Bailey Gerard-Custodio
Ms. Dane
ENGL 2593
November 26,2013
Essay 2: Patricia Hill Collin’s Thoughts on Shadow Tag
Patricia Hill Collin’s main argument in, The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood, is that race controls the type of objectification a woman will face. Meaning, race controls the way society perceives a woman. In the novel, Shadow Tag, Louise Erdrich tells a chilly story of a marriage controlled by possession. A woman is shown objectification through her cultural origin and background. Throughout the novel, Gil wished to possess Irene. His possession over Irene’s body was obtained through his depictions of her in his artwork. The idea that an object is something you can obtain and possess would relate the novel by Louise Erdrich to the argument of Patricia Hill Collins. Gil’s obsession over his wife’s body also created a form of domination that utilized a form of oppression. Patricia Hill Collins writes, “Sexuality becomes a domain of restriction and repression when this energy is tied to the larger system of race, class, and gender oppression.” Gil controlled Irene’s image and sexuality through a form oppression that accompanied her race, class, and gender because he found that it exemplified his talent as an artist. “He painted Indians when he painted his wife because he couldn’t help it—the ferocity between them, the need. Her blood ancestors came out in Gil’s painting as he worked.” Gil painted Irene in the way he wanted people to perceive her. He used her
Word Count: 228 images in his paintings to tell stories of her ancestors. He entwined the story of the Indians with the story of his wife. He sometimes painted Irene in a gloomy, racy, and violent way to depict the similar ways her native people suffered. He thought that one cannot exist without the other. He also played with the idea that Irene’s body told a natural story, which he used to his advantage. Patricia Hill Collins would say Gil associated the depiction of Irene’s body to the social views of race and gender and the idea of sexuality. She would relate the images of Irene represented as an Indian to the way Black women are shown breaking from chains. She would suggest Gil portrayed Irene in these ways to symbolize a greater purpose of some sort; perhaps, the way Black women breaking from chains represent their past of bondage and slavery. Patricia Hill Collins would say this was an allusion to Irene’s treatment as a pornographic object. She would suggest the sexual depictions of Irene reflect modern pornography, like the pornography used for modern day Black women. She would also consider Gil’s artwork as a form of pornography. In the novel, a critic referred to Gil’s depiction of Irene as “the iconic suffering of a people”. Patricia Hill Collins writes, “Contemporary pornography consists of a series of icons or representations that focus the viewer’s attention on the relationship between the portrayed individual and the general qualities ascribed to that class of individuals.” Patricia Hill Collins would agree with this critic. She would make a connection to the way Irene was depicted to the class of people she represented, which was Indians. Patricia Hill Collins would continue to refer back to the argument of race controlling a woman’s objectification.
Gil would treat Irene in ways that you would treat an object. He took her sexuality
Word Count: 312 and transformed her in many different ways. He sold his paintings of Irene and used them as profit. He obsessed over her body as a form of affection, often depicting the love and emotions he was feeling through his brush strokes. “In that picture, Irene had turned away; she was hunched over something, hiding it. She was glancing at someone just out of the frame. Her hand was between her legs. She was doglike, he thought, guarding her little bone, her sex.” This picture was described in a way that compared Irene to an animal; Gil described her as doglike. Patricia Hill Collins would refer to this as the animalistic way race and gender portrays the sexuality of lower class people. Patricia Hill Collins would therefore describe this animalistic description as deviant, the way Sarah Bartmann represented deviant sexuality. She would suggest Irene was oppressed by this idea that surrounded her body. She would use Gil’s doglike comparison to relate to the sexual and racial aspects of being treated like an animal. She would convey the way Gil sold his paintings for profit to the way animals are worked, sold, killed, and consumed. She would also compare this to the way sex becomes commodified, in a sense that it can be purchased like Gil’s paintings. Patricia Hill Collins said that commodified sex can be a characteristic of the powerful, which would continue to emphasize Gil’s power over Irene. She would also compare this doglike depiction of Irene to Zora Neale Hurston’s essay 1943, “The ‘Pet’ Negro System”. This essay speaks of a situation that combines domination with affection. It tells a story of a black man who would acted as a pet to be cherished and perfect in his owner’s eyes. Patricia Hill Collins would use the way Gil constantly transformed Irene in his paintings as the way a pet would be regulated if their owner no longer saw them as perfect. She would describe Gil as that owner who expected
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Irene to be perfect and live up to his expectations. She would further refer to the doglike comparison to represent Gil describing Irene as someone under authority and of lesser importance. This would suggest women are not only objectified by race, class, and gender, but are also defined by their sexuality.
“Gil wanted me in relation to another man’s desire. Even he didn’t know that, but it was true. It was why he magnified my sexuality in paintings. It was why he teased the viewer with my image.” Gil focused his paintings on Irene’s body. He had an eye for the way Irene looked sexually. He paid close attention to her hair, her skin, and her nipples. He magnified his wife’s sexuality to entice the viewer. He emphasized Irene’s gender and displayed her feminine attributes. Gil prided himself for having possession over Irene’s body. This meant he could control and manipulate his wife in any way he wanted. He was able to use Irene’s assets to formulate a piece of art that attracted an audience. Patricia Hill Collins would relate the way Gil magnified Irene’s sexuality to the story of Sarah Bartmann. She would compare the parties that Gil held to display his artwork of Irene to the way Sarah Bartmann was revealed at fashionable parties in Paris. She would suggest that the way Gil painted his wife resembled the way Sarah Bartmann would wear hardly any clothing at these events; it provided entertainment. Patricia Hill Collins would say Irene’s body was an object of display that represented an iconic symbol. This would reflect the idea that Sarah Bartmann was an icon used to represent the Black female sexuality. Patricia Hill Collins would say that the display of Irene’s body in Gil’s paintings gave his audience a pornographic illusion, like the white men who became viewers of Black women on the auction block. Since Gil wanted Irene in relation to other
Word Count: 321 men, Patricia Hill Collins would suggest this related to the idea of the forced prostitution of enslaved African women. She states that Black women allowed white women to be the opposite; Black women were viewed as whores and white women were viewed as virgins. She would say Irene’s sexual deceptions allowed Gil opposites. He could desire Irene’s body because she was his wife but also create an idea of Irene’s body through another man’s desire. She would refer this pornographic artwork of Irene’s body to the way enslaved African women were treated. This enslavement Irene endured would reflect Gil’s possession. Patricia Hill Collins would continue to argue this possession and objectification of Irene’s body contributes to modern day portrayals of women by a racial and ethnic views. In conclusion, Patricia Hill Collins writes that, “Race has become the distinguishing feature in determining the type of objectification women will encounter,” which reflects her main argument in The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood. In the novel, Shadow Tag, Gil wished to possess his wife’s body. His possession was obtained through his artwork. As we compared Patricia Hill Collins’ theories to the story of Louise Erdrich, we are able to notice the dominant similarities in the way a woman is treated. Gil’s paintings illustrated Irene’s race, class, and gender, which Patricia Hill Collins also says this can contribute to the way sexuality becomes a restriction. The emphasis placed on Irene’s body related to Patricia Hill Collins’ idea of contemporary pornography. Irene’s body was used as an object of display. Her pornographic depictions added to
Patricia Hill Collins’ view of a modern representation of a woman’s ethnic past through sexually exploited interpretations. The animalistic portrayals of Irene also attributed to
Word Count: 286 the representation of her ethnic past. Gil’s paintings embodied some form of iconic symbolization of the race and class Irene belonged to. Therefore, it is prevalent that race defines the way a woman is perceived by society.

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Work Citied

Hill, Collins Patricia. "The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood." Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge, 1991. 51-59. Print (Class Manual).

Erdrich, Louise. Shadow Tag. New York: Harper, 2010. Print.