Nevertheless, the slave narrative by Harriet Jacobs in the reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gave us an insight into what it truly was to be a woman and a slave in those times. It stands out in its emphasis on the sexual exploitation of enslaved African American women. Jacobs emphasizes how enslaved women are judged by different standards than free white women. African American women are forced into "premature knowledge" because of the immoral habits of male slave owners and are then subject to punishment by their jealous wives. This paper will explore Harriet Jacobs's portrayal of enslaved women and the different standards that they are judged by in comparison to free white

She thinks and speaks for herself. And yet she develops a plan and acts on it while keeping in mind family unity and the protection of her children. While attempting to embrace common ideals of womanhood, she is able to recognize and disregard the standards that cannot be applied and establishes for her concepts of integrity. These ideals of behavior are fully dependent on personal agency. They show consideration for the present and the future, and the ability to act from self-determined moral codes. Embracing family as a part of her identity, Jacobs determines her actions not only on the consequences to herself, but on the consequences to her children.

In her writing she emphasizes the bond of gender over the difference of race. She proposes that Southern women who remain inactive are participating in the enslavement of women, thus becoming enslavers of their own gender and destroying the marriages of other women. From the reading, Jacobs states that, “She [Mrs. Flint] felt that her marriage vows were desecrated, her dignity insulted; but she had no compassion for the poor victim of her husband’s perfidy” (Jacobs 470). Though white women have power over the slaves, they’re still dominated by their husbands or men in general. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs' primary ordeal is the persistent sexual harassment and obsessive pursuit by Dr. Flint. The power of speech and fear of its consequences provide a defense system that Jacobs acknowledges. Moreover, Jacobs emphasizes that purity of mind is unavailable to virtuous black women. She discredits the image of the sexualized black woman by demonstrating that it was the immoral habits of white men that forced them into "premature knowledge."

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