RESISTANCE AGAINST BLACK WOMEN’S OPPRESSION
SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER IN APRIL
SINCLAIR’S COFFEE WILL MAKE YOU BLACK
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra Degree
in English Letters
By
HENRICA ANGELIA INDRIAWATI SUMARNO
Student Number: 074214041
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
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RESISTANCE AGAINST BLACK WOMEN’S OPPRESSION
SEEN THROUGH THE MAIN CHARACTER IN APRIL
SINCLAIR’S COFFEE WILL MAKE YOU BLACK
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra Degree
in English Letters
By
HENRICA ANGELIA INDRIAWATI SUMARNO
Student Number: 074214041
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
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PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Henrica Angelia Indriawati Sumarno
NIM : 074214041
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
Resistance against Black Women’s Oppression Seen through the Main Character in April Sinclair’s Coffee Will Make You Black
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media yang lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal 12 Oktober 2011 Yang menyatakan,
Henrica Angelia Indriawati Sumarno
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deepest gratitude goes to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum. for her patience to guide me during thesis writing. I am also grateful to Maria Ananta Tri Suryandari S.S., M.Ed. for her kindness to read and examine the thesis. I could not get any single word to express my gratitude to all of my lecturers in English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University who had shared their knowledge in classes.
I am also thankful to Miss Dewi for her kindness to lend me “books of truth” in which I got useful sources. I probably could not continue this thesis without her “home library”. Thank you to Tata for helping me in the beginning of my research and Adi Prasatya for his precious time and thought he shared for this thesis. I am also grateful to Irene Ossi for her time and patience to edit my “master piece”. Thank you so much for your precious advices guys!
Thank you for endless support from my dad and mama, my friends: Iyin, Sylvia Puput, Nciez Driastiwi, Pungky Widyastuti, Denty, Sri Ruth, Helen Larasati, Vina Bieber, Stefani Dhea, Mustika, Azizah Nurul, and my little sister Valentina.
Yogyakarta, October 2011
Henrica Angelia Indriawati Sumarno
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………... i
APPROVAL PAGE ………... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ………... iii
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ……….... iv
DEDICATION PAGE ………... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………... vii
ABSTRACT ………... ix
ABSTRAK ………... x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………... 1
A.Background of the Study ………... 1
B.Problem Formulation ………... 4
C.Objectives of the Study ………... 4
D.Definitions of Terms ………... 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………... 7
A. Review of Related Studies ………... 7
B.Review of Related Theories ………... 10
C. Review on the Historical Background ………... 17
D. Theoretical Framework ………... 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………... 22
A. Object of the Study ………... 22
B. Approach of the Study ………... 23
C. Method of the Study ………... 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………... 26
A. The Description of Jane Stevenson ………... 26
1. Critical ………... 30
2. Sympathetic ………... 33
3. Brave ………... 34
B. The Forms of Oppression Revealed through the Experience of Jane Stevenson ………... 36
1. Smiling Aunt Jemima ……...………... 36
2. Welfare Mother ………... 37
3. Jezebel ………..………... 39
4. Too Big Negro Girls with Nappy Hair ………... 42
C. Jean Stevenson’s Resistance Against Black Woman’s Oppression ………... 44
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CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………... 53
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ABSTRACT
HENRICA ANGELIA INDRIAWATI SUMARNO. Resistance against Black Women Oppression Seen through the Main Character in April Sinclair’s Coffee Will Make You Black. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
Oppression against black women in America existed since the period of slavery. Black women were seen as slaves who could be exploited anytime. They were forced to work in plantation and in their master’s house, and they were also forced to fulfill their masters’ sexual desire. After slavery the oppression continues to trap black women in a more systematic way. Black women were treated based on the controlling images existed in American society. These images keep black women in a subordinated place. This thesis tries to see black woman’s resistance against the oppression through Stevie as the main character in Coffee Will Make You Black.
There are three problems which are discussed in this thesis. The first point is how Stevie is characterized, the second is what forms of oppression that Stevie experiences, and the last point is how Stevie resists against the oppression.
Feminist approach is used in this study. It has a goal to see women’s experience in the past and the struggle for their future so that it will increase our appreciation toward women’s value in the world. This thesis is a library research. The writer finds the data from the books and other supported references from the articles.
From the analysis it can be concluded that Stevie is characterized as an African-American woman who is critical, sympathetic, and also brave especially when she faces the problems of controlling images against black women. In the story Stevie experienced sexual harassment and unfair treatment as the cause of the images. Aunt Jemima image shows her as a white nurse’s servant when Stevie once helped a white nurse cleaning her office. Welfare Mother image causes Stevie to get charity from a white teacher who treated her like a poor black woman. Jezebel image that shows black woman as sexually permissive made Stevie sexually harassed and raped. The standard of white woman’s beauty had forced Stevie to use bleaching cream and straighten her hair. Stevie resists the oppression through her thought and action. When she reaches her consciousness of being oppressed she assures herself to have self-respect. This self-respect is built when she can define herself as a respected black woman. Stevie changed her appearance into natural African-American look and speaks up her voice about freedom through her poem entitled “What Good”.
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ABSTRAK
HENRICA ANGELIA INDRIAWATI SUMARNO. Resistance against Black Women Oppression Seen through the Main Character in April Sinclair’s Coffee Will Make You Black. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Tekanan terhadap wanita kulit hitam di Amerika terjadi sejak masa perbudakan. Pada masa ini wanita kulit hitam dianggap sebagai budak yang bisa diekploitasi dengan mudah. Mereka dipaksa bekerja di perkebunan dan rumah para majikan. Mereka juga dipaksa untuk memenuhi kebutuhan seksual para majikan. Setelah masa perbudakan berakhir, tekanan yang dialami oleh wanita kulit hitam berlanjut. Tekanan ini lebih sistematis dari sebelumnya. Tekanan ini berupa perlakuan masyarakat terhadap wanita kulit hitam. Perlakuan yang didapat berdasarkan pada citra negatif wanita kulit hitam di dalam pola pikir masyarakat. Citra ini menempatkan wanita kulit hitam pada posisi terendah di dalam strata masyarakat Amerika. Melalui tokoh utama di dalam novel Coffee Will Make You Black, skripsi ini melihat perlawanan wanita kulit hitam terhadap tekanan yang mereka alami.
Skripsi ini mempunyai tiga rumusan masalah. Yang pertama adalah bagaimana Stevie dideskripsikan, kemudian apa saja bentuk-bentuk tekanan yang dialami oleh Stevie, dan bagaimana Stevie melawan tekanan yang dia alami.
Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan feminis yang bertujuan untuk melihat pengalaman para perempuan dan perjuangan mereka untuk membangun masa depan. Pendekatan ini dapat meningkatkan apresiasi kita terhadap peran kaum perempuan. Skripsi ini menggunakan studi pustaka. Penulis mengumpulkan data yang berasal dari buku, referensi tertulis, dan artikel.
Dari hasil analisis penulis menyimpulkan bahwa Stevie dideskripsikan sebagai wanita Afrika Amerika yang kritis, simpatik, dan berani menghadapi tekanan sebagai wanita kulit hitam. Di dalam cerita Stevie mengalami pelecehan seksual dan ketidakailan sebagai akibat dari citra negatif wanita kulit hitam. Citra “Aunt Jemima” memandang Stevie sebagai pelayan wanita kulit putih di sekolahnya. Citra “Welfare Image” membuat Stevie diperlakukan sebagai orang miskin. Citra “Jezebel” yang memandang wanita kulit hitam sebagai wanita murahan membuat Stevie dilecehkan secara seksual dan diperkosa. Standar kecantikan yang mengidolakan wanita kulit putih memaksa Stevie untuk memakai krim pemutih dan meluruskan rambutnya. Perlawanan Stevie terhadap tekanan ini dapat dilihat melalui pemikiran dan tindakannya. Ia membuat dirinya menghargai diri sendiri setelah ia sadar bahwa ia ditindas. Ia menghargai diri sendiri dengan berpenampilan seperti wanita kulit hitam dan menyuarakan kebebasan dirinya melalui puisi berjudul “What Good”.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Women in Western European countries have struggled to get their voice to be heard since the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment emerged in the early 18th century was an intellectual movement period when human beings started to use their ability to reason as a solution when they encountered social problems. It was noted by Margaret L. Anderson in her book, Thinking About Women: Sociological and Feminist Perspectives, that feminist historians argued “the Age of Reason is a reference only to the reason of certain men” and at the same era “women’s work was idealized as belonging in the emotional work of the home” (1983: 241). Although women had been left out from the intellectual movement because they were considered irrational and emotional, there was a notable exception of women thinkers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Abigail Adam, or Margaret Fuller who produced earlier essays that became the roots of thought about women emancipation in 19th and 20th century. During the same period, when Mary Wollstonecraft published her essay A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792 in London and other white women started their movement to gain equal rights with white men, black women and men in America were still in the bounds of slavery.
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The idea of feminism that was revealed by some white women thinkers was considered irrelevant to black women’s lives. For black women, their past experiences in slavery brought extra burden in defining their struggles. Black women suffered from both sexist and racist treatments. Beverly Guy-Sheftall in her essay in An African-American Reader: Essays on African-American History, Culture, and Society called these burdens as “the double jeopardy” which meant that “the problems, concerns, and needs of black women are different in many ways and distinct from those of white women and black men” (2005: 294). Their thoughts would concern about the struggle for gender equality and black people liberation.
The double jeopardy as being black and being woman still bound black women, even long after the abolition of slavery. It was claimed by some feminist scholars as oppressive situation of black women. This oppression can be found in African-American women’s writings, for example Maya Angelou’s autobiography entitled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In her autobiography, the young Angelou realized that the standard of beauty accepted by her society was the feature of white woman. Her appearance as an African woman made her upset and at the same time had caused her to admire the feature of white woman,
Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blond, would take the place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten? … Because I was really white and because a cruel fairy stepmother, who was understandably jealous of my beauty, had turned me into a too-big Negro girl, with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between het teeth would hold a number-two pencil (1962: 2).
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The above passage shows that the natural black woman appearance is considered ugly by American society.
Angelou also suffered sexual abuse from Mr. Freeman, her mother’s boyfriend. She was raped in her early age and got unpleasant threat that affected her mental,
“If you scream, I’m gonna kill you. And if you tell, I’m gonna kill Bailey.” I could tell he meant what he said. I couldn’t understand why he wanted to kill my brother. Neither of us had done anything to him. And then.
Then there was the pain. A breaking and entering when even the senses are torn apart. The act of rape on an eight-year-old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can’t. The child gives, because the body can, and the main of the violator cannot (1962: 65).
These kinds of oppression also happened to the main character in Coffee Will Make You Black that was written by April Sinclair. This novel becomes the object of the study in this thesis which has topic on African-American women literature. Sinclair’s work is chosen as the object of this study because it supports the idea of black feminism that gives empowerment to black women to end any racist and sexist treatments toward all women (Hooks, 1981: 194-195). Since sexual exploitation against any women has not been banished and racism is still a powerful weapon to separate ethnic groups in this world, the existence of black women oppression is considered a relevant topic to be discussed. Through the main character’s form of resistance toward the oppression, it will teach broader society to encounter this kind of social problem.
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B. Problem Formulation
1. How is Jane Stevenson characterized?
2. What forms of oppression are revealed through the experience of Jane Stevenson in the story?
3. How does Jane Stevenson resist against the oppression?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to reveal the characterization of Jane Stevenson as the main character, and then to see the forms of oppression she experienced in the story, and lastly to identify her resistance against the oppression.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Black Women’s Oppression
Women’s oppression is defined by Maggie Humm in The Dictionary of Feminist Theory as “the experience of sexism as a system of domination” (1995: 194). For black women in America who had double burdens; as woman and African-American, the experience of sexism was influenced by historical facts of slavery. The long standing system of slavery constituted black women’s oppression which differ from other women, for example white women.
A black feminist, Patricia Hill Collins, argues that oppression for black women is based on the existence of controlling images against black women in American society (2000: 5). According to Collins the controlling images function
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as “a highly effective system of social control designed to keep African-American women in an assigned, subordinated place” (2000: 5).
There are four kinds of controlling images that become a foundation of sexist treatment against black women:
a. Smiling Aunt Jemima
This image appeared from the continuation of domestic service job for black women which is similar to slavery. Black women who work in domestic service job work very hard but get low payment (2000: 74). They are seen as “faithful, obedient domestic servant” (2000: 72) who devote their time and energy to take care of white people’s house.
b. Welfare Mother
This image appeared when there were some working class black women depended on state allowance for their income money. They are seen as lazy mothers and the cause of poverty in black family (Collins, 2000: 80),
c. Jezebel
Jezebel is an old term of whore. This image sees black women as “sexually aggressive women” (2000: 81). Jezebel rooted in slavery when most enslaved black women were abused sexually by their slave owners and slave traders. The sexual abuse against enslaved black women were not seen as the owners’ fault but, according to Bell Hooks in Ain’t I a Woman, “the women invited sexual abuse by their lack of morals” (1981: 56).
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d. Too Big Negro Girls with Nappy Hair
Prevailing standard of beauty claims that no matter how intelligent, educated, or “beautiful” a black woman may be, those black women whose features and skin color are mostly African must “git back” (2000: 89). The feature of natural African women, for example: dark skin and nappy hair (afro) is considered as ugly feature of woman. American society has prevailing standard of beauty of white woman’s feature which claims a beautiful woman supposes to has blue eyes, straight and blonde hair, white skin, etc.
2. Resistance
According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, resistance is fighting against someone or something that is attacking you (2001: 1537). In the context of black woman’s oppression resistance is considered by Collins as “Black women’s longstanding rejection of controlling images” (2000: 98). The awareness to reject controlling images appears when black women have a consciousness that there are negative sides of controlling images and they can find their self-definition as black women (2000: 97).
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A.Review of Related Studies
Some researchers used Coffee Will Make You Black as their object of study in their undergraduate theses and articles. The first researcher is Fransisca Emi Dian Kusumawati who wrote her thesis on “The Effects of the Political Events toward Jean’s Sexuality Development in April Sinclair’s Coffee Will Make You Black”. In this thesis Kusumawati proved how political events in 1960s, that were black power movement and civil right movement, affected the sexuality development of the main character Jean Stevenson (1999: x).
Kusumawati analyzed the main character Stevie, as an adolescent, someone who experienced two stages of sexuality development. The first development was considered as physical. The physical development embraced the development of the body and the genital functioning. The second development was psychological development, influenced by three external factors; family, school, and society (1999: 71-72).
Based on the political events and sexuality development analysis mentioned before, Kusumawati concluded that the political events gave two sides of effects toward Stevie’s sexual development. The first is the good effect; as the movement had begun, Stevie began to realize that she had to struggle also for her race (black) by wearing her hair in afro style and refusing to use skin bleaching offered by her mother. She realized that she had to be who she was. And then the
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bad effect; Stevie got influenced by her friends in trying sexual intercourse with her ex-boyfriend, but then she realized that she had bigger attraction on Nurse horn, a white woman (1999: 73).
The next researcher is Hirmawan Wijanarka a lecturer of English Letters Department who wrote an article entitled “Where are you going Stevie? (A Note on Sinclair’s Coffee Will Make You Black)” that was printed in periodical article, Phenomena Journal of Language and Literature. He claimed that Stevie’s struggle to find and to express her own identity as a black young girl had an implied meaning (2001: 37).
First Wijanarka discussed the matter of “color line” through black people’s perception of their own society that even black people themselves do not feel satisfied with their own existence in white-oriented society. He gave an example from the character of Mrs. Stevenson who felt embarrassed and disappointed to see her daughter’s natural appearance as black person and her family members who did not speak English well. He discussed further that it was a pity, furthermore, to know that actually this embarrassment (or disappointment) is caused by their own people to a certain extent (2001: 41).
Wijanarka underlined that Black people’s ignorance toward education is also another embarrassment. Most people do not give enough attention to their children’s education which is one of the most important things in life. He gave quotation from the novel when Mrs. Stevenson sent all of her children to school, and this invited appreciation from one black mother, Mrs. Perkins. She says to Stevie,
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“I’ve done damn near everything but steal and sell tail to keep a roof over their heads. Stay in school, I tell them. Education is something that nobody can not take away from you. …Don’t end up like me. Look like the only rest I’m gonna get will be in my grave” (Sinclair, 1994: 68).
He concluded that many black people do not care about the importance of education. These three forms of disappointment made Mrs. Stevenson, as a black woman, tried to deny her own being as a black woman living with a black tradition. She tried to put away black people’s nature and characteristics, and tended to imitate white people’s tradition (2001: 41-42).
To understand the major character thoroughly, Wijanarka assumed the readers of his article to closely understand the black American people and the major character’s community. He pointed out some important social problems such as, a tragedy after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gender roles problem, and main character’s sexuality development (her tendency for being a lesbian). As a “blind” teenager Stevie had to break down these social problems to get her freedom and self-identity (2001: 40-41).
Wijanarka argued that Stevie tried “to fulfill her inner drive, to be true to herself, to be free to make choices in her own life regardless of how society may judge her” by, one of them, being a lesbian (2001: 46). Through the main character, Wijanarka assumed that Sinclair tended to suggest black people that it would not be necessary “to alter their identity by reducing, hiding, or changing their natural characteristics and physical appearance” and “be strong!” toward all discrimination’s existence (2001: 46).
It was concluded that Stevie’s struggle to find identity as a metaphor for black people in America represented both their sorrow and their dream,
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Sinclair’s Coffee Will Make You Black is the manifestation of the striving of black souls set against complicated social and adolescent problems. One thing, however, is essentially unchanged, i.e. the search for a peaceful way for blacks to live together with whites and the rest of the human race. The main character, Jean “Stevie” Stevenson, is an embodiment, or a metaphor, of Black American’s striving for freedom and self-identity, and at the same time she is the projection of their dream (Wijanarka, 2001: 47). This study also discusses the characteristic of Jane Stevenson as the protagonist in the story. It tries to see forms of oppression that Stevie had in the story which came from her family and society. Then it has an analysis on Stevie’s resistance toward oppression she had experienced. The study uses feminist approach in which woman’s struggle becomes the main concern of the analysis.
B.Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Character is very important element in a story, especially when the writer wants to see forms of oppression happened to the main character and tries to reveal her resistance against it. According to Abrams in his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, character is a person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who is interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue – and by what they do – the action (1993: 23). According to Gill in Mastering English Literature Second Edition, a character is someone in literary work who has some sort of identity, an identity which is made up by appearance, conversation, action, name, and thoughts going on in the head (1995: 127).
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From these two theories of character, it can be concluded that a character is someone in the novel who carries identity and thoughts which can be seen through her or his appearance, dialogue, and action. Interpretations among readers about a character are various because there is no exact standard of interpretation.
The way an author creates the character through her or his thought, dialogues, and actions is called characterization. Harmon defines characterization as “the creation of imaginary persons so that they seem lifelike.” He introduces three fundamental methods of characterization:
(1) the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct EXPOSITION, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; (2) the presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader can deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions; and (3) the representation from within a CHARACTER, without comment by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self. (1996: 95)
These methods are relevant in analyzing the major character in this thesis which is identified as dynamic character. The major character has complex personality in temperament and motivation. Abram said, “such a character therefore is as difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life, and like real persons, is capable of surprising us (1993: 24)”.
Abrams gives alternative methods of characterizing. In order to establish the distinctive characteristics of the persons in a narrative, there are two methods: showing and telling. In showing (also called “the dramatic method”), the author presents the characters talking and acting and leaves the readers to infer what motives and dispositions lie behind what they say and do. In telling, the author
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intervenes authoritatively in order to describe, and often to evaluate, the motives and dispositional qualities of the characters (1993: 24).
2. Theory of Black Woman’s Oppression
According to Maggie Humm in The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, women’s oppression is “the experience of sexism as a system of domination” (1995: 194). The terms ‘sexism’ and ‘system’ in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English are defined as “the belief that women are weaker, less intelligent, and less important than men” (2001: 1651) and “a group of related parts that work together as a whole for a particular purpose” (2001: 1848).
The experience of sexism for black women in America differs from other women because their historical background as slaves. They are not seen only as weaker sex than men but they are controlled by the images that were formed by the slave owners and slave traders. The existence of controlling images was constructed by slave owners and slave traders through a long period of time. The images emerged the earliest sexism toward black women. After the abolition of slavery sexist treatment against black women continues and it is based on the controlling images accepted by American society. There are four forms of controlling images that oppress black women:
a. Smiling Aunt Jemima
This image appeared from the continuation of domestic service job for black women which is similar to slavery. After slavery black people could not afford better job rather than do the domestic service job because most of them
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were unskilled and uneducated. Black women who work in domestic service job work very hard but get low payment (2000: 74). They are seen as “faithful, obedient domestic servant” (2000: 72) who devote their time and energy to take care of white people’s house.
After the abolition of slavery many black families lived in poverty. Few skilled jobs were available for black men but there were domestic service jobs such as; maids, housekeepers, and washerwomen, available for black women. Bell Hooks gives review toward this situation, “While white men could feel threatened by competition from black males for sound wage-earning jobs and use racism to exclude black men, white women were eager to surrender household chores to black female servants” (1981: 91). Since the domestic service jobs were not seen as “real work or meaningful labor” (1981:91) by white people and black men, black women were compelled to do such works in order to fulfill their family’s needs. The long standing of the profession of black women had created the smiling aunt Jemima image which supported “the racial superiority of White employers” (2000:73).
b. Welfare Mother
This image appeared when there were some working class black women depended on state allowance for their income money. They are seen as lazy mothers and the cause of poverty in black family (Collins, 2000: 80). After the World War II black women turned into jobless and poorer than before. It is known as The Great Depression. Hine and Thompson illustrate the condition on black women in this era,
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Black families were often desperate. Black women met the challenge by giving up some of what they had worked so hard for. They took lower pay and accepted worse conditions. Some returned to the despised live-in work. In some northern cities, they participated in “slave-markets” on street corner in white neighborhoods. On these corners, black women gathered each morning, and white housewives came to offer a day’s work at an absurdly low wage. Sometimes domestic workers were paid in nothing more than food and cast-off clothing (1998: 243).
However, Collins argues that black women successfully acquired basic political and economic protections from a greatly expanded social welfare state (2000: 78). The welfare controlling image is labeled black woman as a bad mother because she is portrayed as “being content to sit around and collect welfare, shunning work and passing on her bad values to her offspring” (2000: 79). This image represents black women as failed mothers who were lazy for working and “passing on her bad values to her offspring” (2000: 79). This image sees black women are the cause of their own families’ poverty.
c. Jezebel
Jezebel is an old term of whore. This image sees black women as “sexually aggressive women” (2000: 81). Jezebel rooted in slavery when most enslaved black women were abused sexually by their slave owners. The sexual abuse against enslaved black women were not seen as the owners’ fault but, according to Bell Hooks in Ain’t I a Woman, “the women invited sexual abuse by their lack of morals” (1981: 56).
This image appeared, according to Hooks, because “black women have always been seen by the white public as sexually permissive, as available and eager for the sexual assault of any man, black or white” (1981: 52) that rooted since Middle Passage and Slavery. This idea established a social hierarchy
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accepted by American society (whites and blacks) that is formulated by Hooks as, “ranked white men first, white women second, though sometimes equal to black men, who are ranked third, and black women last” (1981:52-53). Toward this social hierarchy Hooks explains in the term of sexual politics of rape that “if one white woman is raped by a black man, it is seen as more important, more significant than if thousands of black women are raped by one white man” (1981: 53). On the other hand, black women can be raped by both black and white men.
d. Too Big Negro Girls with Nappy Hair
Prevailing standard of beauty claims that no matter how intelligent, educated, or “beautiful” a black woman may be, those black women whose features and skin color are mostly African must “git back” (2000: 89). The feature of natural African women, for example: dark skin and nappy hair (afro) is considered as ugly feature of woman. American society has prevailing standard of beauty of white woman’s feature which claims a beautiful woman supposes to have blue eyes, straight and blonde hair, white skin, etc.
3. Theory of Resistance
The word “resistance” based on Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English is fighting against someone or something that is attacking you (2001: 1537). In the context of black woman’s oppression resistance is considered by Collins as “Black women’s longstanding rejection of controlling images” (2000: 98). As black women’s reaction toward oppression, Collins argues that some black women prefer to internalize the controlling images. They were forced by the situation to escape from the pain and violence of the controlling images (2000:
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93). Collins gives example from Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye. A character in that novel,11-year-old Pecola Breedlove, characterizes as an unloved and “ugly” Black girl. Collins says,
“Pecola internalizes the negative images of African-American women and believes that the absence of blue eyes is central to her ‘ugliness.’ Pecola cannot value her Blackness-she longs to be White so that she can escape the pain of being Black, female, poor, and a child” (2000: 93).
Pecola is considered a victim of oppression because her life was limited by the images and she was failed to fight for her racial identity (2000: 94). Another reaction is through black women’s resistance toward the controlling images. Collins argues that other black women prefer to reject the controlling images by replacing it with “the process of personal growth toward positive self-definition” (2000: 94). These black women are more aware on their own condition and other women’s condition of being oppressed by the images.
Collins quoted Audre Lorde’s statement, a black feminist poet, that to be a survivor means to be a watcher. Survivors generate a dual consciousness through the “watching” activity. These are the mask behavior to accept the controlling images and the behavior to “maintain independent self-definitions” (2000:97). Collins argued that by insisting on self-definition, survivors can critically question about the credibility of those possessing the power to define (the oppressor) and reject their assumption to interpret the oppressed reality (2000: 114). Through the experiences of daily life, as it is formulated by Collins, black women can “challenge to the externally defined, controlling images of African-American women and replace the negative images with the positive ones” (2000: 114).
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Collins gives example through the same Toni Morison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, but with different character. It is Claudia,
“a 10-year-old Black girl who, to the chagrin of grown-ups, destroys White dolls by tearing off their heads and who refuses to share her classmates’ admiration of light-skinned, long-haired Maureen Peal” (2000: 95).
Through this action, Claudia has growing awareness about the images that made Maureen Peal as a beautiful woman and herself as an ugly woman (2000: 95).
C.Review on the Historical Background 1. Black Women in Slave Era
African slaves were first brought to America in 1619. They arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, as the first permanent settlement in British North America. To come to America, they were sent through Middle Passage, as Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson in their book A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America defined as “the brutal ocean voyage between Africa and America” (1998: 11).
Middle passage and slavery both showed the cruelty of slave traders and owners who were white people. Enslaved black women and men suffered from physical and mental exploitation. Borrowing Hine and Thompson’s term to describe their suffering, it was called “chattel slavery” (1998: 67) in which disease, starvation, and finally mortality became the main cases because slaves were regarded as property instead of human being.
Joseph C. Miller in his essay “Africa, the Slave Trade and the Diaspora” as edited by William R. Scott and William G. Shade in a book An African-American
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Reader: Essays on African-American History, Culture, and Society, described situation in slave ships during 16th until 18th century,
Below decks, beneath securely bolted hatches, hundreds of bodies were chained in close, dark, airless proximity. Some ships had tiny bunks, really nothing more than shelves, on which slaves could recline; in others, the slaves lay side by side on the planking, rolling with the ship, bodies virtually touching, for weeks on end. The crew attempted to obscure the stench that arose from the excreta of so many human beings trapped there together by white-washing the planking and bulkheads of the slave deck with lime or with strong solutions of vinegar, or fumigated by burning sulphur, gunpowder, tar, or other noxious chemicals (2005: 45).
Above decks there were enslaved black women who were kept separately from black men. It did not mean that they would have better condition rather than those who kept below them, but it was useful for traders to get easy access to sexually harassed enslaved black women and raped them.
Rape and other kinds of sexual exploitation over centuries was a common oppression which was suffered by enslaved black women, but rarely happened to enslaved black men. Bell Hooks in her monograph Ain’t I A Woman: black Woman and Feminism gave her review that “rape was a common method torture to control black female slaves’ obedience. It had been done both in slave passage and in American colony” (1981: 18). Hooks added that African women who were pregnant during the middle passage were forced to keep their pregnancy without any nutritious food or even proper spot to give birth, “the women who survived the initial stages of pregnancy gave birth aboard ship with their bodies exposed to either the scorching sun or the freezing cold” (1981: 18).
Plantation South in the decades before the Civil War or called as the antebellum South, was the center of chattel slavery. Hine and Thompson
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described this area as “a place of gang labor, slave quarters, and bearing children that the master thought of as stock” (1998: 66). These were done for slave owners’ economic necessity as the superior group who did not even care that they had dehumanized, oppressed, and murdered thousands of human life.
2. Black Feminist Movement in 1960s
The existance of black women in the beginning of abolition movement was found in sex-segregated. Since black women have the “double jeopardy” because of their dual racial and gender identity, they have to struggle for gender equality and black liberation. In the movement against racism black women were not accepted. They made self-help organizations in early 1800s, for example: Afric-American Female Intelligence Society of Boston, the Salem, or Massachutts Female Antislavery Society (2005: 295). Guy-Sheftall in his essay “Black Feminism in the United States” stated the reason that was “because it was difficult for them to become leaders in organizations with black men or because they were denied membership in white women’s groups” (2005: 295).
The struggle of black women against the double jeopardy could be seen through some black feminists’ thoughts and acts, such as Maria W. Stewart and Sojourner Truth. In 1832, Maria W. Stewart, a free slave, delivered four public lectures in Boston. She persuaded black women in particular to break free from gender definitions and reach their fullest potential by getting formal education and carrers outside home. It was when in her lecture, as it was quoted by Guy-Sheftall, she said, “How long shall the fair daughters of Africa be compelled to bury their minds and talents beneath a load of iron pots and kettles? …Posses the spirit of
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independence…Sue for your rights and privileges” (2005: 295). Sojourner Truth in the second women’s rights convention in Salem, Ohio, in 1851 directed her remarks against the previous speaker, a clergyman who had rediculed the weakness and helplessness of women. So, it was necessary that women’s voices could not be entrusted in the vote (2005: 296).
Black women’s struggle against racism has continued in 1960s when Black Power Movement reached its peak. A black woman activist, Rosa Park, started the revolution in Montgomery when she refused to give up her seat to a white on a segregated Montgomery bus. Several black women also helped the other movements. But still, these black women got sexist treatments from black men. It was noted by Guy-Sheftall that in 1960s, some black women in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an anti racism movement, wrote a position paper on the Movement’s sexist treatment of women entitled SNCC Position Paper No. 24, “Women of the Movement”. It was done because these black women “were angered by the sexist behavior of SNCC men and came to realize that they must battle racism and gender oppression” (2005: 303). This was considered by Guy-Sheftall as the earliest manifestations of the modern women’s movement.
D. Theoretical Framework
Theory of character and characterization are used to reveal the characteristics of Jane Stevenson. The writer tries to see the character’s identity through her appearance, dialogues, thoughts, and actions in the story. Some
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comments, from other characters and experiences happened to the character, are also used to identify her characteristics.
This study also uses theory of black women’s oppression and black women’s resistance. To analyze the main character’s oppression, theory of black women’s oppression is needed because the oppression happened toward women of color is different from white women and need more specific theory related with the oppression. Theory of resistance is used to see the main character’s action to reject the oppression against her. Similar with the theory of oppression which is used in this study, the theory of resistance concerns about black women’s struggle.
Since black women oppression was influenced by slavery, it is necessary to give review on historical facts about their life and struggle in America. Eva Lennox Birch in her book Black American Women’s Writing: A Quilt of Many Colours suggested white readers who approach black American literature to understand firstly the history of black people during slavery, “to this fact white readers of black writers must constantly return, for it is the source of the gulf which lies between our history as white imperialists, and theirs as the oppressed” (1994: 13). It is almost impossible for readers to fully understand Eva Peace’s motive for killing her daughter, Plum, in Sula when readers do not even know the concept of motherhood in black society. As it had done by white readers it should also be practiced by any readers who approach African-American women literature.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A.Object of the Study
The object of the study is a novel entitled Coffee Will Make You Black which was written by April Sinclair, a black woman writer raised in Chicago’s South Side and presently living in California. It consists of 239 pages which divide into 23 chapters. The time line in this novel is a period when the Civil Rights Movement and the Second Black Renaissance Art reached their peaks in 1965-1970. The novel was published by Hyperion in 1994.
When Sinclair had just written 20 pages, she decided to give a public reading. She called a bookstore to distribute hundreds of fliers and prepare her first public reading. She volunteered herself as a reader. She gained success through the event and now the novel is well known and even L.A.’s professional theater in Los Angeles represented this novel into a play.
Coffee Will Make You Black tells about Jean Stevenson’s development in her teen-age from eleven until sixteen years old. As an innocent young girl she faced social issues in South Side of Chicago. Began with her roles in a family which obliged her to do house works, such as; washing dishes, shopping for daily needs, or cleaning the house that never happened to her brothers, and male schoolmates’ sexist attitudes that she experienced at school, she had been forced to accept the idea that manhood dominated the society.
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Born and lived as a black woman, Stevie also got racist treatment from white people. She also faced a phenomenon that numbers of black women surround her, even her mother, tried to apply white man’s standard of beauty as theirs since white and black men idealize the white women’s appearance; her fair skin, straight hair, and slim body. Through Stevie’s perspective as a speaker in the story, this novel generally portrayed black women’s life in America which mostly dominated by controlling images against black women.
B.Approach of the Study
Feminist approach is used to understand and interpret the object of the study. It assumed that most literatures presented a masculine-patriarchal view in which the role of women was less considered. A feminist critique of literature tried to reveal the importance and unique nature of women in literature.
According to Edgar V. Roberts in Writing About Literature, feminist perspective tried to analyze various literary works from the standpoint of the presentation of women. It had specific view that attempts,
“…(1) to show that writers of traditional literature have ignored women and have also transmitted misguided and prejudiced views of them, (2) to stimulate the creation of a critical milieu that reflects a balanced view of the nature and value of women, (3) to recover the works of women writers of the past times and to encourage the publication of present women writers so that the literary canon may be expanded to recognize women as thinkers and artists, and (4) to urge transformations in the language to eliminate inequities and inequalities that result from linguistics distortions (1995: 270).
In analyzing literature, the feminist critique would focus on treatments toward women characters in the works and also on the shortcoming or
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enlightenment of the author as a result of these treatments. Since feminist issued range so widely across cultural, social, political, and psychological categories, Lois Tyson in Critical Theory Today: A User – Friendly Guide underlined that “the ultimate goal of feminist criticism is to increase our understanding of women’s experience, both in the past and present, and promote our appreciation of women’s value in the world” (2006: 119).
C.Method of the Study
The writer used library research method in analyzing the literary work and writing this thesis. Source books related with the topic were read to complete the data of this thesis. Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair was used as the object of the study. There were several theory books of character and characterization, dictionaries on feminism terms, black feminist books, historical books regarding the life of black women in America, and other African-American literary criticism related to the study. Among others were; A Glossary of Literary Terms by Abrams, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory by Maggie Humm, Ain’t I A Women: black Women and Feminism by Bell Hooks, A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson, Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins, and African American Literary Criticism by Hazel Arnett Ervin.
There were some steps to do this analysis. First, the writer read the main source of this study Coffee Will Make You Black written by April Sinclair. Second, the writer collected and identified the related sources in order to get clear
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and distinct information about the novel Coffee Will Make You Black. Next, the writer analyzed the first problem formulation about the characterization of Jane Stevenson in the story using the theory of character and characterization. After that, the writer tried to analyze forms of oppression that was experienced by the main character using theory of black women’s oppression and revealed her resistance against the oppression using theory of resistance in the context of black women’s struggle. Lastly, the writer drew conclusion from these three points of analysis.
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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
In this chapter the analysis is divided into three parts. The first part discusses description of Jane Stevenson. The second part reveals Jane Stevenson’s experience of oppression. The last part sees Jane Stevenson’s resistance against the oppression.
A.The Description of Jane Stevenson
Jane Stevenson or usually called Stevie is an African-American woman. Her Mama is an African and her Daddy is an African-Indian. She is a beautiful woman base on Black’s standard of beauty. The description of her beauty can be seen when Stevie told the readers,
“I studied my reflection in the pitcher of Kool-Aid. It wasn’t like I wasn’t cute. I had dimples and my features seemed right for my face. My straightened hair was long enough to make a ponytail. My skin was the color of Cracker Jack” (1994: 4).
Another character, Mama, gave comment toward Stevie’s appearance in chapter one that she has a nice feature for a black woman. She is taller than most of the other girls and half of the boys in her class. She does not have a wide nose and big lips like her Grandma who is full-blooded African. Further more Mama likes Stevie’s high cheekbones (1994: 8).
Both of Stevie’s parents work in order to fulfill their daily needs. Her Daddy is a janitor at Children’s Hospital and her Mama is a bank teller. Gaining education at school is considered very important in her family. So, Stevie and her
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brothers; nine year-old David and six year-old Kevin are sent to school near their house in South Side of Chicago (1994: 172).
Stevie has an interest in journalistic and literature. When she was at the sixth grade of grammar school or elementary, her poem was chosen to be published in school newspaper. A year later she told her plan to “get on school newspaper and major in journalism in college and be a news reporter” (1994: 89). In high school she joined a drama club and was once acted excellently in a performance. Stevie’s good acting can be seen through other characters’ complements toward her acting. Nurse Horn said to Stevie, “and you were almost as dramatic…” and “…I was quite affected” (1994: 187). Carla gave her compliment, “Girl, you played your heart out up there on that stage” (1994: 187).
Stevie has close relations with her Mama and Grandma. Mama has big influence in Stevie’s life. Mama always tells what Stevie ought to do even though Stevie does not like her mother’s choice. The simplest example is when Mama made Daddy paint Stevie’s bedroom pink instead of blue which is Stevie’s favorite color. Stevie told the reader, “She knew blue was my favorite color” (1994: 13). Mama always reminds Stevie and the whole family not to butchering English language. Mama thought that “Good grammar is important. Like it or not, people judge you based on the way you speak” (1994: 173). Mama does not want her children especially her only daughter, Stevie, to spend their time at school with no friends. Mama wants Stevie to be accepted in school and society by showing most people’s expectation about an idealized woman that speaks good English and has polite behavior just like a white woman. Mama knows that black
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women are always judged by their color when she told her experience why none of her class mates visited her when she was sick but half of the class visited Lillie Mae when she was sick, “Lillie Mae had everything going for her. She was light enough to pass, with long, good hair and green eyes. Everybody wanted to be her friend. None of them cared whether I lived or died” (1994: 35). Speak good English and behave politely are ways which Mama did to prove that she can be part of this society.
Grandma also gives big influence toward Stevie on raising her pride as a black woman. Grandma never forces Stevie to be similar like white woman. Instead, she shows her success in business toward Stevie. Grandma built her own chicken stand, Mother Dickens’ Fried Chicken. Grandma shows her pride toward her color by keeping the sign “BLACK OWNED, BLACK OPERATED and KEEP A COOL SUMMER” (1994: 207) in her stand’s window. She also puts the picture of Dr. King and Kennedy brothers which shows hope toward these leaders. Stevie was influenced by her Grandma’s black spirit when she stated,
“Twenty years ago my grandmother was in Gainesville, Florida, cleaning toilets that she couldn’t even use. Today, she owns Mother Dickens’ Fried Chicken Stand and she’s a success … My grandmother didn’t let racism stop her, my mother didn’t let racism stop her. And I’m damn sure not going to let racism stop me, either!” (1994: 202).
Stevie was once described as a naïve girl who knew nothing about sexual problems. It was when she was 11 year-old. For example in the very beginning of the story Stevie asked about what is the word “virgin” mean in the context of sexual matter. She asked her Mama after a school mate named Michael Dunn passed her a note asking whether she is a virgin or not. Stevie asked Mama,
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“Mama, are you a virgin?” (1994: 3). When Stevie found new terms about sexual problems she asked questions such as, “Mama, what happens when you start your period?” (1994: 6), or “Somebody said that her love came down. What does that mean?” (1994: 50).
Toward Michael Dunn’s question on Stevie’s virginity, Stevie wrote her answer that was “Not exactly” (1994: 15), because Stevie assumed that the word “virgin” in Dunn’s note has the same meaning as the word virgin in “Virgin Mary”. She did not know that the word refers to someone’s experience of having sex. She was once argued with Mama about it. She said, “Mama, the dictionary said something about the word ‘virgin’ meaning pure and spotless like the Virgin Mary” (1994: 6). Stevie thought that she was not really that virgin as a Virgin Mary because she argued that she had done ‘few things’ in the past. Her naïve thoughts reveals in chapter two when she tells the reader about ‘few things’ she did in the past, “I admitted remembering the time I picked some cherries off some people’s tree without asking, and other stuff along those lines” (1994: 15-16). Because of this behavior Stevie becomes a victim of sexual harassment that was done by Yusef Brown. Further discussion about sexual harassment is written in problem formulation number two.
The description of Jane Stevenson is identified into three points; 1) Critical, 2) Sympathetic, and 3) Brave. These three points of description are related to the second and third problem formulation. Through the depiction of Stevie’s characteristics, the writer can reveal Stevie’s consciousness of being oppressed in the story and her will to resist against forms of oppression.
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1. Critical
It is mentioned before that Stevie is characterized as an educated person. Education helps her to be critical. Critical means Stevie uses her rational thought when facing problems. In this analysis the writer proves that Stevie has critical thought about the existence of controlling images against black woman and sexist treatment happen to black woman that place her and other black women in a subordinate position. She tends to make careful judgment of good and bad things of this problem. She uses her critical thoughts when dealing with the oppression against black woman. This characteristic can be seen through her thoughts as a narrator in the story and her dialogues with other characters.
Stevie’s critical thought about the controlling image against black woman can be seen in chapter six. In this chapter Mama got mad with Stevie who gave her chance to sing in chorus on Negro Independence Day to Carla Perkins. Since Mama and Stevie’s teacher, Mrs. Cunningham, stereotypes Carla Perkins as a Jezebel, Mama and Mrs. Cunningham can not see that Carla can do good things in her life. Mama and Mrs. Cunningham sees that Carla does not deserve to represent her school as singer in that chorus and Stevie has wasted her opportunity. Toward this problem Stevie states her reasonable argument, “Mama, the reason I wanted Carla to have my spot in the chorus was because I saw how bad she wanted to be in it and I knew she was a better singer than me” (1994: 61).
Since Mama and Mrs. Cunningham does not like Carla because she is considered impolite and is caused negative impact to other students, Stevie states her opinion to Mama that every one should have chance to get she or he wants.
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Stevie gives an analogy toward her argument in this problem. It is related to her poem that was published by school newspaper and her friend Terri, an African-American girl who once made friend with a white girl.
Stevie gives the first analogy about Carla’s problem with hers. It is related to her poem that was once published at school. Below is Stevie’s dialogue with Mama that shows Stevie’s argument,
“Well, what if they hadn’t published my poem because they didn’t like me, even though it was a good poem?”
“Well, that wouldn’t be fair.”
“That’s what I mean. I didn’t think it was fair to Carla…I thought for somebody like Carla being part of a crowd, being popular was everything. I didn’t know that something was missing for her, until I saw how much she wanted to be in that chorus. I wanted to see her get what she wanted” (1994: 62).
Stevie gives the second analogy related to Terri’s problem. It was when Terri had gotten to be friends with a white girl named Mary Beth. Mary Beth’s family was the last white people left on the block. Her parents never allow Mary Beth to be friends with black children. Terri was once had to hide in bushes when Mary Beth’s father’s car arrived home. Stevie sees Carla’s problem similar with Terri’s problem. Both Carla’s and Terri’s problems are black woman’s problems because they are always seen through their bad images. Stevie says,
“Mama, in a way we’re all like Carla…”
“…Well, Mary Beth’s parents won’t give Terri a chance, just because she’s colored. I don’t think it’s fair not to give people a chance, do you, Mama?” (1994: 62)
Another example is in chapter seven when Stevie attended Carla’s birthday party. One of her friends suggested sticking their arms out. This game tries to see who has the lightest skin among those African-American girls. It is
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internalized in the society that the feature of white woman is idealized. On the other hand, the feature of natural black woman, including dark skinned, is what they avoided from. When they found out the result and unfortunately Linda’s arm is the darkest, Stevie found that Linda was embarrassed and got hurt because of her skin color. Stevie thought that this activity is unnecessary and she criticizes it by saying, “Why are we doing this?” and she adds, “Do you think that it makes somebody better ‘cause her arm is lighter?” (1994: 66).
Once in the story Stevie was asked to join the Charisma. It was a prestigious social club that according to Mama, Stevie’s friend Terri, and Terri’s mother Mrs. Mathews, is a social club where “young people don’t get mixed up with the wrong crowd” (1994: 157). In Charisma, middle class and upper class black people greet. This club presents the imitation of white civil life. For example in order to internalize white woman’s appearance, black women in Charisma could not wear their hair naturally, instead they have to straighten or perm their hair.
Stevie sees Charisma differently after Terri told her a terrible fact in chapter sixteen. Roberta, a member in Charisma, was going to be avoided by all members when they attended the party in Charisma because she wore her hair in natural or Afros. Terri told Stevie the plan that “nobody should ask Roberta to dance on accounta her hair” (1994: 161), and the rest of the members planned to enjoy Roberta’s suffering when Terri said, “Roberta won’t know why everybody’s avoiding her like dog mange. It’ll be fun to see how long it takes for her to figure it out. See, Stevie, isn’t it going to be cool?” (1994: 161).
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Stevie’s critical thought judges the plan toward Roberta as “the stupidest thing I’d heard in a long time” (1994: 161). She guarantees that this act will hurt Roberta’s feeling. The author characterized Stevie’s critical thinking through Stevie’s questions to Terri. Stevie asks Terri several critical questions, such as; “what do you all have against this Roberta?” (1994: 162), “Don’t you think Roberta’s feelings will be hurt?” (1994: 162), and “why put somebody down for wearing her hair in natural?” (1994: 162). Since Terri could not provide logical answers toward Stevie’s questions, Stevie sees Charisma has a stupid system that avoided everyone’s freedom to be themselves.
2. Sympathetic
Stevie is described as a sympathetic person. It means that Stevie has the ability to understand black women’s feelings and problems when facing the oppression that against them. Stevie is a black woman who knows exactly how it feels to get sexist treatment because of the images labeled by the society. The author characterized this ability through Stevie’s thoughts and actions.
It is already mentioned before that Stevie disagrees with the idea that Roberta has to be avoided by all members of Charisma just because she wears her hair in afros. Stevie can imagine how painful it was if Stevie was her. Her sympathy toward Roberta’s suffering can be seen through her reaction. After Terri told her the plan, Stevie “was stunned and was almost burning a hole in Kevin’s cowboy shirt” (1994: 161). Furthermore, Stevie had the idea to cuss Terri (1994:
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161). These actions show Stevie’s anger toward the unfair treatment that would happen to Roberta.
The other case is in Carla’s birthday party when the girls compared their arms’ skin color. It was known that Linda is the darkest among them. Stevie found that Linda felt embarrassed of her skin color. Stevie felt sympathetic toward Linda’s feeling and expressed it by criticizing the game, “Do you think that it makes somebody better ‘cause her arm is lighter?” (1994: 66).
Stevie’s ability to understand other black women’s feeling can also be seen through her action on giving her spot to Carla in chorus on Negro Independence Day. Stevie knows “how bad she wanted to be in it” (1994: 61) and wants Carla to feel proud to represent her school even though she is seen as a Jezebel by her own teacher. Stevie shows her sympathy by suggesting Carla to have her spot.
3. Brave
The next characteristic is brave. Stevie is considered as a brave woman because she has confidence to express her thoughts. She shows her courage when defends something that she assures as the right thing. The author characterized the characteristic through Stevie’s dialogue and through her action.
The first example can be found in chapter three when she rejected her Mama’s order to buy an Ex-Lax for Daddy. She knows that if she rebels against her parents’ order she will be punished. Despite this fact, Stevie takes the risk and protest her position who always deals with housework compares to her brothers who never even close to the term ‘housework’. She said to Mama,
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It’s not fair, I’m the one who has to do everything around here just because I’m the girl. They don’t have to wash dishes, they don’t have to clean the bathroom, they don’t have to lift a finger! (1994: 23-24).
This is one example that shows her bravery. The author not only characterized Stevie’s bravery in the family but also in her society.
At school, Stevie recommended Carla to replace her in a chorus to celebrate Negro Independence Day. She states her argument in the class to Mrs. Cunningham, a kind of teacher who cannot accept students’ suggestions. She takes that risk so that Carla could join the chorus. She raised her hand and said, “I want Carla to have my spot, she is a better singer than me” (1994: 39). Toward Stevie’s interruption Mrs. Cunningham was annoyed and said that, “In the first place, nobody tells me what to do. In the second place, you don’t have a spot!” (1994: 40). After what she did, Stevie was not scared about the idea that Mrs. Cunningham was mad at her. This action shows that Stevie is brave to state her thoughts whenever it is necessary.
Another example can be found in chapter twenty three. It was told in about 1965 when Black Power movement reached its peak. The spirit of Black Power movement also affects the Afro-American club in Stevie’s high school. The members of the club held a meeting to get rid of a white nurse, Nurse Horn, and get a black school nurse. Since Stevie knows Nurse Horn very well, she thinks that this treatment is not fair for Nurse Horn. Nurse Horn always does her job professionally and when the club wants to get rid of her just because she is a white woman that is not fair. Stevie bravely states her disagreement. Her dialogue below shows her bravery,
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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I cleared my throat, “I signed that petition way back, because I wanted change. I’m still for change, as long as that change is for better. But since I signed that petition two years ago, I’ve gotten to know Nurse Horn. Now I’m her student helper. And Nurse Horn is somebody who cares...”
…I tugged at my teke. “In my opinion, getting rid of Nurse Horn would be a loss, not a gain. That’s all I have to say” (1994: 227-228).
This action clearly shows Stevie’s bravery because she took a great risk to defend a white person in a black club movement. Stevie knew that by supporting white person she would be seen as a betrayal toward her race.
B.The Forms of Oppression Revealed through the Experience of Jane Stevenson
As it is mentioned before, women’s oppression is “the experience of sexism as a system of domination” (1995: 194), that for black woman is influenced by the existence of controlling images in society. The sexist treatment happened to Jane Stevenson can be seen through other characters’ treatments toward her. The treatments are based on the controlling images that labeled black woman in society. Patricia Hill C