Overcoming Sexuality Oppression in America
Sex. It is a concept that we have been “protected” from as kids and avoid using in our vocabulary as adults especially if you are not heterosexual. Sex is the thing we associate with dirty or tainted when talking about children who have been exposed too early or to those not in heterosexual romantic relationships. These thoughts and connotations that we associate with sex and sexuality stem from the oppressive thoughts about sex and sexuality imposed on our ancestors long ago and even still today. Our country was built on the torture, death, and oppression of Native Americans and African Americans all under the control of the white man in charge of them at the time. They used their power to take land, steal people from their land, rape and pillage, and force Christianity and their social norms on societies that were already established. Their main goal was to eliminate promiscuity, homosexuality, and savage ways from these people and their cultures.
Native American were their first target. Eliminating the Native American culture started off with just confiscating land and then escalated to reservations and boarding schools for their children as well as sterilization of women unknowingly. All of this was done to keep them from reproducing. As well as being abused, they were drowned in Christianity. It was used to force them into monogamous marriages, gender binaries, and the heterosexual matrix. The Native Americans free spirit was replaced by depression, anger, and pain. Their tradition, heritage, and stories cremated with their elders. “It becomes a sin just to be Indian,” Smith describes in her article (pg.67). Especially if you went against the Christian ideology like the two-spirit people did. Two spirit people were defined as a person who possessed the spirit of both a woman and a man (Brayboy). This went against the heterosexual matrix put into play by the white settlers and because of this two spirit people were hunted down and killed.
African Americans had it just as bad as the Native Americans. They were brought over from Africa as slaves and forced into a society unlike their own. They were also butchered, raped, and killed in the name of Christianity. Coming from a country where sexuality and sex before marriage was encouraged as well as their black skin made adjusting to this new way of life not easy. Extramarital sex was forbidden and promiscuous behavior was not tolerated in African tradition. Black people came to America possessing a dynamic culture, an intricate worldview, and delicate patterns of relationships but this all was washed away. Enslaved women suffered greatly because of their vulnerability to White men’s sexual perversities. Enslaved women were not ostracized for engaging in premarital sex, or having children out of wedlock because slavery did not respect the sanctity of enslaved marriages. Husbands and wives were sold away from one another and wives were not protected from abuse of White men. Enslaved men vowed to not get married to prevent having their wives raped and insulted. Slave masters used their whiteness and Christianity as a weapon and justification to take over black lives since slavery times.
These two groups of people suffered mental, physical, and sexual torture at the hands of white settlers who create the foundation for our society today. Today you might not see racism as obviously as you did back then but it is still around. From media portrayals of black people in Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality to the Dakota Pipeline. People are still being oppressed in the “Land of the Free” for any little difference they have that makes them abnormal. In this painting, I thought it was important to grasp the image of setting yourself free. This could be from homophobia, racism, sexism, etc. Accepting who you are and embracing your differences can make your life so much happier. As Greer states,” “Something has tried to kill me and has failed…I write, sing, pray, and laugh in order to remind myself that I am a whole human, loved profoundly by God.” There is light at the end of the tunnel, you just must be willing to go through hell to get there.
