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Reviews tagging 'War'
They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
8 reviews
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
"Southern white women's roles in upholding and sustaining slavery form part of the much larger history of white supremacy and oppression. And through it all, they were not passive bystanders. They were co-conspirators."
I'm not sure who exactly it was, but I originally saw this in a #bookstagram post. It's been, quite possibly, years since then, so I can't give credit where it's due because my memory is just not that good. But shoutout to them, because I appreciate it coming across my radar, and my finally getting around to reading it myself.
This piece of nonfiction, chock full of incredible historical research, was a perspective on slavery that not only is never really considered or given air time, but actively downplayed in an attempt to protect a certain group: white women. The prevailing understanding is that, due to the patriarchy, white women were mostly passive players in the history and reality of slavery, who had to (and chose to) cede all control of their money and decisions to the men in their life. In this text, Jones-Rogers tears down that understanding. From the role women had in financial and legal decisions about enslaved people they/their family owned, to their roles in directing the work of the enslaved people that were their "property" (including decisions on when/how punishment should be meted out, and meting it themselves), to the active role in slave markets, to their fight to retain ownership and/or receive financial compensation when the outcome of the Civil War hit, this book completely reframes the facade of powerlessness that has protected the reputation of white women in connection to slavery across time.
Jones-Rogers shatters the illusions of the innocence of white (mostly Southern) women, who (whether out of genuine want/gain or due to a lack of interest - or capacity - in changing societal status quo) engaged directly in violence against enslaved people, as well as profited directly (gaining their own power and financial benefit, separate from their fathers/husbands) from the owning of enslaved people and the work they were forced to do. She erases the easy excuse of patriarchy for white women’s lack of action on solidarity with enslaved peoples (and the carryover into today's lack of intersectional feminist solidarity). Working to better yourself within a society that has constraints on you does not absolve you from the shame and judgement that should come from treating others, those that our broken society puts below you, badly in order to make their progress. The lesson that crushing others to get ahead just because that’s the only path that seems available to you is not an excuse/absolution is strong in these pages. (For even further lessons on this same theme - that life is not a zero sum game - but in a more modern context, check out The Sum of Us.)
I do want to note that the writing is very academic. It's a bit like reading a textbook or dissertation (so, a bit dry)... I mean, it's definitely more narratively inclined than that, but not by too much. That being said, I was very glad to also have the audiobook to help me through it.
To close, the overall picture Jones-Rogers presents within isn't new, but this new perspective she delves into was deeply researched, well presented, educational and eye-opening (in a reframing-what-you-thought-you-knew sort of way).The blurb about this book ends with "By examining the economically entangled lives of enslaved people and slave-owning women, Jones-Rogers presents a narrative that forces us to rethink the economics and social conventions of slaveholding America." and I really couldn't give a better summary, nor a better reason to recommend reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Minor: War
glumpanda's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Trafficking
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child death, Murder, and War
random19379's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and War
wolf013's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, and Miscarriage
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
hunkydory's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and War
c100's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
Moderate: Rape and War
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
They Were Her Property turns an academic eye on white women as slave owners in the United States and as full participants and beneficiaries of slavery as a system. They were not bystanders. Their delicate female sensibilities were not protected from the slave trade. They were calculating, economic minds that knew how to navigate the system for their own gain. This narrative is a reminder of the importance of intersectional feminism. Correcting the dominant historical narrative to acknowledge women's agency isn't an uncomplicated victory for women because it demands white women abandon using gender to absolve ourselves of guilt. The author chronicles how white women were busy framing their own experiences in the postwar era to distance themselves from slavery or to cast a maternal, nurturing light on their past behaviors. Historical documents and recorded interviews do not uphold that story.
I love returning to academic nonfiction for the miles of footnotes and precise connections between evidence and argument. This book is especially compelling for the variety of source material and for consulting overlooked and dismissed accounts. Newspapers, court documents, and contracts are bolstered with white women's diaries and personal or business correspondence. The author also directly quotes from WPA interviews with formerly enslaved people, who give valuable insights into the actions and thoughts of their mistresses in the home, where no written records reach. Their voices are one of the most powerful aspects of the book beyond the strengths of the central thesis.
What most struck me about this book, of the many carefully laid arguments, was the concept that slavery was inescapable in the United States, especially but not limited to life in the South. It permeated public and private spheres, it was the economic foundation of society, and there was no way to shield white women from its practices, even to support a feminine ideal. And the author makes it clear that this futile goal wasn't even actively sought. White women were taught how to be slave mistresses from childhood, they received slaves in their own right to mark important life events, and they were more than capable of managing their own wealth whether through business (buying/selling/hiring) decisions or philosophy towards the care and discipline of slaves they owned.
I highly recommend this as an opportunity to reevaluate your understanding of a crucial, dark aspect of American history with clear implications for current events. It's especially important for white women to become familiar with this information not only as a way of taking responsibility for our own history but to prevent ourselves from becoming comfortable in a harmful, fallacious white feminism viewpoint.
I love returning to academic nonfiction for the miles of footnotes and precise connections between evidence and argument. This book is especially compelling for the variety of source material and for consulting overlooked and dismissed accounts. Newspapers, court documents, and contracts are bolstered with white women's diaries and personal or business correspondence. The author also directly quotes from WPA interviews with formerly enslaved people, who give valuable insights into the actions and thoughts of their mistresses in the home, where no written records reach. Their voices are one of the most powerful aspects of the book beyond the strengths of the central thesis.
What most struck me about this book, of the many carefully laid arguments, was the concept that slavery was inescapable in the United States, especially but not limited to life in the South. It permeated public and private spheres, it was the economic foundation of society, and there was no way to shield white women from its practices, even to support a feminine ideal. And the author makes it clear that this futile goal wasn't even actively sought. White women were taught how to be slave mistresses from childhood, they received slaves in their own right to mark important life events, and they were more than capable of managing their own wealth whether through business (buying/selling/hiring) decisions or philosophy towards the care and discipline of slaves they owned.
I highly recommend this as an opportunity to reevaluate your understanding of a crucial, dark aspect of American history with clear implications for current events. It's especially important for white women to become familiar with this information not only as a way of taking responsibility for our own history but to prevent ourselves from becoming comfortable in a harmful, fallacious white feminism viewpoint.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, and War
evenstr's review
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Physical abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: War