Universidad Tecnológica Nacional

Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico

En convenio académico con la Facultad de Villa María

Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa

Dissertation Proposal

Candidate: Vanesa G. Sampaolesi

Proposed title of dissertation: Intersecting oppressions in Kathrynn

Stockett’s The Help: a key to understand black women’s

empowerment.

Introduction: Patricia Hill Collins (2002) developed the theory of

Intersecting Oppressions to explain the particular oppressive situation

of African American women. She claims that African American

women’s lives are shaped by a system of interconnected

oppressions: Race, class, and gender constitute interlocking

categories of oppression that affect the lives of these women and

that African American women comprise an unusual group because

they are attacked from many perspectives. For instance, not only did

black women in America have to fight for their rights in the past, but

also many still confront prejudices against them. Moreover, most of

them work in low-paid jobs mainly connected to service occupations

and, last but not least, they battle the constant negative images that

society builds upon them. All these constraints make them part of a

rather unique group.

African American women have historically had to resist the

discriminatory practices held against them. However, according to Hill

Collins, they become empowered once they are able to resist

oppression. This resisting attitude enables them to define themselves

and avoid being defined by others. Similarly, they attain resistance if

they are able to reject the negative images by which they are

portrayed. Lastly, empowerment is accomplished when black women

resist subjugation in their ‘safe places’ (p.100): important locations

where they can counterattack the dominant ideology that surrounds

them. These locations are social spaces in which Black women find

themselves free to speak and, as a consequence, share acts of

resistance against subordination.

In this work, I attempt to explore how the two main black characters in

the novel The Help (2009), which takes place in Jackson, Mississippi,
 in the 1960s, experience and confront the diverse categories of

oppression and whether, from a unique ‘outsider-within social

location’ (Hill Collins, 2002) they reach empowerment through self-

definition, self-valuation and self-reliance.

Moreover, this work aims at defining the context in which these

women’s lives develop in order to uncover the various mechanisms of

racial prejudice and oppression present at that time. A brief account

of historical facts as well as a definition of what prejudice is and how it

operates in society will be included in order to provide evidence to

support this point.

Research question: To what extent do the main black characters in

The Help resist and overcome oppression to finally reach

empowerment?

Basic Hypotheses:

- Aibeleen and Minny, the two main black characters in The Help, seem to be

subjected to a system of intersecting oppressions which they resist.

- They are likely to become empowered by gaining self-definition, self-

valuation and self-reliance.

in order to confront socially and politically built stereotypes.

- They may not only resist oppression individually, but also help the other

maids overcome their oppressive situation in the ‘safe places’.

Proposed research methods: The proposed methods will be basic

qualitative research as well as content analysis (Ary, D., Jacobs, L.,

Razavieh, A., & Sorensen C., 2005), by which the main characters in the

story will be analysed, compared and contrasted in the light of Patricia Hill

Collin’s theoretical framework as described in her book Black Feminist

Thought, among other works by other thinkers (Andersen, 2006; Sokoloff &

Dupont 2005; Hooks, 1990; King, 1988). Similarly, the context of the novel

will be explored in order to understand the specific moments and situations

in which the characters experience the intersecting oppressions.

Bibliography:

Andersen M.L. (2005). Thinking about women. A quarter century's view.

Sociologists for women in society feminist lecture. University of

Delaware. Retrieved July 24th 2012 from

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30044611?uid=2129&uid=2&ui

d=70&uid=4&sid=21101206069611
Andersen, M. L. (2006). Race, gender, and class stereotypes: New

perspectives on ideology and inequality. Retrieved August 10th 2012

from http://www.cisan.unam.mx/Norteamerica/pdfs/n01/n0105.pdf

Ary, D., Jacobs, L., Razavieh, A., & Sorensen C. (2005). Introduction to

research in education. California: Wadsworth Publishing.

Beauvoir, S. de. (1947). The positive aspect of ambiguity. In The ethics of

ambiguity. (Ch. 3) Retrieved August 10th 2012 from www.marxists.org

Butler, J. (2008). Gender trouble. Routledge Classics: New York.

Davis, A. (1981). The approaching obsolescence of housework: A working-

class perspective. In Women, race and class (Ch. 13) Retrieved

August 11th 2012 from www.marxists.org

Davies, C.B. (1994). Black women, writing and identity. Migration of the

subject. N.Y: Routledge.

Edwards, J. D. (2008). Postcolonial literature. A reader’s guide to essential

criticism. Palgrave Macmillan: New York.

Ehrenreich, B. (1976). What is a socialist feminism? Retrieved August 11th

2012 from www.marxists.org

Friedman, M. J. (2008). Free at last. The U.S Civil Rights Movement.

Retrieved July 23rd 2012 from

http://www.america.gov/publications/books-content/free-at-last.html

Gutiérrez, L. M.(1990). Working with women of color: An empowerment

perspective. Retrieved August 4th 2012 from

http://umich.academia.edu/LorraineGutierrez/Papers/1104349/Workin

g_with_women_of_color_An_empowerment_perspective
Hill Collins, P. (1989). Toward a new vision: Race, class, and gender as

categories of analysis and connection. University of Memphis.

Retrieved July 23rd 2012 from:

http://www.memphis.edu/crow/pdfs/Toward_a_New_Vision_-

_Race__Class_and_Gender_._._..pdf

Hill Collins, P. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness,

and the politics of empowerment . Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990,

pp.221-238. Retrieved July 23rd July 2012 from http://www.hartford-

hwp.com/archives/45a/252.html

Hill Collins, P. (2002). Black feminist thought. Knowledge, consciousness,

and the politics of empowerment. (2nd ed.) New York: Routledge.

Retrieved July 23rd 2012 from http://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-

content/uploads/2010/11/Patricia-Hill-Collins-

Black_Feminist_Thought__Knowledge__Consciousness__and_the_

Politics_of_Empowerment__Perspectives_on_Gender.pdf

Hill Collins, P. Intersecting oppressions. (n.d). (ch. 16) Retrieved July 23rd

2012 from http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-

data/13299_Chapter_16_Web_Byte_Patricia_Hill_Collins.pdf

Hooks, B. (1990). Ain’t I a woman. Black women and feminism. London:

Pluto Press.

Hooks, B. (2000) Feminism is for everybody. Passionate politics.

Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Hooks, B. (n.d). Understanding patriarchy. Retrieved July 23rd 2012 from

http://imaginenoborders.org/pdf/zines/UnderstandingPatriarchy.pdf
King, D. K. (1988). Multiple jeopardy, multiple consciousness: The context of

a Black feminist ideology. Signs: Journal of women in culture and

society. University of Chicago. Retrieved July 23rd 2012 from:

http://web.uvic.ca/~ayh/318King%20Multiple%20Jeopardy.pdf

Loomba, A. (2002). Colonialism /Postcolonialism. London: Routledge

Lorde, A. (1980). Age, race, class and sex: Women redefining difference.

Retrieved July 24th 2012 from http://www.clc.wvu.edu/

Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2011). Retrieved July 21st September 2012

from http://www.merriam-webster.com.

Millet, K. (1969). Sexual Politics. (Ch.2) Theory of sexual politics. Retrieved

24th 2012 July from www.marxists.org

Moi, Toril, (2002). Sexual/textual politics. Feminist literary theory. (2nd ed.)

London and New York: Routledge.

Pettigrew, T. et al. (1980). Prejudice. (Ch. 1) In Prejudice. NYC: Harvard

University Press.

Rooney, E. (2008). The Cambridge companion to feminist literary theory.

Cambridge University Press.

Rothenberg, P. (1992). Race, class, & gender in the United States. (Part 1.

Ch. 1 and 2) NYC: St. Martin’s Press.

Shelby, T. (2003). Ideology, racism, and critical social theory. Harvard

University. Retrieved August 10th 2012 from

http://www.sfu.ca/cmns/sessional/markwick_m/410/05-

spring/documents/IdeologyRacism.pdf
Smith, J. (n.d)Maid in the USA: Influence of the African American domestic.

Smith Academy. Retrieved August 10th 2012 from

http://www.utexas.edu/world/barbarajordan/scholar/essays/06-

07jordansmith.pdf

Sokoloff N. J & Dupont, I. (2005). Domestic violence at the intersections of

race, class, and gender: Challenges and contributions to

understanding violence against marginalized women in diverse

communities. Retrieved August 10th 2012 from

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/11/1/38.short

Stockett, K. (2009). The help. London: Penguin Books.

West, C. (n.d). Toward a socialist theory of racism. Retrieved October 1st

2012 from http://race.eserver.org/toward-a-theory-of-racism.html