Voice in Literature

The marginalization of African American women is a constant theme within society that

strips black women of their voice. Their voice to share their thoughts, their concerns, their

experiences and their beliefs. The concept of voice is the ability to express one’s feelings and

views, but boundaries are consistently being placed on African American women as to what is

considered ‘acceptable’ without succumbing to the stereotype of a ‘Mad Black Woman’. I have

been able to conquer my fears of sharing my voice by reading from authors who have done just

that. I have developed an understanding that writing is more than just a way for the writer to

express their feelings, but also to provide a connection to another person who may have those

same fears, experiences, etc. In my writings, I try to incorporate a piece of my identity that may

or may not relate to another.

I developed this concept of using writing to help connect to other readers, after analyzing

one of my favorite Shakespearean work’s Once and Future King. The development of the main

character, King Arthur, from an inquisitive child to a problem solving ruler helped me during my

journey towards self discovery. I am amazed to see that despite time, race, ethnicity, gender and

other differences, I am still able to relate to the text and develop as a writer. I wish to use my

voice to have this same effect on readers.

Despite my ability to connect with many books, I do believe that there are many issues

within these types of literature. Stereotypes are present that misrepresent many genders, cultures

and ethnicities. Instead of educating others on proper conduct when interacting with cultures that

one may not represent or know much about, throughout literature we see that many minorities

are generalized in a negative way. These stereotypes affect students at a young age. I noticed this

after re-reading one of my favorite children’s books, The Berenstain Bears, and seeing how
Mama was seen as the mean, overbearing house-wife, while Papa was the fun dad that was

clueless to the rights and wrongs when raising the kids. These stereotypes can influence children

to believe that the job of a mother is to only be strict with little room for fun. Savitt agrees that,

“women are kept innocent and ignorant, are protected from all that may threaten the sanctity and

purity of what the world (male), wants a women to be. Anything that punctures the woman’s

stereotype also invades the male’s sacred territory.” In my opinion, The Berenstain Bears, would

have better educated children by showing co-parenting and not just Mama doing all of the work.

This has influenced me to make certain my writings defy stereotype so that I can better educate

society on how powerful women, african americans, latinx other groups are.