The contempt of genderIs being a man equal to power? Being a man in today's society is a privilege that can bring many benefits. It can bring higher wages, credibility and undeserved success. Being a man in the 1800s means having absolute power over everything, of course, only if you are a white man. Women can't control absolutely anything. In Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom and Incidents in the Life of a Slave, you can examine the curse of the genre. Ellen Craft and Harriet Jacobs show readers how being a woman can bring relentless torment, almost no credibility, and unavoidable problems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Each narrative shows the genre from a different perspective. Ellen Craft in Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom shows how temporarily changing her gender to male literally frees her. Harriet Jacobs in Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl shows how being a woman attracts physical danger. “It doesn't matter if the slave is black as ebony or beautiful as her mistress. In both cases, there is no shadow of law that protects her from insults, violence and even death; all these are inflicted by demons who bear the form of men” (Jacobs 231). Harriet Jacobs says this after realizing that no one will help her escape Dr. Flint's vile words. All women during this time were considered inferior to men, but black women were not even considered human. Because of this, Harriet had to endure all the rude gestures that came towards her and could not report anything. Her owner threatened her with rape and abuse and she was not allowed to resist his advances. Harriet's master treated her as if she were worthless and burdened her with all the problems in the world. I think he almost hated her femininity. For her it was a serious disadvantage and a source of discomfort. The only way she could get some of her problems under control was to voluntarily become pregnant by another white man. This helped her escape the rape. She made a choice that she thought was in her best interest, but after this choice her free will was taken away. She was stripped of her innocent mind and sanity. All this simply because she was a black woman. Ellen Craft's situation is a little less morbid. Although being a woman was difficult for Ellen Craft, she enjoyed her femininity. Her being a woman was not the main source of her difficulties. 'My wife had no ambition to assume this disguise, and would not have done so if it had been possible to obtain our freedom by simpler means; but we knew that in the South it was not customary for women to travel with male servants” (Craft 433). Ellen did not want to take on the role of a man. While she was a slave, she never suffered just because she was a black woman, she suffered because she was simply a slave. She was very honest. Because of this, people may have mistaken her for a white woman. This may have played a role in his treatment. Her sufferings as a black woman were not so harsh because she was almost white. Her master's family treated her with a certain dignity. Both women faced discrimination and hardship, but I believe that the darker a black woman's skin was, the more problems she would have faced during this time. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, a white mistress Ellen meets claims that she had a slave, 2014, 224-261.