Silenced and Overlooked: The Intersectional Struggles of Women of Color in Ann Petry’s the Street

Abstract

This research investigates Ann Petry's The Street through Kimberlé Crenshaw's intersectional theoretical framework. The study shall try to see how Petry paints a picture of the intertwined forms of oppression—race, gender, class— that build the lives of black women in 1940s Harlem through her work. Specifically looking at the protagonist Lutie Johnson, it will be shown how Petry uses naturalistic and gothic elements to reveal the constraints of intersectionality under which Lutie strives as she fights against societal repression. It scrutinizes how black women are silenced and marginalized within discourses that are purportedly designed for their upliftment, along dimensions of feminism, anti-racism, and socio-political speeches. The methodology involves textual analysis concerning some major recurring themes like structural and political intersectionality, sexual violence as well as domestic abuse interconnected with broader issues concerning the American Dream, urban life, and systemic inequality. The findings reveal that Petry's work underscores compound and multidimensional oppression, bringing to light the need for such extensive and specific scholarship on identity and discrimination. The research concludes that Petry’s narrative remains: a powerful critique of racial and gendered social structures with glimpses into the lived complexities of black womanhood.