Open Access
American Research Journal of English and Literature
ISSN (Online): 2378-9026
DOI: 10.46568/arjel
Sex, Race, and Class: Representation of Black Women in Alice Walker’s Novels the Color Purple and the Temple of My Familiar
Department Of English And Literature, Istanbul Aydin University, Turkey.
Magdalene Mbotiji Titamoh, “Sex, Race, and Class: Representation of Black Women in Alice Walker’s Novels
the Color Purple and the Temple of My Familiar”, American Research Journal of English and Literature, Vol 8, no. 1,
2022, pp. 52-60.
Abstract
It is an ultimate reality that women are facing subjugation and stigmatization all around the world. Especially, in the
case of black women, this is much more worsened due to racism and gender disparity issues. African American literature
has laid its foundations on the marginalization of black women. The term womanism was invented by Alice Walker in the
year 1984, which emphasizes the idea that black women must be treated equally on grounds of race, gender, and class.
The books The Colour Purple and The Temple of My Familiar strongly depict the true conditions of black women surviving
under oppression and gender disparities. Alice Walker has depicted the nature of black women facing atrocities of sexism
and class discrimination in both of her works with equal aplomb.
