In “Talking Back”, Bell Hooks expresses a deep envy of her superiors and their freedom to say what they wish by describing her childhood as one where she was raised “to be seen and not heard”; that is, to not speak until spoken to, never voice her opinion and never question what she had been told by her mother. Listening to her describe the world as restricting and stifling her opinion, or “back talk”, as she puts it, gives you a very real feel of oppression. Her image of the world is one of restraint, where she’s not allowed to say anything that others may view as controversial or weird, for fear of being labeled insane, as she tells of how she told her mother that she hoped that she (Hooks) would die first, because she couldn’t bear the thought of living without her. Her mother instantly shoots this down, judging such thoughts as madness.
These restraints only act as an encouragement for Hooks to speak out more. The less she’s allowed to speak, the more she wants to, which she’s finally able to achieve in adulthood through her writing. Sadly, however, she never truly views herself as a writer. Her childhood experiences engrained her with a sense of fear of being stifled and punished for saying something inappropriate, to the point that she reacts to her success as though it never happened at all.
3 comments:
Well done. =D
I don't really agree that it was a form of oppression but away to keep children in their place. what adults talk about is just that adult business!
It's sad to see that done to a child, but all of this was also set against women in general.The men could preach and speak their mind, but adult women weren't meant to speak out at all. I agree that the restraints act as encouragement. Thank goodness she was able to become an empowered writer. When all else fails, at least we have writing, right? Well, Writing and MMORPGs.
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