17 system has put men as the ones who deserve to maintain power and domination
p. 304.
b. Violence against women
Since gender discrimination places women under the domination of men, there are many cases existing in many societies showing men often commit
violence against women. The violence spills over into women as an attempt to show that men truly have the power to dominate and control women. Macionis
2012 mentions that in the nineteenth century, men believed they had the power to control their families p. 304. Thus, many of them still maintained to use
“physical discipline” and “a great deal of manly violence” in controlling their wives p. 304. Violence against women occurs in many forms, namely raping,
sexual harassment, and physical and verbal abuse. Smolowe 1994 in Macionis 2012 states that the risks of violence
against women most likely occur in low-income families p. 309. The poor financial condition has caused stress for men. They think that they have failed to
fulfill the role as the main breadwinner in the family Jordan, n.d: p. 16. The feeling has caused them to commit violence against women as the result of stress
and an attempt to show that they are still able to control women although they cannot earn money.
18
B. Review on Socio-Cultural-and Historical Background
The review of socio-cultural-and historical background deals with a brief overview of African American women in 1960-1970s. The overview is divided
into two sections. The first section deals with the roles of African American women as mothers, wives, and workers. The second section deals with domestic
violence which is exposed against African American women.
1. African American Women in 1960s-1970s
This section deals with African American women in 1960s-1970s. I attempt to narrow down the focus of the review to revealing their roles as workers,
wives, and mothers. This is attempted to get a clear depiction of African American women fulfilling their roles as workers, wives, and mothers in the novel.
a. As Workers, Wives, and Mothers
African American women in the 1960s-1970s had to face reality that they were not only born to be slaves or domestic servants but also wives and mothers.
When an African American woman held a marital status, she would devote most of her time and energy to her husband and children. Genovese 1974 in his book
Roll Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Made agrees with the statement above.
According to Genovese, African American women “generally had a longer day than their” p. 495. In addition to their usual work, they had to cook for their
families, cleaning houses, putting children to bed and even sewing until midnight p. 495. The work load that African American women had to carry enabled them
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