Women In Zora Neale Hurston's On Being Young-A Woman

Harlem Renaissance was the remarkable period for the Afro-Americans in the US. During that period which referred to 1920s Afro-American society introduced itself as an independent and intellectual society. During the period, Afro-Americans revealed the richness of their culture and proved that it is possible to fight for their rights by means of art and peaceful methods. Many black activists were associated with Afro-American artists and writers. The topic of black women identity was rather popular in art and literature during the period of Harlem Renaissance. The topic was associated by current social issues and focused on such problems as black women political, economic, and social rights. That is why, Harlem Renaissance writers, in particular female ones, paid an exceptional attention to the topic. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the representation of black female identity in “On Being Young – a Woman – and Colored” by Marita Bonner and “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston. Both literary works deal with black women experiences during the Harlem
First of all, Bonner was young even a little girl and did not realize her social position and fate defined by that-days social order. Second, Bonner was a woman and female society was severely discriminated at that period. Third, Bonner belonged to the category of Colored woman, as she was Afro-American. All these three perspectives were used in the essay to reveal the identity of black females and to show the most common issues of black feminism during the Harlem Renaissance. The title of the second work, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”, also reflects the central topic of the essay. The author puts a special emphasis on her personal feelings and psychological experiences revealing the issues of black females from the perspective of her inner