Speech- "Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth

[Ms. Knarr]

AIN'T I A WOMAN?

by Sojourner Truth

Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.

[marysiagarcia]

1. I feel like this speech is about the importance of rights. It was around the time the slaves were being freed and women suffrage was coming about and this ex-slave women is asking what about her rights?Is she not a woman as well? She is saying that women created the earth as well and they can set it right if given the chance, they just have to get the ability to do so.
2. This speech is really significant. It makes me think about a time that if I had lived in it I wouldnt have had rights. It makes me think about the struggles women and ex-slaves had, the oppression that people in our history caused. She also spurs thoughts of pride that we can turn the world right if we try to. This speech means alot to me.
My questions:
1. Why do you think Mrs. Truth mentioned having 13 children and having them all sold in slavery?
2. Do you think Sojourner Truth is excited about the racket the white men are facing?
3. What did Mrs. Truth mean about the pint and quart analoge?

[morganclyne]

1.In my opinion, the overall meaning of this speech by Sojourner Truth was to express and stress the importance of women's rights. Truth was an abolitionist who wanted to tell all people that all women had rights. Also that everyone no matter if they where white or black or male or female that they should all be treated equally. I completely agree with Marysia's response to the speech. The only literary device used in her speech would be repetition.
2.In reaction to the piece, this speech truely shows what women had to go through during the late 1800's and the obstacles they faced. I feel that this speech probably influenced many people as well as I. This speech was very brave and very respectable.
3. In response to Marysia's question number one, I think that Mrs. Truth mentioned having 13 children and having them all sold in slavery because she wanted to show that she was never able to have any rights as a woman. As a woman, one of the biggest rights you can have is to have children and be able to be a mother. Truth was trying to show people that when even have 13 children she was never able to keep or take care of any of them and that right was automatically taken away from her because she was a woman.Furthermore, do you believe that Truth's speech was directed to women of all race or ust those in the Black Community?

[alexacevedo]

1. This speech, given by Sojourner Truth in 1851 and reproduced here, is given to support both abolition and women's suffrage. Through her piece, she explains the hypocrisy of the white male, who treated with special care women of his own race, but forced brutal work upon black slave women. She at the same time explains how male supremacy is folly, citing the importance of women in Biblical times in order to prove her point. The speech is reproduced accurately in Sojourner's dialect, as to provide a faithful rendition of what was said at the convention.

2. I found this speech very moving and empowering, especially because it comes from a woman who lacked a standard academic education but had the basic honesty, morality, and fortitude that even the most intelligent of people lack. She spoke truths about the society of the period and challenged those at the convention to rethink slavery using her simple logic. Furthermore, Sojourner had an extremely likable and polite manner. Her final statement of gratitude towards the audience provides insight into the type of person she was. Because of these things, I found this speech to be a very heartfelt piece worthy of praise.

3. Answering Morgan's question, I feel the speech spoke for the gender as a whole. Proving this point, the second part of her speech explains the importance of women in society since the beginning of time, noting woman's hand in events that shaped history. Suffrage, however, brings up questions about the role of women in society. In particular, are women any different than men in their capabilities? Are any roles gender-specific?

[jimmymahoney]

1. The entire point of what Sojourner Truth is saying is that women have been taken down to being almost sub-humans, incapable of handling their own affairs and not worthy of being involved in mens affairs. She constantly repeats, "And ain't I a woman?" to show that she can do the same things that a man can, even though she isn't one.

2. I think that there is a lot of emotion put in to this speech, but it may have been delivered to the wrong audience. She is calling out men who put women down, at a women's convention. This would have been better delivered to the people she was addressing-men.

3. Taking Alex's question, I think some roles are gender-specific. But the roles that Sojourner Truth is talking about, are not. She wants to be treated the same way as a man, because she works like a man. My question is from reading this speech, would you assume that Sojourner Truth was more pro-black rights or more pro-womens rights.

[marysiagarcia]

I have to agree with Jimmy now that i think of it why did she say this at a women's convention? At the same time to answer that question I think it was meant to empower the women and to make them think about it. Alex i didnt really think of the poem as you said it but looking back i understand what you meant by the special care of white women. I don't know alot about Sojourner Truth but i don't think we can assume she lacked a standard education many slaves and ex-slaves were educated and though she spoke with a dialect i believe that alot of thought and intelligence went into this speech.

[samentwistle]

1. In my opinion I believe that the point of this speech made by Sojourner Truth, was to emphasize the idea of women's rights and suffrage and also the idea of abolition. Truth, an advocate for abolition, wanted all people to be treated equally, and like Morgan said, she wanted both male and female, white or black, to be treated equally. Finally I agree with Alex's view that Truth put emphasis on the speech, by adding biblical references.

2. I prsonally enjoyed reading this speech very much. The way Truth made all of her points were very fluid and heartfelt. By reading something of such importance in the 1800s and also of such imortance in women's suffrage, the speech was easy to read and easy to get through. Being that there was a large amount of emotion in this speech, you can tell through Truth's words that she was passionate about what she spoke about. By have this passion and drive, this speech was an easy read.

3. In responce to Jimmy's question, I believe that Truth had equal views on both the rights of women and the rights of African Americans. By being equal, she was able to target a larger audience and get her point across much more clear and percise.

My Question:
1. When Truth was speaking and took the pause where the audience member murmured "intellect," do you think that was on purpose to have audience interaction? Or she actually forgot?

[seanpalen]

1. I agree mostly with what Sam said about the speech. I see that it has strong ties to the abolition and civil rights movement. Sojourner does not only preach for women's rights but blacks as well. She points out that she is a woman as well and needs to be treated as such. She uses dialect and understandable language so that the people can understand her powerful message as well.

2. I liked the speech. It carried a powerful message of racial and gender equality, while using simple language used by the people. Sojourner does an awesome job in the speech in relating herself to the crowd and endearing them to her. After this speech it would be hard for anyone not to feel bad for her.

3. To answer Sam's question- I do think that she tried to interact with the audience at that point. I think she tried to endear herself more to them while getting them more interested at the same time. I also think that this omission leads into her next point that pure intelligence does not matter.
My Question- How do you think the women at the Women's Convention felt after their speech? Do you think they felt anything for Sojourner?

[timhoffman]

1. This speech is comparing the lack of rights of women and African-Americans; however, Sojourner Truth is angry that only the white women are getting some form of special treatment whereas most Negros were simply stepped on as they had always been. Strangely enough, by the end of the speech she no longer complains of the lack to her rights, but the lack of women's rights in general.

2. Truth's words actually moved me when I read them. Her concern for her own people, as well as a whole different people that she would never belong to, was quite inspiring.

3. Why do you think Truth turned her speech toward all women in the end, instead of concentrating on the African-American people?

[veronicapuzio]

1. I agree with Marysia's interpretation of the speech. The speech is about women's rights. I think that Sojourner Truth was trying get the point across that because she is African American she is treated different than white women. She also makes the point that she has worked so hard, and had endured many hardships but despite all she has been through, she was still not treated any differently. She also tries to say that men have more rights than women, and that should not be. In her speech, she is trying to say that men and women, black or white, should be treated equally.

2. Overall, I liked the speech very much because it was very empowering. The fact that Sojourner Truth had so much courage to stand up in front of people and give this speech makes me respect her very much. It shows that someone in the world wanted to make a difference, and they finally did. There was alot of emotion in the speech. Sojourner is almost yelling out that she just wants to be heard. Also, the speech was very easy to understand.

3. Answering Jimmy's question: I believe Truth focused her speech on women rather than all African Americans because even though African Americans were treated very poorly, if you were a woman AND African American you were treated even worse. She tried to stand up for women because she was sick of being oppressed. Women were almost at the bottom of society back then, so that is why she directed her speech specifically to women.
My (Q): What do you think would have happened if Sojourner Truth never gave this speech? Would women in our world today be viewed differently?

[dannyreilly]

I agree with Veronica in that this speech is about women's rights. But it isn't just about women, but black women expecially. She draws attention to the fact that black women are people just like everyone else. She also tied in some Catholic understanding to the speech to support her argument.

I liked the speech for many reasons. I admire the courage she showed to give the speech. I also liked her witty answers to the critics such as the man who said that Christ wasn't a woman.
(To Veronica) I Think if she never gave this speech, someone else in her situation would have.
(My Question) Looking back today, people admire her for this but do you think she took some heat for saying this speech back then?

[trevorsocarras]

I think the overall meaning of the speech was to express the power of women. I think that Sojourner Truth was saying that women can do anything that men can do. Even though physical attributes are different between genders; Sojourner Truth explained that women have just enough will power as men. If it weren’t for women as she explained, there would be no men. I absolutely agree with Sojourner Truth and must credit her metaphor on how Jesus wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for both a man and a woman. In the time period this speech was written, women were viewed somewhat less superior than men. I believe that Sojourner Truth wanted people to realize that women slaves took in as much if not more than men slaves did. They were whipped the same and sometimes more, and had to suffer through multiple child births and then see their children sold. I don’t know about anyone else, but it seems to me that women are just as tough as men are and they should be recognized and treated as equals and not look down upon.

In my personal opinion I enjoyed this speech. I thought that this speech brought out lots of emotions about the independence of women. I thought that Sojourner Truth made very valid points on how women are viewed. She used examples of women slaves and what they went through in the times of slavery. A lot of people don’t acknowledge women enough for their toughness and their will power. Even though I am a male I believe that women can do anything a man can do. Also, I liked the connection Sojourner Truth made to religion.

To answer Morgan’s question, no I don’t believe that Sojourner Truth was directing her speech towards just African-American women. Yes, she used examples of African American slaves back in the time of slavery; but as a whole I think she was directing her speech towards women in general. I think she used her examples to emphasis her claim that women can go through just as much pain as a man and more importantly, women can do anything men can do. Overall I think that Sojourner Truth made a statement in that if there were no women in the world today than there would be no world.

1.What is the significance of Sojourner Truth’s connection between women and Jesus Chirst?

[adamzaha]

1. To me this speech means that women should start to take responsibility in their world. Also she tries to prove that women are the same as men and can handle the same responsibility and beatings as them. She also tries to prove that no matter if she was a slave or not she's still a woman like anyone else. She also uses the bible as a reference to show that women have enough power to change what they want to in their world. the literary device that stood out to me was obviously dialect such as "Ain't I".

2. To me this speech was very strong and eyeopening. this speech shows that some women in that time that were Black and women had it the hardest because they had double the amount of no rights, and looked down upon twice as much. This speech shows that there were people out there that were trying to change the way things were happening. There were people that wanted equal rights for everyone but were outweighed by people that didn't. Also, this speech gave me a feeling of power and strength because of the way she wrote it.

3. Answering Trevor- The connection between Jesus and women was that Mary was Jesus' only parent and she agreed to bring him into the world no matter what.
my question- Do you think she was being too radical for her time?

[karlpreisner]

1. The overall meaning of this speech is to present to its supportive audience that everyone is created equal. Humans are humans. A slave woman is the same as a free woman. They are both woman. The narrator was noticeably a slave woman because she didn't have any proper grammar.
2. This speech stirred my thoughts about when slavery was abolished and how many people still viewed blacks as slaves and treated them terribly. It showed how hard it was for black women to get their point across at that time.
3. To answer Adam. No, she was not being too radical for her time. At that time, she needed to be radical for anyone to even open their ears to what she had to say.
Q:Who was she directing the speech to? A group of men or women? Black or white?

[thomashaldeman]

1. I think that the overall meaning of the speech was to inform people about women's rights, most specifically African American women. She wanted us to know that women are just as capable as men to do anything that they want. Sojourner Truth put out a strong message in this speech that women need to take charge of their own lives.
2. Overall, I really enjoyed this speech. Its message is crystal clear. Sojourner Truth came right out and boldly stated that women can do anything that men can, and that they need to be in control of their own lives, and I thought that she made it very clear.
3. To answer Karl's question, I think that this speech was directed towards people in general. The author wanted everyone to be aware of this problem, so that others wouldn't look at women, mainly African American women, as "inferior."
My Question: Do you think that this speech had a major effect on the way women, especially African American women were treated?