When the word rebelling comes to mind, one might think of not following the rules, or the infamous teenage agonist years of staying out past curfew. Not only rebelling pays a huge role through millions of people during their lifetime, it also has had a huge impact on the rapid changing of narratives. During the 20th century, American Literature began to shed a light on the rebellious tendencies of female authors. Whether this be taking a different path against social norms, politics or staying strong beliefs about ethnics, the female writers of post 1945 period had a indescribable passion to have their voices be heard through their stories. Authors such as, Audre Lorde, and Toni Morrison exemplified changing the status quo within racial identity and womanhood by using language to provide an insight on the dramatic changes that impacted our nation's most prominent issues.
The controversial topic of racism dates back throughout all of history, from the fights for the abolishment of slavery, to the end of segregation. The African American people have endured a brutal past time within history, and even in today’s society continues to have the harsh truths of things such as racial stereotypes. “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, explores the comparison of two friends who came together through unlikely circumstances. Twyla and Roberta are both two young girls who share a room at an orphanage, after being left their by both their mothers. “My mother danced all night, and Roberta’s was sick”(Morrison 1429). The reader can assume that Twyla’s mother was a stripper, and Roberta’s had a mental issue. The story takes the reader through five different meetings within the girls lifetime, each giving a deeper insight to their relationship. Although it is never explicitly stated, the reader is given strong context clues that the girls come from different racial backgrounds. “So for that moment it didn't matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there, and that's what the other kids called us sometimes”(Morrison, 1492). By having Morrison leaving out which girl is black, and which one is white leaves the reader wondering, but also allows for open interpretation. Furthermore, it also gives the reader a new way of looking at racism. Morrison wanted the reader, and society to realize it is not the color of somebody’s skin that makes them who they are, but the relationship form within our personalities that make a difference. Although it was Roberta, and Twyla similar experiences that caused their friendship, the reader still has small clues and in result leads to judging, or guessing about the girls race, which can foil exactly what society does when it comes to the real life world when dealing with racism.
Along with hiding the girls idenites, Morrison touches upon the integration of schools. This is during the girls fourth time meeting, and Twyla see’s that Roberta is picketing against the integration. “What are you doing? Picketing. What does it look like? What for? What do you mean what for? They want to take my kids and send them out of the neighborhood. They don’t want to go”(Morrison 1438). Roberta then feels targeted after the confrontation, so in result she decides to also begin picketing on the rival side, which is fighting for the integration of blacks and whites within the school system. Even more so, the girls begin questioning their relationship. “I wonder what made me think you were different” (Morrison 1438). This is an important part of Morrison rebellious narrative, because she in enacting on important social issues within her text. Although this may be a fiction narrative, it provides to be very truthful when dealing with social issues about racism. She brilliantly displays the fight between the two different races, and even though the girls had a relationship, the social norms became more important than the value of a connection between the two girls, that was now lost to opposing views, which was the raw truth of racism.
The strong fight for racism became a pathway for other social issues like women's rights. The pastime of women was to stay at home, take care of the children, cook dinner, and follow the rules that men implicated. In Audre Lorde's, “Poetry Is Not A Luxury”, she illustrates how she uses poetry and her writing to express her thoughts and feelings because she feels oppressed within society because of the simple fact of her gender. “As we learn to bear the intimacy of scrutiny and to flourish within it, as we learn to use the products that scrutiny for power within our living, those fears which rule out lives and form our silences begin to lose their control over us”(Lorde 477). Here, Lorde is portraying that even though women may encounter difficulties when trying to be equal to men, the silence, and struggles become one of womens strongest powers, and if one learns to use those powers, in such case, through writing, then in reality men do not have the upperhand in the gender stereotyping battle that has been going on for decades.
In correlation within the fight of gender roles, and the upcoming of female power, Lorde also states that writing is a way she can gather her ideas, and that is a necessary action that makes us human. “For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought(Lorde 478). Lorde uses her language to openly speak out rebelliously, about how women are treated unfair, which was still uncommon for women during the 20th century. The silent unspoken issues that women feel everyday throughout their lives needed to be recognized so the idea that female voices could start to be heard, and valued in the world of powerful men. She illustrates that by even using the power of literature to shed the importance on cruital social issues, can not only promote change, but inspire readers to speak up about their emotions no matter that penalties or disapprovement.
The importance of standing up for what one believes in is a crucial part of becoming a unique individual within our nation. Authors like Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde took a stand against racial and gender issues that provided readers with an inspiring insight to important historical issues. Both authors put their strong believes over the judgment and backlash they might have received for expressing their ideas, so that lessons could be learned within their narratives. The fight for equality with whites and black, man or women, female rebels like these authors portray the importance of what it means to be human, and depicts on how to become trailblazers in a growing society. American Literature became a platform for expressing controversial issues, and continues to be a strong, and empower way for writers to inspire their readers, and fight the altercation of significant civilizational issues.