only 2 study programs, namely accounting and management, and I chose between the two even though when I was in high school I was majoring in science and now stray into accounting. it doesn’t matter i can learn from the start.

As usual there are written tests and interview tests before being officially accepted at the campus.because before I had often done test questions like that so I was fluently doing written tests from STIEBA MADURA, as well as interview tests everything went smoothly. At STIEBA MADURA, at that time, the top 50 of the test scores would receive a scholarship.I pray to God and ask, at least I’m in the last place to get a scholarship, it’s okay that I get a scholarship, that’s what I expect. but what happened when the announcement of the test results, it turns out I was in the top 3, I really did not expect that. That’s really beyond my expectation, because I think there must be a lot of smarter people out there.

That day really made me very happy, surprised and grateful. I want to go home as soon as possible and tell this good news to my parents. By bringing a bouquet that was given from the campus earlier because it got the third best grade, I ran over to my parents. they are very happy, proud and grateful, especially my mother who started to shed tears because of the pleasure .

From all that I can take meaning that our struggle will not be in vain, because the results will not betray the process. I realize why I failed many times before because maybe it was not the best for me, and I believe this is definitely the best from God for me. and God showed it with something that I did not really think and it was very beautiful. Because the end will be beautiful.

The Americans go through a difficult time even after they have freed themselves from the awful slavery trade. The four documents all revolve around the life of Americans past the slavery era. They all point out the challenges that Americans are facing after their freedom. Unfortunately, they walk past one straggle, the slavery, to a new straggle of their contemporary living. The struggle is evident from family levels, political levels, and even economic levels. Generally, Americans are not happy. Slavery had brought changes to the country, which impacted their lives, even past its era. The documents bring in a theme of time, immediately after the end of the slave trade and civil war in America.

In the first document, the straggle focused on the document is majorly at the family level. Families have torn apart in the process of trying to reunite with their loved ones whom they had lost during the slave trade. It is believed that the slave trade came along with a lot of family interference. When people were sold to slavery, they had to depart their families to new places that no one knew about. But after the end of the slavery era, families were yarning for the reunion of their beloved family members who departed due to the slave trade. The expense at which the families are willing to forego just to be reunited with their loved ones is so touching. Tracing these people could be very difficult. The documents go into detail to look at an example of a family torn apart by the slave trade. Laura Spicer and the case of her husband is used as an example. The two had been separated as a result of the slave trade and the war. Laura was lucky to write to her husband now and again. Despite Laura’s effort, it was unfortunate that her husband could not respond as expected of him. The story became even more complicated when the husband finally wrote to Laura after the slavery era. In the letter, the husband states that he had already married another wife. Due to this, he urges Laura to get another husband. The documents portray the impact of the separation of this family and many other families that are not mentioned.

The second document portrays the impact of the slavery era to the farmers in America. It illustrates how peasant farmers who leased land from landlords were suffering. They struggled from day to day to meet the harsh conditions of the landlord’s requirements. The document uses an example of one of the landlord’s needs from his croppers. The landlord dictates the type of crops that he allows his croppers to cultivate. He also outlines strict conditions that must be followed for the crops to be sold once they are ready for harvest. All the harsh requirements are put in place by the landlords despite the croppers paying for leasing these pieces of land. This gives the croppers minimal control and responsibility to the land that they rent.

The third document brings in the suffering experienced by Americans past the slavery era through the nation’s political suffering. The suffering us brought about by some senators illustrates the social inequalities in the country. Despite the struggle for freedom by all the Americans, they did not benefit equally even past the slavery era. Some gained a lot while the rest of the Americans continued with their suffering. The document uses several statements used by various senators on the struggles that the nation was facing at that time. One of the senators suggests that the country could be facing another different form of struggle similar to the one they had just overcome. The only difference was that the struggle then was between the Americans themselves. The social classes were then becoming very much rooted in society. Most politicians were working to meet their wishes rather than the will of the people.

Like the other three documents, the forth one similarly brings in the suffering that the Americans went through after the slavery era and the civil war. The document talks about the challenges faced by the laborers and the industries in America. They all cry for an unfair system. They suggest that the fruits of freedom that they are supposed to enjoy are only limited to a few. Owing to that, they make several conditions in which they feel that they must be met. They hope for a better relationship in the industries and their fields of employment.

All these documents elaborate on the suffering that Americans are going through even past their independence. The founding fathers of the nation struggled to gift Americans independence. Unfortunately, the Americans continue to suffer when they are expected to rejoice for their freedom.

People use struggles or problems they face to find and accomplish their purpose or reason to live. One reason why is because the knowledge and experience of struggles makes you want to find a purpose that fixes those problems and acts as a way of inspiration. Also, struggles help make way for enjoyment and dreams can come true that way. In A Long Walk to Water, there are two characters named Salva and Nya. Nya is living in 2008 and at the end of the book, Nya is helped by the other character, Salva. Salva, is shown to be living in the late 1900s and has gone through many things during the war between North and South Sudan, in which he has to live alone. As Salva experienced the trips to different refugee camps, he wanted to help the people of Sudan, and wanted to because he had to go through many problems during the war. This acts as a way to find one’s purpose. Salva then later met his father after his father had developed an illness because of the dirty water that he had drank for many years.

Salva experienced the struggle of having to see a loved one sick like any other human being, and the chance of not seeing his father in a very long time. Jackson and Samuel are from On the Way to School, Jackson living in Kenya, and Samuel living in the Bay of Bengal in India. Samuel has a disability and can’t walk and Jackson has to walk for four hours, also dangerous, to get to school and get an education. These characters show hard work and perseverance through struggles for people to successfully find their purpose.In a Long Walk to Water and On the Way to School, Salva Dut and Jackson both show why one might experience a struggle and further want to make sure others do not have to face the same struggle if possible. This is shown when Salva is experiencing great emotion and wants to come back to Sudan later to see his father again. This shows that after people experience inspiration, it can help them set goals to find their purpose. This observation can be shown in the quote from Salva, “And an idea came to him-an idea of what he might be able to do to help the people of Sudan” (107).

He was already thinking about helping Sudanese people before seeing his father, “He had a vague idea that he would like to return to Sudan someday, to help the people who lived there” (99). In the same way, Samuel had stated that he wanted to become a doctor to help other children with disabilities like his own. His experience for his paralyses made Samuel want to do this and Samuel also states that because of this, he wants to study more. This is a form of inspiration and this shows that people can feel something and find their way to a purpose. The film states that Samuel is the only member of his family who can read, and that is including his mom, who is an adult and may not have found the same opportunities as her sons. Samuel is not that much older than his brothers and still is able to read with them not being able to. This shows that Samuel is doing this because of his disability and is also thinking about how to achieve it and hopefully it will not only stay a dream, but, come true. People may not want others to face the same struggles they have faced and that is why Samuel is becoming a doctor to help others in need and have a better experience with that disability. Samuel and Salva are both doing hard work by either keeping up and persevering or walking for a thousand miles for refugee camps to be treated horribly and then finally working hard on projects to help others. Helping others face different experiences is a way to find one’s own purpose, as it tells about one’s desire and passion. Samuel and Salva are both taking action in the present and hopefully in the future to follow their dreams and make sure that others do not have to suffer the same as themselves, this shows how powerful inspiration can be to change one’s life and future. Another way that you can find your purpose is by persevering.

In addition, going through struggles finds a purpose. Nya, from A Long Walk to Water, had to struggle every day because she had to grab water for her family, which is contaminated even after the long walk which shows that children and people all face struggles within struggles and adapt to them after a long time, making it easier for them to persevere. A struggle that Nya faces is not getting to go to school, instead, she has to get water, the struggle getting water is a struggle within the struggle of not going to school and getting an education. This is a form of hard work and struggles and is a motivation point for one to persevere and find a purpose. The book states, “The water that filled the hole was filthy, more mud than liquid” (27). After the struggles, Salva Dut, when he is older, reaches her village and makes a clean water well, which means she doesn’t have to go to the pond for the dirty water every day anymore. This is a dream come true because, “all the children will be able to go to school” (103) and she doesn’t have to be worried about the consequences of drinking the water from the pond and if she will get sick like her little sister and must go to a clinic far away. This is a dream come true because of the emotion she showed when learning that she will be able to go to school. This also helped for more opportunities for her village after a marketplace, medical clinic, and the school. Her purpose is starting to come true, and many others will if they have a good education, because after one is able to have an education people are able get jobs and money to further help one’s standard of living. Likewise, Jackson achieves having a higher education as he will be going to a boarding school next and got a grant to be a pilot and his struggles were to go on a 4-hour trip with his little sister to get to his school and to get an education. In the end it told about how Jackson got good grades, and that is a struggle because working hard when you don’t have to and Jackson didn’t care but kept on going and persevered to get a grant to achieve his purpose in life and the base was his education which also proves that Nya and many others will be able to get access to many things through a good education. Jackson is persevering and showing hard work, and that is a way to get a purpose. Jackson has already gotten his purpose and is now working on becoming a pilot, which proves that struggles help find one’s purpose. Nya and Jackson are both doing hard work by either bringing back water every day by walking for hours and then to only get filthy water back or working hard in school to achieve a dream is going to come true. Shown by Nya and Jackson, hard work can become a key factor, in which you may face even more hardship while trying to find purpose as a way to test one’s ambition.

Ultimately, people have to shed blood and tears or hard work into their work to find success or purpose. Many have to go through struggle and not want to continue, but in the end, it can be valuable to have a life that one may feel passionate about and not force one to continue the next day. People can adapt to their struggles and continue because it may not make them feel pain anymore. If people face struggles as happily as they would face dreams, people can succeed and move onto the other part of their life, after success and purpose. Success is one part of the life and struggle is another, but, if one does not complete hard work, he or she may not be able to find the success part of life. With so many people and characters starting to find their personal purpose, it shows that even with many struggles, through hard work, a person can find their purpose easily as a trade to all of the work and struggles they have gone through.

In the United States, women oftentimes have to deal with the struggles that come along with maternity. No matter a woman’s race or ethnic background, almost every woman is bound to face a disadvantage at one point, however, African American women tend to deal with greater obstacles that affect them on a larger scale.

Due to the less opportunity African American women receive with economic struggles, it is unfortunate that these women do not have equal advantage in accessing higher education such as their white counterparts. In the study, Racial/Ethnic Variations in Women’s Health: The Social Embeddedness of Health, researcher David Williams, found that the level of education for black and white mothers is a strong indicator of infant mortality rates. Because African American women have less access to higher education, their infants are at greater risk of mortality. However, the inequality becomes even more apparent when the researcher comes to find that “White women who did not complete high school have a lower infant mortality rate than Black college graduates, and the Black-White ratio for infant mortality increases with level of education: Black college graduates have an infant mortality rate that is 2.7 times the rate of their White counterparts.” (Williams, David R.). This information reflects how even after black women receive a college education, they continue to fall behind. Black women are more likely to experience much more stress as opposed to their white counterparts. This stress can be due to financial reasons, or relationships at home. However, when pregnant women undergo large amounts of stress, this can lead to negative effects on their unborn child. The article also shines light on the comparison between Hispanic and black women, both tend to earn less money than white women who fall into the same level of education. (Williams, David R.) Of course, this can play a role in the care they provide for their infants, thus affecting their chances of survival. Not only do these women face inequalities in health but they may also experience inequalities in the workplace as well, even when they are educated. Racial disparities are examined between Hispanic and Asian women due to their higher rates of pregnancy mortality when compared to white mothers, however, the high rates were even greater for black women (Williams, David). This racial disparity is a clear indication that being a woman of color comes with the burden of racism, especially in the health area.

Throughout history, reproductive autonomy has been a never-ending battle with an unacceptable society that feels entitled to have input on choices that do not concern them.

In the article, The Invisible Classes in High Stakes Reproduction, two professors named Naomi Cahn and June Carbone mention how, “the poor bear the brunt of the ideological war over contraception and abortion restrictions” (Goodwin, Michele). Unfortunately, because a large population of African American women are poor, the lack of access to contraceptive care results in high maternal rates. Contraceptive care has been a challenge to overcome, and it should not be in question when women run the risk of adding more difficulties into their life. When these women face unwanted pregnancies, their chances of upward mobility decline by providing for their child. These poor women then fall into the issues concerning intersectionality, due to the oppression they are predisposed to receive. In the article, readers can recognize the difference between the criminal punishment of a black mother compared to a white mother. When a black mother named Shanesha Taylor, left her children in a car while attending a job interview, she was immediately arrested and prosecutors were extremely stubborn in refusing to drop the charges. Her arrest was done without compassion, and authorities had failed to realize that she was only trying to build a better life for her family. On the other hand, a white mother received sympathy after driving away and forgetting her infant on the roof of her car while being under the influence of drugs, after putting the infant’s life in great danger, this woman only received probation (Goodwin, Michele). Shanesha Taylor is just one of the many examples of how black women struggle in the system. Due to racial stereotypes, black women are targeted to face unfair punishment by the state, for nonmalicious intent. This intersectionality becomes a greater problem when it comes to being a mother in a society that constantly views African Americans in a negative way. Unfortunately, when prosecutors do not deal with such cases in an equal approach, the conditions for these women only get worse over time.

Society has instilled an image of what being a mother is supposed to be like. And when women decide to handle situations involving maternity differently, they usually receive heavy judgment for their decisions. It is common for African American women to be the head of the household, this means that their family is heavily reliant on what they earn. With that being said, what happens to those women who decide that they are not ready for motherhood, or that they want to become a surrogate in order to gain some extra income? Such decisions then become deemed negatively, and the judgment they receive by society tears women down. African American people are already at a disadvantage in the eyes of the law, however black women are bound to receive additional disadvantage when maternity is involved. In the article, The Bad Mother: Stigma, Abortion, and Surrogacy, researcher Paula Abraham examines how stigma affects women, “It argues that evidence of stigma is relevant to determining whether laws regulating abortion or surrogacy are based on impermissible stereotyping” (Abraham, Paula). Women who choose the surrogacy or abortion path are then labeled as bad mothers because of their decisions to “abandon” their baby, or “sell” what they’re bodies are capable of producing. The article also includes the effects of social stigma, researchers Bruce Link and Jo Phelan explain, “the dominant culture acts to label and stereotype undesirable behavior or characteristics and these actions lead to isolation and status loss or discrimination for those identified as ‘other’” (Abraham, Paula). As mentioned before, African American women tend to struggle the most in the economic field, therefore, society needs to realize that when a woman decides to make a choice, there is no need for additional judgment that only makes their decisions much more difficult then they have to be. There is also no need for additional discrimination towards this population, such negative attitudes only end up becoming normalized, and conditions continue to worsen more than they already have.

It is ironic how even after African American women receive a college education, they somehow continue to fall behind their counterparts. Without a doubt, I feel as if it is because of racism that continues to bring hardship in their lives. It is racism that affects them in the workplace by causing them to earn less as compared to women of other races. It also affects them when they seek medical care and the quality of treatment they receive is determined by their race. Additionally, these women are further affected by the law that does not give compassion and it prevents thriving. In order to improve the conditions of disadvantaged women, policies should consider their other struggles. The emphasis on the difficulties of being a black woman does not end, therefore, such policies should focus more on equal access in education, and even then, workplaces should be educated in giving equality towards all women.