My Body Is Not For Your Use!

For women, freedom had a specific meaning: freedom from the degrading, demeaning and perverse behaviors of their masters. For they had endured bondage in more ways than men, like men they were treated less than human, worked the same fields and bent over backwards for their masters. However, as women they were subjected to reproduce the slave population. The governments prohibited the slave trade in the 17th century but since the South’s economy depended almost solely on slave labor women were responsible for the natural increase for its bonded labor. “For women were not only whipped and mutilated, they were also raped,” they carried a much heavier burden than men.

Rape is a sexual assault against a person without their consent; usually victims of rape are severely traumatized and sometimes have difficulty functioning as they did prior to the assault. Rape is a sick an unjust action that destroy a person’s soul and transforms the mind. The rapist takes control over not only the victim’s body but also their mind. The slave owner’s preyed on the women like predator and stole their essence. From there on many of the victims were left feeling empty as if their souls were taken from their bodies. These horrific acts were committed merely to “satisfy the erotic pleasures of their masters” as well as to reproduce. Most of their identities were captured in their master’s opinions that viewed them as property and treated them as such.

When humans are viewed as property they are almost always belittles by their “owner”. After reading the chapter, I couldn’t help but to think of the many women around the world that are sold as sex slaves. Surprisingly, most girls are sold by their “owners”, their fathers and mothers because their families are very poor. Some of these girls have yet to hit puberty, nonetheless, men with disgusting fetishes buy young girls and reduce them to less than human. The slaves are force to sleep with over 20 men a day, are constantly infected with disease and are abused. Many of the girls die very young due to the harsh lifestyle. The female body should not be used for the erotic and sick pleasures of men. 

My question is: when will the degradation of the female body stop?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/etc/excerpt_hi.html

Shall I Conform Just Like the Irish?

Many Irishmen immigrated to America seeking a better life as well as a place to call home. Moreover, Irishmen where looking for a place for acceptance since in their homeland they were oppressed by the British.  The journey to America was one filled with hope, once here the Irish believed that they would be liberated.  The Irish assumed that in America there was room for economic advancement and job opportunities. Nonetheless, they soon realized that the American dream was not going to come true. Once in America many Irishmen experienced exploitation and social disintegration. The Irish were stereotyped as ignorant and forced to occupy the lowest forms of employment. ”At school they allegedly emitted a “pungent odor”—the “fumes of New England rum”, after reading the passage I instantly noticed the similarities between the Irish and Middle Eastern people from places such as India, Pakistan, and Iraq.

Warfare and religious persecution has forced many Middle Easterners to migrate to America seeking a better life just like the Irish. Nonetheless, once in America many of them have been treated intolerable and accused of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001. The average America does not even know the difference between the different ethnicities in Asia. Some people automatically view people from the Middle East as a terrorist without even knowing which country they are from. Middle Easterners are ridiculed for their strong dialects, foreign garb, and their allegedly strong stench

Upward mobility was a slow steadfast road for most Irishman; through transformed identities from Irishman to Americans. To the oppressing of other races such as the Chinese and Blacks the Irish are now “accepted” by society. They have conformed after much hardship and are no longer seen as savages, many Irish- Americans are just seen as white Americans, they are no longer stigmatized. My question is what it will take for Middle Eastern Americans to be accepted by “society”, will they have to conform like the Irish?