You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

15 reviews

raebelanger's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

 
"Southern white women's roles in upholding and sustaining slavery form part of the much larger history of white supremacy and oppression. And through it all, they were not passive bystanders. They were co-conspirators." 
 
I'm not sure who exactly it was, but I originally saw this in a #bookstagram post. It's been, quite possibly, years since then, so I can't give credit where it's due because my memory is just not that good. But shoutout to them, because I appreciate it coming across my radar, and my finally getting around to reading it myself. 
 
This piece of nonfiction, chock full of incredible historical research, was a perspective on slavery that not only is never really considered or given air time, but actively downplayed in an attempt to protect a certain group: white women. The prevailing understanding is that, due to the patriarchy, white women were mostly passive players in the history and reality of slavery, who had to (and chose to) cede all control of their money and decisions to the men in their life. In this text, Jones-Rogers tears down that understanding. From the role women had in financial and legal decisions about enslaved people they/their family owned, to their roles in directing the work of the enslaved people that were their "property" (including decisions on when/how punishment should be meted out, and meting it themselves), to the active role in slave markets, to their fight to retain ownership and/or receive financial compensation when the outcome of the Civil War hit, this book completely reframes the facade of powerlessness that has protected the reputation of white women in connection to slavery across time. 
 
Jones-Rogers shatters the illusions of the innocence of white (mostly Southern) women, who (whether out of genuine want/gain or due to a lack of interest - or capacity - in changing societal status quo) engaged directly in violence against enslaved people, as well as profited directly (gaining their own power and financial benefit, separate from their fathers/husbands) from the owning of enslaved people and the work they were forced to do. She erases the easy excuse of patriarchy for white women’s lack of action on solidarity with enslaved peoples (and the carryover into today's lack of intersectional feminist solidarity). Working to better yourself within a society that has constraints on you does not absolve you from the shame and judgement that should come from treating others, those that our broken society puts below you, badly in order to make their progress. The lesson that crushing others to get ahead just because that’s the only path that seems available to you is not an excuse/absolution is strong in these pages. (For even further lessons on this same theme - that life is not a zero sum game - but in a more modern context, check out The Sum of Us.) 
 
I do want to note that the writing is very academic. It's a bit like reading a textbook or dissertation (so, a bit dry)... I mean, it's definitely more narratively inclined than that, but not by too much. That being said, I was very glad to also have the audiobook to help me through it. 
 
To close, the overall picture Jones-Rogers presents within isn't new, but this new perspective she delves into was deeply researched, well presented, educational and eye-opening (in a reframing-what-you-thought-you-knew sort of way).The blurb about this book ends with "By examining the economically entangled lives of enslaved people and slave-owning women, Jones-Rogers presents a narrative that forces us to rethink the economics and social conventions of slaveholding America." and I really couldn't give a better summary, nor a better reason to recommend reading it. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

glumpanda's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

princxporkchop's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

almostqualified's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tascaraudo's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Captivating read. I was regularly shocked by the contents, in the sense that I hadn't heard of nor ever thought about situations the author discussed. Particularly the discussion of wet nursing felt so surprising, yet obvious at the same time.

I am struck by how very much enslaved people were viewed as objects.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wolf013's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

djspiderman's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bootsmom3's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

adrigodebison's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

4.5

This book should be required reading. Not only does it have vast amounts of information and documentation, but it is really well written. 
(I would also suggest looking at the content warnings)
Expand filter menu Content Warnings