Skip to main content

Analysis of "Virginian Luxuries"

“Virginian Luxuries,” showed a white slave owner kissing a black female slave on one side and beating what appears to be a black male slave on the other side. “Virginian Luxuries” illustrated the power dynamic that dominated slave society. The slave owner had authority over and easily took advantage of his slaves. This showed the slave owner in negative light, showing the sexual and physical abuse that slave owners committed against their slaves. The title itself is ironic, since what was portrayed in the painting showed the opposite of luxury, especially for the slave. However, one could conclude that the female slave perhaps enjoyed some sense of “luxury” by having a sexual relationship with the slave owner. She could have held influence over the slave owner by getting better treatment for her and her children (possibly his children), better housing, more and better food, easier job duties, etc. In the situation where most slaves didn’t have much control, she could be taking fate into her own hands to make her situation as best as she was able to.  On the right side of the painting, the white master is very aggressive, about to beat his slave. There is not a clear way to tell if this slave is male or female. At first glance, the slave on the right appears to be male, because the slave is in pants and not wearing a shirt. But the hair and body shape is similar to the female slave on the left. In thinking that the slave on the right is female, she would appear to be holding her breasts and looking confused but adamant at the slave owner at the impending attack on her body.       

Works Cited


Virginian Luxuries. 1800.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scott William Cox

In November of 1990 and February of 1991, two prostitutes were murdered in the Portland area.   These two murders were solved due to the realization of a possible serial killer in an unrelated assault and different law enforcement agencies working together.   In May of 1991, another prostitute in Seattle was severely sexually and physically assaulted and thrown from the cab of an 18 wheeler truck.   The victim had to be hospitalized as a result of the attack.   Even though the victim did not want to prosecute the case, the detective in charge realized that this attack showed signs of a current or future serial killer.   Police were able to track down a man by the name Seth Scott Cutter through the employer, the trucking company.   Police felt that Cutter could be the person responsible and information about Cutter was disseminated to neighboring agencies.   An officer from a different police department recognized the suspect as a local man named Scot...
Post a Comment
Read more

Male or Female? Issues Transgender People Face

            In “Aligning Bodies,” Judith Lorber and Lisa Jean Moore bring to light the burdens endured by people in our society that don’t necessarily fit into preconceived notions of sex and gender.   On a daily basis there are issues they must consider:   when filling out forms that ask for their sex, when going to the restroom and when showing legal documents that may not match the gender they identify with.   Transgender people may or may not have surgery on their chest and/or genitalia and/or face or other surgery and may choose to use hormone therapy.   Some people are born with ambiguous genitalia or with genitals or chromosomes of both sexes.   Yet others may identify as a gender different than their birth sex and choose to not alter their body physically.   There is a wide spectrum of people in our world that don’t neatly fit into the “F” and “M” boxes.   Society and individuals need to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Case Study of Serial Killer Dennis Nilsen

Dennis Nilsen is a Scottish serial killer, born in 1945.   When Nilsen was just 4 years old, his parents divorced.   He was eventually sent to live with his grandparents when his mother remarried.   At just 16, Nilsen joined the army and worked as a cook and butcher for many years.   He also briefly worked as a police officer.   Nilsen craved sexual relationships with men and feared abandonment of his lovers leaving him (Murray).   During the late 70’s and early 80’s, Nilsen took men or boys back to his apartments for sex (Dennis).   He would strangle the men to death while they slept and would wash the bodies periodically and keep them over the course of several weeks or months hidden under his floor boards.   Nilsen would bring the men’s bodies out to be with him, “watch” television with him, and lay in the bed with him.   Later, he dismembered the bodies and burned them in the garden, along with a tire to mask the smell of burning flesh....
Post a Comment
Read more