Black Female Sexuality in Passing by Deborah E. McDowell

In Deborah E. McDowell’s essay Black Female Sexuality in Passing she writes about the sexual repression of women seen in Nella Larsen‘s writings during the Harlem Renaissance, where black women had difficulty expressing their sexuality. In her essay, she writes about topics affecting the sexuality of women such as, religion, marriage, and male dominated societies. In Toni Morrison’s short story, â€Å"Recitatif† there are examples of women who struggle to express their sexuality. The people in society judge women based off their appearance, and society holds back women from expressing themselves due to society wanting them to dress/act a certain way. Religion is one point McDowell brings forth in her essay, during the Jazz era she stated†¦show more content†¦In addition, Twyla stated that she was taller than any man showing how important God was. Roberta’s mother looked down upon Twyla and her mother, represents God looking down upon Marry who is not pure because of her expressing her sexuality/appearance/stripper. In this instance, we could see that Marry was the â€Å"new† woman, while Roberta’s mother was the old conservative type that looks down upon these â€Å"new† women. Although Marry was expressing her sexuality, she Toni Morrison portrayed her with traits such as irresponsibility and rudeness. When she groaned through the Sermon this was disrespect to God. In McDowell’s essay, she also explains how Black women have a loss of status when expressing their sexuality. Marry and Roberta’s mother lost their status when their children were sent to St Bonny’s orphanage. Since Marry is a stripper it can be said that she lost her child due to her expressing her sexuality for money, further showing irresponsibility. Marry was not able to be a mother for her child, and during the Harlem Renaissance a mother us ually stayed at home and raised the children, while the father worked. In this case, we know a mother’s instinctive nature is to nurture and take care of their child, but her child along with Roberta ended up in an orphanage. Twyla felt liked she was dump and abandoned because she did not fit in at the orphanage because she did have a mother. Feeling resentment to their mother, we can see thatShow MoreRelatedQuicksand By Nella Larsen1323 Words   |  6 Pagesissues- race and sex. Even though there are many human character antagonists that play a significant role in the novel and in the story of Helga Crane, such as her friends, coworkers, relatives, and ultimately even her own children, her race and her sexuality become Helga’s biggest challenges. These two taxing antagonists appear throughout the novel in many subtle forms. It becomes obvious that racial confusion and sexual repression are a substantial source of Helga’s apprehensions and eventually leadRead M oreCharacter Analysis of Helga Crane in Nella Larsen ´s Quicksand2961 Words   |  12 Pagesthe cabaret, black women of the early twentieth century repressed their sexual desires so that white America would perceive them as respectable. In its fight for equality, the black social elite wanted women to emulate the conventions of mainstream society. Maintaining a good image was intended not only to produce change within the race, but also to combat white stereotypes that caused discrimination against black people. Thus, described as primitive and promiscuous since slavery, black women hid theirRead MoreHistory5499 Words   |  22 Pagesthat includes all African Americans, regardless of their location, who participated in this cultural revolution. Followers of the New Negro dicta, which emphasized blacks’ inclusion in and empowerment by American society, were undeniably spread throughout the nation, and most major cities had pockets of the African-American elite that W. E. B . Du Bois dubbed the ‘‘Talented Tenth.’’ Nevertheless, New York City was, arguably, the most crucial site of this movement’s development and Harlem was its nexus