Kashahnah Brooks

I'm Kashahnah Brooks. An aspiring, starving young artist who currently attends the Philadelphia High School for Girls. I have a passion for anything and everything concerning art and design as well as literature. English is one of my favorite subjects in school. I have an obsession with books as well as classical literature. Books written in the Victorian Era are the stories that I tend to enjoy the most because of the hidden feminist values. In stories written during this era of sophistication, elegance, gothic architecture, and Victorian fashion, The authors of the tales never voice the women's oppression. In books like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Little Women, women were expected to stay home with the children, support their husbands as well as clean the house. Women had little to no rights at all. Society was dominated mainly by males. Without being married, Victorian Women could lose ownership of their money, homes and property; and few job opportunities outside of the home. Whenever people read these stories, the feminist values are never seen, talked about or addressed. The bondage of these women was hidden behind the new styles and changes of fashion, love stories as well as the new architecture. Many Victorian women had to put up the their husbands control and cruelty. These things would never fly in American society today. Women take pride in their rights as well as their freedom and expression. We don’t have to be married to own a home, bank account or have a job. These problems are similar to the society we live in currently. Me being a young African American woman in the real world comes with many challenges. Even though we are said to be have equality, Men are still the dominant power. They are paid more in the workplace and given much more opportunity. We are sometimes still looked down on and discriminated against by others. Even though our situation isn't as severe as the women from the Victorian Era, but its extremely relateable to us as women in this day and age.