Journal #12

Michelle Romero
English 48A
Dr. Scott Lankford

Author: Frederick Douglass

"Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester, he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked" (2074).

This passage describes Douglass' slave owner Mr. Plummer, undressing his aunt before he beats her.

This scene is so horrific, not only because the woman’s is being beaten and whipped and lashed like an animal, but more so because she has been stripped naked. I always find it so twisted that with violence comes sex. In this particular scene, because Aunt Hester's neck, shoulders, and back are completely naked as she hangs from the door while she is beaten, she is helpless in many ways. First, she is helpless to defend herself against Mr. Plummer's brutal attack, but also she is helpless in covering herself from him. She can not hide from him. She can not keep her feminine innocence. HE takes everything from her.

I imagine that she must have felt so exposed, both inside and out, and so embarrassed. I imagine that she did feel helpless, and shamed. I imagine that he felt more like a man. He felt in control beating on her helpless corpse. I wonder what it is about male aggression and dominance, what binds sex and violence together so much. I asked myself the same question when I read about the Jewish massacres and how the Germans commanded the Jews to take off all their clothes before they were executed. What is so sacred about clothing that makes it so threatening?

I think clothes are so personal. They hang closer to the body than anything else so that they are a part of a person's identity. I think that by taking the clothes away it is a symbol of stolen identity and true nakedness. It is a way of being totally exposed and helpless with absolutely no small comfort to hide behind. It is truly a cruel, cruel act.