Major Works:
Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature (Doubleday, 1980)
Spelman: A Centennial Celebration (Spelman College, 1981)
Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920 (Carlson, 1991)
Double Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers & Daughters (Beacon Press, 1992)
Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought (New Press, 1995)
Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality (Indiana University Press, 2001)
Thesis, "Faulkner's Treatment of Women in His Major Novels."
Being an academic, Beverly Guy-Sheftall is known for her many books, articles, and reviews. Beverly Guy-Sheftall also established the periodoical SAGE: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women which she co-founded with Patricia Bell-Scott. It is one of the only scholarly journal’s concerning women of African descent, a major mark in history. Beverly Guy-Sheftall's publications speak to women, most informing and teaching them about historically important intellectual’s black feminist thought and black women’s studies. She also focuses on global understanding of the effects of race, gender, class, culture, and history on black women. Beverly Guy-Sheftall is now more known for her speeches on feminist issues and a reviewer for books and magazines concerning black feminist issues. She is also a consultant to numerous universities for women's studies and multicultural programs. Her first publication, Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature with Roseann Bell and Bettye Parker was the first anthology of black women’s literature and became a staple guide for courses. Like Sturdy Black Bridges, Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought is comprised of a collection of famous black women’s literature on black feminist thought of over 150 years. It was set to be another textbook for women’s studies classes, without any nonsense, just straight forward feminist writing. Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s book Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality coedited with Rudolph Byrd, is a book composed of articles and essays written by black men and their opinion on politics and culture of their community concerning equality for women as well as other sub-groups such as gays and feminists. Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American Communities, cowritten with Johnetta Cole, discusses gender relationships, inequality, and roles in black communities using interviews and personal statement. It also includes a history of the black feminist movement, and how these topics affected Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Johnetta Cole’s lives. It is one of the most logical, comprehensible, productive black women’s studies books that speak out to a wide audience. Beverly Guy-Sheftall has been repeatedly praised for her work on Gender Talk, which is different from so many women’s studies publications out there.
Beverly Guy-Sheftall likes to reference Anna Julia Cooper in many of her literary works because she agrees with Anna Julia Cooper’s point of view on feminism. Anna Julia Cooper focuses on power versus difference; that dominating powers effects race, class, gender, morality, and global cultures. I think that Beverly Guy-Sheftall appreciates the unique claims Anna Julia Cooper makes that isn’t classified under typical sociological theory.
In Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s, Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920 inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, she investigates the attitudes toward black women by white males and females as well as black males during the Progressive Era, 1880-1920. It also included black women’s opinions and attitudes toward themselves. Beverly Guy-Sheftall chose the Progressive Era, because very little study of the connections between race and gender during that time has been published. She believes it was an important period because it was a period of “awakening of women to the possibility of full equality with men, the emancipated womanhood was beginning to be taken seriously (Guy-Sheftall, 2),” and the attitudes toward black women are critical to understand because it was the period of black peoples “lowest point” (Guy-Sheftall, 2).
The first section of the book is written historical background of black women during the Progressive Era. Beverly Guy-Sheftall wanted to provide all the unbearable hardships that black women were experiencing as a background to understand what black women have overcome, that they were able to write and complete written works in the worst of conditions. The second section concentrates on antithetical views concerning black women and the private sphere. The private sphere tackles sex roles, in which the women’s role as a mother and homemaker places her in the domestic sphere while men are in the public sphere. It is a setting stone for examining male and female roles in society and the male attitude toward black women. She writes that women had a moral role to play outside of the public political sphere, surrendering to “the cult of True Womanhood (Guy-Sheftall 38),” true womanhood applying to the domestic homemaker. Beverly Guy-Sheftall concludes that the black female was greatly devalued and oppressed by black males who preferred them to live up the cult of true womanhood; while white females and males believed that black women did not embody that of the true womanhood and that they were “doomed” despite their best efforts. The third section of the book talks about black women out in the public sphere was the end of the Progressive Era began to provide jobs in education and reform work for black women. This point of the era “feminist consciousness for many women was become awakened, and their defiance of Victorian notions about women’s proper sphere intensified (Guy-Sheftall, 92).” The black male’s attitude to women being in the public sphere was mostly negative, they did not like the idea of black women straying from their role’s at home. Black males were also questioned about emancipation of their race and if that incorporated women, whom they seemed to disregard. For white males and females, racial prejudices were still held against the idea of black women gaining an education, however there did not seem to be a lot written about what they felt about black women being in the public sphere. The attitude of white females appeared to be for majority that black women should stay at home, doing domestic work.
The conclusion Beverly Guy-Sheftall makes in Daughters of Sorrow, illustrates how black women are a prime example of race and gender problems in America. She connects everything through historical experiences which explain why culturally race and gender are interrelated, at a time of racial and sexual frigidness. Here Beverly Guy-Sheftall claims she’s testing the theory that “one’s racial identity, as opposed to one’s gender classification, is the most important determinant of attitudes about a particular segment of the American population, in this case black women, at any given point in history (Guy-Sheftall, 166).” Beverly Guy-Sheftall stands up for black women in that they are not a sub group that can be ignored, “sub-groups are not passive onlookers as traditional history would have us believe, but active participants in a formulation and transmission of cultural attitudes (Guy-Sheftall, 167).” Towards the end of the conclusion, Beverly Guy-Sheftall talks about black women’s studies, providing answers to conceptual issues. She understands black women’s studies to have “emerged from the failure of black and women’s studies to address adequately the unique experiences of black women in America and throughout the world (Guy-Sheftall, 168).” Beverly Guy-Sheftall ends Daughters of Sorrow on the issues of black women’s studies by explaining that a problem they continue to confront is completely exploring the intersection of race, gender, and class and constructing theoretical frameworks that will thoroughly explain the “complexity and diversity of the black female experience throughout the world (Guy-Sheftall, 168)”; that black women are unique for suffering the burden of racism and sexism and deserve attention not to just be classified as another sub-group.
Work Referenced:
Thomson Gale. Contemporary Authors Online. 2006. [20 February 2007].
http://0-www.galenet.com.library.uor.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=redl79824&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=1&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=arp&ai=U14681541&n=1
Guy-Sheftall, Beverly(Review). Review: Black Women Speak Their Minds. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 10. (Winter, 1995-1996), pp. 111-112. http://links.jostor.org/sici?1077-3711%28199524%2F199624%290%3A10%3C111%3ABWSTM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D
Answers.com. Black Biography information about Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Contemporary Black Biography. 2006, The Gale Group, Inc. [22 February 2007]. http://www.answers.com/topic/beverly-guy-sheftall
Lengermann, Patricia, Niebrugge-Brantley, Jill. The Women Founders. Sociology and Social Theory 1830-1930. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. 1998. New York
Guy-Sheftall, Beverly. Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920. Carlson Publishing Inc, 1990. Brooklyn, New York.
Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature (Doubleday, 1980)
Spelman: A Centennial Celebration (Spelman College, 1981)
Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920 (Carlson, 1991)
Double Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers & Daughters (Beacon Press, 1992)
Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought (New Press, 1995)
Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality (Indiana University Press, 2001)
Thesis, "Faulkner's Treatment of Women in His Major Novels."
Being an academic, Beverly Guy-Sheftall is known for her many books, articles, and reviews. Beverly Guy-Sheftall also established the periodoical SAGE: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women which she co-founded with Patricia Bell-Scott. It is one of the only scholarly journal’s concerning women of African descent, a major mark in history. Beverly Guy-Sheftall's publications speak to women, most informing and teaching them about historically important intellectual’s black feminist thought and black women’s studies. She also focuses on global understanding of the effects of race, gender, class, culture, and history on black women. Beverly Guy-Sheftall is now more known for her speeches on feminist issues and a reviewer for books and magazines concerning black feminist issues. She is also a consultant to numerous universities for women's studies and multicultural programs. Her first publication, Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature with Roseann Bell and Bettye Parker was the first anthology of black women’s literature and became a staple guide for courses. Like Sturdy Black Bridges, Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought is comprised of a collection of famous black women’s literature on black feminist thought of over 150 years. It was set to be another textbook for women’s studies classes, without any nonsense, just straight forward feminist writing. Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s book Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality coedited with Rudolph Byrd, is a book composed of articles and essays written by black men and their opinion on politics and culture of their community concerning equality for women as well as other sub-groups such as gays and feminists. Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American Communities, cowritten with Johnetta Cole, discusses gender relationships, inequality, and roles in black communities using interviews and personal statement. It also includes a history of the black feminist movement, and how these topics affected Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Johnetta Cole’s lives. It is one of the most logical, comprehensible, productive black women’s studies books that speak out to a wide audience. Beverly Guy-Sheftall has been repeatedly praised for her work on Gender Talk, which is different from so many women’s studies publications out there.
Beverly Guy-Sheftall likes to reference Anna Julia Cooper in many of her literary works because she agrees with Anna Julia Cooper’s point of view on feminism. Anna Julia Cooper focuses on power versus difference; that dominating powers effects race, class, gender, morality, and global cultures. I think that Beverly Guy-Sheftall appreciates the unique claims Anna Julia Cooper makes that isn’t classified under typical sociological theory.
In Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s, Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920 inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, she investigates the attitudes toward black women by white males and females as well as black males during the Progressive Era, 1880-1920. It also included black women’s opinions and attitudes toward themselves. Beverly Guy-Sheftall chose the Progressive Era, because very little study of the connections between race and gender during that time has been published. She believes it was an important period because it was a period of “awakening of women to the possibility of full equality with men, the emancipated womanhood was beginning to be taken seriously (Guy-Sheftall, 2),” and the attitudes toward black women are critical to understand because it was the period of black peoples “lowest point” (Guy-Sheftall, 2).
The first section of the book is written historical background of black women during the Progressive Era. Beverly Guy-Sheftall wanted to provide all the unbearable hardships that black women were experiencing as a background to understand what black women have overcome, that they were able to write and complete written works in the worst of conditions. The second section concentrates on antithetical views concerning black women and the private sphere. The private sphere tackles sex roles, in which the women’s role as a mother and homemaker places her in the domestic sphere while men are in the public sphere. It is a setting stone for examining male and female roles in society and the male attitude toward black women. She writes that women had a moral role to play outside of the public political sphere, surrendering to “the cult of True Womanhood (Guy-Sheftall 38),” true womanhood applying to the domestic homemaker. Beverly Guy-Sheftall concludes that the black female was greatly devalued and oppressed by black males who preferred them to live up the cult of true womanhood; while white females and males believed that black women did not embody that of the true womanhood and that they were “doomed” despite their best efforts. The third section of the book talks about black women out in the public sphere was the end of the Progressive Era began to provide jobs in education and reform work for black women. This point of the era “feminist consciousness for many women was become awakened, and their defiance of Victorian notions about women’s proper sphere intensified (Guy-Sheftall, 92).” The black male’s attitude to women being in the public sphere was mostly negative, they did not like the idea of black women straying from their role’s at home. Black males were also questioned about emancipation of their race and if that incorporated women, whom they seemed to disregard. For white males and females, racial prejudices were still held against the idea of black women gaining an education, however there did not seem to be a lot written about what they felt about black women being in the public sphere. The attitude of white females appeared to be for majority that black women should stay at home, doing domestic work.
The conclusion Beverly Guy-Sheftall makes in Daughters of Sorrow, illustrates how black women are a prime example of race and gender problems in America. She connects everything through historical experiences which explain why culturally race and gender are interrelated, at a time of racial and sexual frigidness. Here Beverly Guy-Sheftall claims she’s testing the theory that “one’s racial identity, as opposed to one’s gender classification, is the most important determinant of attitudes about a particular segment of the American population, in this case black women, at any given point in history (Guy-Sheftall, 166).” Beverly Guy-Sheftall stands up for black women in that they are not a sub group that can be ignored, “sub-groups are not passive onlookers as traditional history would have us believe, but active participants in a formulation and transmission of cultural attitudes (Guy-Sheftall, 167).” Towards the end of the conclusion, Beverly Guy-Sheftall talks about black women’s studies, providing answers to conceptual issues. She understands black women’s studies to have “emerged from the failure of black and women’s studies to address adequately the unique experiences of black women in America and throughout the world (Guy-Sheftall, 168).” Beverly Guy-Sheftall ends Daughters of Sorrow on the issues of black women’s studies by explaining that a problem they continue to confront is completely exploring the intersection of race, gender, and class and constructing theoretical frameworks that will thoroughly explain the “complexity and diversity of the black female experience throughout the world (Guy-Sheftall, 168)”; that black women are unique for suffering the burden of racism and sexism and deserve attention not to just be classified as another sub-group.
Work Referenced:
Thomson Gale. Contemporary Authors Online. 2006. [20 February 2007].
http://0-www.galenet.com.library.uor.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=redl79824&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=1&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=arp&ai=U14681541&n=1
Guy-Sheftall, Beverly(Review). Review: Black Women Speak Their Minds. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 10. (Winter, 1995-1996), pp. 111-112. http://links.jostor.org/sici?1077-3711%28199524%2F199624%290%3A10%3C111%3ABWSTM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D
Answers.com. Black Biography information about Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Contemporary Black Biography. 2006, The Gale Group, Inc. [22 February 2007]. http://www.answers.com/topic/beverly-guy-sheftall
Lengermann, Patricia, Niebrugge-Brantley, Jill. The Women Founders. Sociology and Social Theory 1830-1930. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. 1998. New York
Guy-Sheftall, Beverly. Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920. Carlson Publishing Inc, 1990. Brooklyn, New York.
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