Sojourner Truth is one of the most accomplished women and prominent figures in the history of the African Americans. She is a woman who stood out against odds during her era. She serves a source of inspiration for many women in the present and during the 1960s and the 1970s where her famous speech “Ar’n’t I a Woman?” was applied as a point of reference. The speech was a source of solidarity for many women activists. Her speech was a reminder to everyone on the importance of coming up together and fighting for the liberation of women. She was keen on reminding women that solidarity was needed in order to liberate women despite the race, economic and social status or academic achievements. It is therefore important to evaluate her achievements and her contribution to the liberation of women and how her speech has contributed to the growth of women’s rights. Her life must have contributed a lot to her views and her outspoken nature. Her life as a slave and born to African parents has a huge effect on who she became later on in life and shaped her believes on the rights of women.
Truth spent the early days of her life in the plantations where she lived with her African parents. She lived in the Dumont plantation. She lived her early life as a slave and this is what exposed her to the difficulties faced by women of different races. She has a deep African Cultural retention from her African culture evident in how she delivers her speech in a narrative form. She is a good speaker who is able to connect with her speakers through proper choice of words. This is a common African trait where they have a history of storytelling and are good orators. This comes out clear in the way she delivers her speech and connects with the audience. Her speech moves many and enables them to view her point of view from her own experiences. She is a very charismatic woman who had verbal gifts making her a very powerful public speaker. She is proud of her heritage as she speaks about her African roots in one of her speeches. This makes her a proud woman who is not ashamed of her cultural roots. She recalls her encounter with John Dumont who owned the plantation she lived in with her parents. She describes the sexual ordeal (Roop and Connie 78).
During her Speech And ain't I a woman? Sojourner Truth brings out basic arguments on how women should come together and fight for their rights. Here she provides numerous examples on why she is a woman and has encountered anything a man encounters.
She is not in support of the view of many who believe that women are the weaker gender. She claims during the opening part of her speech that a woman needs to be helped to board a carriage, helped to jump over a ditch. However, she does not believe in this as she uses herself as an example to point out that women can do without the help of a man. In her life, she has never been assisted to climb a carriage or jump over a ditch. Yet she is a woman. She is in a position to do all these things without the assistance of a man. This shows that women are not as helpless as they are portrayed by the society. This serves as a good example on the need for equal treatment for both women and men because they do not have fewer abilities to tackle issues.
The other part of her speech gives examples on how she has been able to bear with all the difficult work and even preserved being lashed. This does not make her any weaker than other men. She is a strong woman who has gone through the ordeals men go through. She keeps repeating the question ain’t I a woman to emphasize on her points when it comes to her life and the things she has faced.
Women slaves worked as much as their male counterparts in the plantations did. They were not exempted from working similar hours as those of men because they are weaker than men are. She says that she worked in plantations and she eats as much as any other man out there does. This is a strong argument from her part as she makes it clear that if a woman can spend as much time as a man in the fields, then why is she given few or no rights? Race should not be between women and their desire to fight for their rights. She claims that color does not have a role when it comes to the discrimination women go through. Color is only a superficial issue and people need to look beyond their roles and recognize their sufferings as similar (Rockwell & Gregory 98)
She goes on to argue why women need to be accorded equal rights as the men in the society. There are some cases where men or women with power are those with high intellectual abilities. However, she does not recognize this as a good enough reason to render one as inferior to another person. Academic intellect and the abilities of a person to grasp academic content differ and should not be used as a measure of the rights of an individual. She uses the ability of a cup to hold certain amount of fluids reckoning that each cup has different capacities, but this does not make it less a cup. This shows that everyone has a crucial role and plays it in their unique way depending on their abilities. Therefore, every woman whether educated or not should stand up for the fight of women’s rights and not feel inclined to keep quiet because she is not educated. This is a reflection of her life. She was not a very educated lad, but she is able to stand up for the women and speak on their behalf. This shows that the fight for women’s rights is not a fight for those with academic qualifications, but for every woman who has the interest of other women at heart.
The issue of religion comes out clearly in her speech. She does not believe in the argument used by many men when they say that Christ is not a woman. She asks, the audience, where Christ came from. Here she wants to explore the role of women in brining men into the world and raising them up. Those who argue that men are superior because Christ is not a woman misunderstand the religious concept because Christ came from a woman and he did not discriminate against his mother. This is not an issue to use to base an argument on the rights of women because both came from God. She claims that this does not have a role in the issue of women’s’ rights. She uses the example of Eve and her role in turning the whole world upside down by convincing Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. The collaborative actions of women can therefore, do a lot more in changing their lives. She uses this figuratively to show women that if they unite and come together by putting their differences aside, they can achieve great things. The issue of the first woman created by God and her role in changing the world is an important point for men and she tells them that they had better give the women a chance to exercise their freedom. She finishes her speech by saying that she has exhausted what she wanted to tell the woman. The use of religious arguments in her last part of the Ain’t I a Woman? Speech is of great significance as it relates to her spiritual life. She is a committed Christian and she goes to different places preaching to people. She uses the religious teachings and the roles of women in the bible to demonstrate that women should not be seen as inferior beings yet they had active roles in the bible.
The main points of her speech focus on how women need to take an active role in the fight for their rights. She is not afraid to point out some of the major events in her life that relate to the issue of women rights .She is courageous and outspoken. Her role in the fight for women’s rights is undeniable as she puts a lot of focus on convincing women that standing united is the only way they can achieve their goals. To her, there is no difference between a wealthy woman and a poor woman in a society where male dominance is the order of the day. Wealth does not free women from oppression and social injustices.
Her arguments in the speech helps women relate to some of the minor things they do independently and then put them into a larger context. Women are not as weak as men make them believe considering the number of women who play the same role as men. This is particularly applicable in the slave plantations where both men and women go through similar ordeals and the only thing that differentiates them is a person’s ability to overcome the challenges they face (Leebrick 90)
Her speech has different points of references used by women in the world as they fight for their rights. The speech does not encourage discrimination, but serves as an encouragement to women who go through difficulties and fight to establish themselves in a male dominated society. She refers to many issues in life where men are seen as superior, but she as a woman has managed to go through. Her work in the plantation, her ability to depend on her own energy to jump over ditches and climb carriages shows that women are not weak. They have equal potential as men and should be given a chance to enjoy equal rights. Education is only an additional tool for women to use in the fight for equality, but it should not be used to discriminate against those who have no education. She is not well educated, but this does not render her helpless or unable to convince people through her speech. Her contributions to women’s fight for freedom do not only lie on the speech, but on her actions and her nature that can be attributed to her early life and her spiritual commitment (Rockwell and Gregory 89). She uses her life as an example to convince women that they are in a good position to do everything they desire without any constraints coming their way. However, one notes that the focus of her speech was on unity among women. Women should overcome their differences, overlook the diversities in life, and engage in a united front to fight for their rights. This was a common practice in the 1960s and 1970s when women appreciated her words and used them to prove solidarity for woman hood and what they wanted to achieve.
Works Cited
Leebrick, Kristal. Sojourner Truth. Mankato, Minn.: Bridgestone Books, 2002. Print.
Rockwell, Anne F., and R. Gregory Christie. Only passing through: the story of Sojourner Truth. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, :, 2000. Print.
Roop, Peter, and Connie Roop. Sojourner Truth. New York: Scholastic, 2002. Print.
