Nineteenth-century black women endured double enslavement by race and sex

Evidence

As regards hierarchies based solely on race, the social status of black women and men was the same, but sexist differentiation caused the lot of the male to be distinguished from that of the female. A measure of social equality existed between the sexes in the area of work but nowhere else. Black women and men often performed the exact same tasks in agricultural labor, but even in that area black women could not rise to leadership positions. Outside the work arena, in day-to-day life, female slaves were treated differently from male slaves and were in some instances the subordinates of male slaves. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 150 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

When I began the research for Ain’t I A Woman, my primary intent was to document the impact of sexism on the social status of black women. I wanted to provide concrete evidence to refute the arguments of antifeminists who so loudly proclaimed that black women were not victims of sexist oppression and were not in need of liberation. As the work progressed, I became increasingly aware that I could arrive at a thorough understanding of the black female experience and our relationship to society as a whole only by examining both the politics of racism and sexism from a feminist perspective. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 47 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Colonial nonintervention in women’s customs mirrored the metropole’s denial of women’s rights; The women-and-blacks analogy erased black women by equating women with whites; Understanding black women’s status requires analyzing race and sex together (+19 more)

Related

• Nineteenth century black women were the most sexist-oppressed female group in America (similarity 0.94)
• Black women suffered quadruple exploitation as laborers, domestic workers, breeders, and rape targets (similarity 0.90)
• Understanding black women’s status requires analyzing race and sex together (similarity 0.90)
• Black women under slavery were doubly enslaved by race and sex (similarity 0.90)
• Enslaved black women shared racial status with men but faced sexist subordination (similarity 0.89)
• Nineteenth century black women suffered most from sexism yet lacked collective power (similarity 0.89)
• Sexism made the black female slave’s lot harsher than the male’s (similarity 0.88)
• Black women experienced sexist oppression distinct from racism (similarity 0.88)
• Sexism and racism were twin oppressive forces in black women’s slave experience (similarity 0.87)
• Sexism and racism together intensified black women’s oppression beyond black men’s. (similarity 0.87)
• Black slave women were both accomplices in and victims of patriarchy (similarity 0.87)
• Black women bore the brunt of slave-ship terror because they could not retaliate (similarity 0.87)
• Black men asserted dominance over women to compensate for losing to white men (similarity 0.87)
• Sexual exploitation dehumanized black women more than labor exploitation did (similarity 0.86)
• The women-and-blacks analogy erased black women by equating women with whites (similarity 0.86)

Broader Connections

• Sexism and racism were twin oppressive forces in black women’s slave experience #corroborates (0.90)
• Enslaved black women shared racial status with men but faced sexist subordination #corroborates (0.85) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 150
• Black women experienced sexist oppression distinct from racism #corroborates (0.75) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 47
• Black women suffered quadruple exploitation as laborers, domestic workers, breeders, and rape targets #expands (0.70)
• Nineteenth century black women were the most sexist-oppressed female group in America #expands (0.60)
• Black slave women were both accomplices in and victims of patriarchy #qualifies (0.60)
• Black slave gender roles replicated white patriarchal divisions of labor #expands (0.60) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 144
• Enslaved black men held higher status than black women under slavery #corroborates (0.55)