"Ain't I A Woman?"

The famous speech "And Ain't I a Woman" by Sojourner Truth was delivered to the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851. She was an extremely important focused activist for women's rights, as well as the rights for slaves. Because of the changes that were going on during the time period, Truth was able to convey a deep meaning through her speech while fitting into all of the categories of Realism, Naturalism, and Regionalism.

Regionalism is very evident in her speech, probably more so than either Naturalism or Realism in general. Truth used the dialect of her region and this showed her upbringing as well because, as a black woman, she would not have received much education. Her message is very clear to the reader or to someone listening to the speech, but it is also obvious that Truth speaks in a different way than we do today (Truth). This is mostly because we have more opportunities for education but also because of where we live in America and specifically us in Illinois. The most obvious sign that Truth speaks differently than most people do today was immediately clear in the title; her use of the word "ain't", which is quite improper to use today. However, for a black woman in 1851, that was totally normal and therefore was a part of Regionalism by keeping with the common speech (Campbell "Regionalism"). Truth is also pretty relaxed in her dialogue and speaks rather freely to her audience (Truth).

The speech related pretty closely with Realism because Truth was giving depictions of things that had happened to her specifically and things that she had witnessed in her life and complaints she had against people, particularly white men. One of the most notable quotes from the speech is one that I remember from way back in fourth grade:

"...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?" (Truth).

This is probably the most famous line and probably also made the most impact on people. Truth really was treated extremely differently because she was a black woman. She was always looked down on because of things that she cannot help, but she still wants to make a difference for herself and for others in her same situation. This is very realistic because Truth has experienced all of the things she speaks about (Campbell "Realism").

Despite having connections with both Regionalism and Realism, there are less connections to Naturalism. Because this is a speech, there was no human nature involved and there was not really a common hero apart from from Truth herself (Campbell "Naturalism").

Because of the power of her speech, Truth gained a lot of respect in my book. The times were very difficult in the mid eighteen hundreds, and she found it very important to try and make a difference in things that she was dealing with, and that a lot of other people in the country were dealing with as well. Truth was not afraid to try and get equality. She had a very Realist attitude towards these issues and that helped her cause greatly.

Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature. " Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. 11 Feb 2011.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm

Campbell, Donna M. "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web 21 March 2010.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm

Campbell, Donna M. "Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. Feb 10 2011.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/lcolor.html

Truth, Sojourner. "And Ain't I a Woman?" Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 370. Print.