Rhetorical Reading Response: “Aint I A woman”


           

In the persuasive speech “Aint I a woman” (1851), Sojourner Truth entails on the rights women should have to be deemed equal in comparison to the rights of men. Truth uses her personal experiences to convey that woman are capable of doing anything a man can do. The purpose of “Aint I a woman” was to persuade others in order to reach the goal of men and women being treated equally and allowed equal rights. The intended audience was the attendees of the women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio.

 I really enjoyed the speech giving by Truth, it gave me a sense of how difficult it was for women during that time frame. In Truth’s speech I particularly enjoyed the way she countered the arguments of the men at the conference. The argument that stood out the most was when she explained all the things that she was expected to do in her life that were looked at as duties for men. She argues that she is a woman but still was expected to do the same things as men. It almost seems as if she was arguing that she is a woman that can do all things men can and more, particularly when she talks about bearing children. Truth being not only a woman, but a black woman endured some harsh times, but after reading this speech it shows how strong she is as a person and is very passionate about the rights for not only blacks but women as well.

 The article, "Ain't I A Woman", talks about women's rights and the reality that women have gone through and experienced the same thing men have. While this is the case, women in their modern-day society were treated with an unequal level of respect compared to males. For example, "Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!" (Gage, paragraph 7) This quote shows how many generalizations were made about women to make the seem inferior to that of a male. Sojouner Truth then states that although she is a woman, she has done and endured the same hardship as a man despite the common generalizations. According to the text, "I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And a’n’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it— and bear de lash as well! And a’n’t I a woman!" (Gage, paragraph 7) This explains how Truth has struggled through slavery and even though she is a woman, she can take what a man can take and do what a man can do. All in all, this article is Truth's speech (given at the Women's Right Convention in 1851) which shows her struggle through slavery and her experience as a woman driving through the same hardships and burdens that are labeled as a man’s job.
 Work Cited
Truth, Sojourner. "Ain't I a Woman?." Civil Rights and Conflict in the United States: Selected Speeches. Lit2Go Edition. 1851. Web. <http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpadsolo/readwrite/7317246/Home#/launchpad/item/bsi__D0F47A8D__D83F__438F__AA63__932F9FD647AC?mode=Preview&includeDiscussion=False&renderFNE=True&renderIn=fne>


          

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