The New American Woman (Paper #2 Draft)

Representation is the societal view of a group. Womanhood in American culture has changed significantly in the last century, but the societal representation of the early part of the century is still prevalent in the American character. The creation of new American ideal woman came into being. However, immigrant and black women did not fit into this new American ideal woman. In the earlier part of the century, there was a negative societal representation of minority womanhood. This paper will show how immigrant and black women changed their demeaning representations.
The demeaning representation of immigrant and black womanhood is…
The new American ideal woman is an independent educated person who has some economic separation from her family, especially from her male family members. Economic independence is the first step to changing societal representations. The second step is to becoming independent is education…
Assimilation is the absorption of the surrounding dominant culture. African American and immigrant women took part in this practice. Assimilation is the easiest way to fit into society because it does not go against the dominant culture. The dominant culture will always be difficult to change because it has mass acceptance and dictates societal attitudes on a vast scale. Assimilation is the foremost form to societal acceptance. African American have taken two different avenues in act of assimilation. One form of black female assimilation was to become the dominant culture, meaning to become white. The practice is called passing which resulted in the contemporary idea that light skin is better. The practice has its roots in slavery and the better status of house slaves who were usually the product of slave and master unions. The other black

In a period when all American women were negotiating behavior and self-presentation between older ideals of domesticity and newer ideals of independent womanhood, how did some black women and some immigrant women and their allies counter the dominant culture’s demeaning significations and make claims for different representations?

female assimilation form was to create a unique African American culture that mirror and improved upon the Anglo Saxon culture, the essay “The New Negro” which is the pragmatic approach. It logical to think that if the dominant culture institution excludes one creates their own institutions that mirror the dominant institutions for acceptance later on. Sara in the novel Bread Givers assimilated into American society. She became an American with her acceptance of the dominant culture.
The idea of becoming American has built American. Immigrants have come to America to take part in our economic might and democracy. Unlike any other country, America is a country built by immigrants and slaves. Kaplan explains who is an American through her analysis of American empire building and the concurrent justification of that policy. American identity is inherently a nationalistic viewpoint. Empire building was politically justified by tying it to the American ideal of frontiersmen bring civilization to uncivilized peoples (i.e.: Native Americans and Filipinos).
Immigrant…