Harriet Jacobs" Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl brought into the public and political arena the sexual oppression of captive, black women. ... Her rational powers and will to action facilitate her efforts to find strategies for dealing with sexual harassment from her master, for maintaining family unity, and in establishing a moral code in harmony with her beliefs and situation. ... James Norcom (Flint), Jacobs presents the dilemma faced by all enslaved women: the conflict between virtuous, womanly ideals and sexual exploitation by white slave masters. ... These issues that ranged from ...

• Word Count: 1740
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Jacobs's "knowledge" has to do with "premature knowledge" of sexual harassment because of sexual exploitation of enslaved African-American women, by their white masters. The dilemma of all enslaved women was the conflict between virtuous, womanly ideals and the sexual exploitation mentioned above. ... She describes and stresses the particular ways in which slavery affected women in terms of sexual abuse and constraints on motherhood. ... By demonstrating that it was her master's sexual habits that forced her into "prematurely knowing"(Jacobs 54), Jacobs basically discredits the i...

• Word Count: 1523
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate