American Literature

Man is a social being and with this lay the very foundations of the formation of a society based on how man views his needs as catered by the world around him. Man moves according to the responses made the social factors which he interacts with. Long before the world has learned to look beyond physical appearance and orientation racism, heterosexism and black sexuality has made a large barrier over social functions and meanings. Gender and race affected the allocation of rights, roles and privileges of a man and a woman in the society. It is for this matter that a man is considered distinctly separate from a woman, much more if skin color and sexual preferences are given focus. Black political agenda has been the course of most advocates for equality thus, the creation of literary masterpieces that paved the way top understanding the real essence of eradicating social barriers. Indeed, our own interpretations of the things around us affect how we respond to the world and how the world reacts in return.

Patricia Hill Collins has creatively infused in her book entitled Prisons for our Bodies, Closets for our Minds Racism, Heterosexism, and Black Sexuality explode the various factors contributing to the oppression of African Americans. She looked critically on how class, race and gender redefined the lives of the blacks. She provided an intensive analysis of whatever it was that prevented the society from seeing how the African American women become targets of certain policies on social welfare and how the African American men were unjustly incarcerated.

Collins was able to tackle both the issues on racism and gender sensitivity by carefully exposing the different privileges and limitations set to African American men and women.

In a general view, Collins made use of the book to advocate for the liberation of the blacks suggesting ways on how to challenge sexism, racism and homophobia. By observing her own communities and the society she belongs at large, the author Collins emphasized the need for the African Americans to search for avenues in order for them to freely express themselves and share their stories and experiences on the idea of racism, homophobia and racism. Collins argues that the birth of liberation for the blacks has been realized yet the battle against discrimination is yet infant and fresh. Thus, Collins disagrees with the societys act of combining femininity with submissiveness along with financial dependence and masculinity with wealth.

Now that legalized racism is behind us, she argues, more subtle forms of racism remain as its legacy, both externally imposed upon and internally recreated by Black communities. She uses as evidence not only the statistical findings of social science (the high proportion of incarcerated young Black men, the dwindling resources of inner city schools) but also the ambiguous testimony of film and television, which reflects us back to ourselves while at the same time expressing ruling interests that distort the common good. On the other hand, she notes a tendency in Black political theory to abstract from issues of gender and sexuality, a striking example of which is the hostility of African American churches to homosexuality. (Grosholz, p. 12)
The idea that society dictates how men are able to acquire a more comfortable life than women is indeed harmful stressing not just the womans weakness but also her deprivation of good life because of her physiological make up. Collins was right when she advocated for

freedom of the African Americans from the bondages of cruel racism and sexism. The issue on race may be very evident in the society where Collins belonged but the concern on sexism is flourishing and threatening the world at large. It is to this point that women found their way out of inferiority complex from men. History has shown the transformation from subtle liberation to complete freedom as women becomes an integral part of every endeavor where men are expected to succeed alone. Collins purports personal character should weigh more than the value of achievement. It is in this light that we should begin to see the value of good virtues and personality enhancement beyond material accomplishments. What is the use of a man of wealth and luxury if his happiness is rotten with pride and social skills deficiency

On the other hand, Gloria Naylor has magnificently woven the lives of her women characters that lived in one community. Theresa, Lorraine, Cora Lee, Mattie Michael, Luciela Turner, Mae Johnson and Melanie brown make up the short novel entitled the Women of Brewster Place. Naylor projected the characters as soft-centered, easily pleased, hard-edged and brutally demanding. People who lived in Brewster Place are all products of migration from the South and the Mediterranean. Naylors story revolved around the concept of how a community is built by people of different origins and how they have transformed Brewsters Place into a place they could call their home. Naylor further fused into the story how generations come to blend at one point in life and what happens if people of different orientations are posed to live together. The story went beyond the lives of each character combining them altogether to stress the significance of personal connections. As one individual finds comfort from the other, Brewsters Place was never a paradise for the residents but it was enough to mold their dreams and hopes for a good life.

In the lines The young black woman and the old yellow woman sat in the kitchen for hours, blending their lives so that what lay behind one and ahead of the other became indistinguishable it was clear how Naylor depicted the vanishing of individual differences as residents represented by the old yellow woman and the young black woman as they become one.

The two views on racism, heterosexism and black sexuality focused mainly on the lives of the African Americans. Collins tackled the importance of eradicating the barriers for social progress which are mainly sexism, homophobia and racism. She suggested for the strength to fight these issues and begin enjoying freedom as destined every man. On the other hand, Naylors emphasis on migration was an issue during the early African American times which depicted how these people scoured for paradise and freedom. Both authors were able to instill the importance of accepting others without giving too much emphasis on how different they might look and believe. The characters in Naylors masterpiece were separated by skin color, age and class yet in the end they found each other their own comforting shields against lifes struggles within the Brewsters Place.

Indeed, a perfect society is within the grasp of each and every one of us as we judge not others by appearance, age and personality. The real essence of living is being in harmony with the world around us particularly the people whom we share it with. Wealth and comfort does not really matter in the end Whats important is that we lived our lives to the best that we can because we looked past race, gender and economic status. Thus, we can say that living is contributing to a society that leads us to the real meaning of life.