Truth's Truths

    In Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech "Ain't I a Woman?" the famous rights activist clearly and concisely put together a heartfelt and practical argument fighting the prejudices against women of the time. Unlike some of the other rights works that this class at looked at thus far (including the SCUM Manifesto and the Black Panther Party platform), it doesn't ask for unreasonable, drastic changes nor does it berate men as being worthless. She speaks her mind, speaks it simply, and speaks it reasonably. Out of all the Manifestos and platforms, I would agree and support hers most, since it is talking about the strength of both women and minorities rather than taking down entire political structures and monetary systems (which are both completely impractical). She brings up the issue of how, because she was a woman of a minority, she was treated as something other than a woman entirely. It was mentioned that some sources credit Truth with baring her breasts at the speech when accused of being a man due to her height and sturdy frame. In my researching this, I found that she was a part of the new Spiritualism movement - an offshoot of the Quakers - that was growing in popularity at the time (credit: http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/trut-soj.htm). Though this was in a very different era, Truth's point about how there was a great contradiction in society about how women of minorities were treated against their majority counterparts, this type of contradiction is still evident in today's society in a slightly different way. It comes in the form of the discrepancies between how the media often shows women what is expected of them (highly sexualized), and the kind of slut-shaming that persists in everyday life.