Ain't I a Women?

"Ain't I woman" is a piece created using only one voice file, such as the title. And it's also the most important word in Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a woman?" which is considered one of the most famous and important speeches in the women's movement. Here, we used a version played by Pat Theriault at the 2011 Kansas State University's 8th Diversity Summit. ​

 

In this speech, "Ain't I a woman" is a repetitive phrase. Sojourner Truth strongly argues for women's rights through this phrase. As for the suggestion of the human rights of oppressed women at the time, Luhee Hyunkyung Shin now raises a different interpretation. Reinterpreted from Shin's point of view, "Ain't I a woman" is a question of one's own identity. In the past, the category of women was a clear classification in contrast to the opposite concept of men. But now individuals are confused about the identity of "women" given to them as biological genders. Socially, the boundaries of gender roles are collapsing, and with new classifications of various sexual identities, the concerns about this biological identity are deepening. Shin interprets that this question raised in 1851, in modern times, can be an expression of an individual's internal conflict over sexual identity and questions constantly raised in it. Among them, it is today's opinion that the answer should be found by their own selves, and sexual identity is a matter of individual choice, and society should respect the choice. Shin also raises questions about this. Is there any way society can help to face its own truth in the process of finding sexual identity? For Shin, "Ain't I a woman" is an attempt to respond socially to the pain of personal innate conflicts, and to be close to their internal conflict as a message of sympathy and comfort that society should now consider together beyond individual anguish.