The experience of slave women, changes our understanding of slavery and the slave trade negatively through generalizing them. During slavery and the slave trade, slave women played a huge role in fertility. For example, they were viewed upon as objects, in a sexual way. The only things they were good for were producing children and nothing else. As soon as the child was able, they were used as slaves. Once a women reached their late 30’s to early 40’s, they were considered useless. In addition, to fertility, women slaves were considered property or “chattel”. They were separated from their families and weren't recognized for that. In addition, women slaves were sexually abused/harassed by their masters. In particular, light skinned African American women were slaves that often worked in the master’s house, often times cooking and caring for the family.…show more content… This is extremely unethical and an unpleasant thing to think about. The novel Meltin Mclavin-”Celia, A Slave (1991), discusses a woman slave who kills their master because she is sexually abused and manipulated by him. This novel is a legitimate example of how women slaves were sexually abused by their masters. On page 22 of Women, Families, and Communities, Hewitt and Delegard, discuss the justifications of a women slave’s role: “The different experiences of enslaved peoples in the West Indies and on the mainland--particularly the longer life spans and greater chances for reproducing children on the mainland--gradually distinguished women’s roles in two locations. In both, however, African women faced hard labor, brutal treatment, and the constant fear of agin being separated from all they knew (Hewitt, Delegard, 21). As a result, history came up with the conclusion that slave women were viewed upon as delicate, abused, and invincible creates, thus putting a negative lens on
