How It Feels To Be Colored Me

In the past couple months we have studied many articles that have brought up our attention. We read articles relating to gender equality, eating disorders, racism, and much more. In my opinion, the main two articles that have inspire me the most are Nancy Mairs’ essay “On Being a Cripple” and Zora Neale Hurston’s essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”. I have chosen these essays not only because of the ‘key concepts’ that can be found in each of these texts but also because of their similarities both stories share. They both discuss how they refused to be defined by how society sees them which makes both stories interesting and appealing to read. Mairs discusses the many obstacles she has to face every day in today’s society. She also talks about the demands American society wants her to
For Mairs, being disabling has put a lot of pressure in her life but that has not stopped her from always being positive about everything. Her disease might have left her with difficulties in coordination and balance but this has made her stronger and capable of accepting anything that crosses her path. She has been able to overcome all these obstacles by just not paying much attention to what society expects from her. Her story is very similar to what Hurston had to go through growing up. For Hurston, moving from one town to another made her see what society thought about people of color. At her new racially diverse school, she began to be called “little colored girl.” This was something she did not have to go through in her old, all-black town. Fortunately at the end on her long journey, she was able to realize that society has no right to judge her. For Hurston, race was just a term but for society; an important factor that defines who you are. However, all the obstacles she had to go through helped her realize that she was the only one that could truly define who she