The Role of European Male in Relation to African Female Sexulization During Congo's Nineteenth Century Colonial Era

Colonialism is the practice of conquering lands of already established individuals for the<br/>greater good of Western civilization. These actions are often rooted in the idea that the ways of<br/>the indigenous people are almost primitive in comparison to the ways of the West. Many forms<br/>of modern-day oppression are rooted in the disastrous acts against marginalized groups during<br/>colonial eras. In discourse relating to colonialism, it is necessary that the topic of the sexualization of<br/>Native groups are mentioned. Sexualization can be referred to as the act of sexualizing both<br/>humans and objects that are not intended to be innately sexual.<br/>Many literary texts were written during the nineteenth century expose the trends of<br/>sexualization towards indigenous peoples. More specifically, Heart of Darkness brings light to<br/>colonialism and provides insight into the European man’s sexualization for the Native woman.<br/>Within the text, the sexualization for the Native Congo woman is undeniably present all<br/>throughout the novel. Within the novella, the main character, Marlow, is infatuated with many<br/>aspects of the Native culture. He takes a particular interest in the land, when describing the land<br/>he uses verbiage such as “impenetrable” to describe lands that have yet to be discovered by<br/>Westerners. He describes the ways in which he no longer finds interest in lands that have been<br/>“penetrated”. These sexual undertones of virginity used to describe the Native land can be<br/>compared to that of a Native woman. Various aspects of the Native culture were sexualized in<br/>this similar manner, the sexual perspective they had on the Native women was so strong that<br/>they viewed all aspects of the Native sexually due to their linkage to the Native woman. This<br/>thesis serves to address the sexual connections made between the land and culture of the Congo<br/>to the Native woman. Many scholars praise the author for including a Native woman of power<br/><br/>within the text, however, this thesis contradicts these claims and analyzes the ways in which this<br/>The native woman is only powerful due to the European male gaze.<br/><br/>to how Africans within the congo were treated during their colonial era. The text provides<br/>insight into the unhealthy environments the Africans were forced to live in. They were forced to<br/>eat hippo meat and many physically looked as if they were on the verge of death while their<br/>white counterparts were dressed in luxury. Additionally, there was carelessness for the bodies<br/>of the Africans. Many were oversexualized and taken advantage of, due to the power systems<br/>placed upon them they were unable to deny any advances even if they wanted to. These systems<br/>of oppression are still in place, literary analysis of the remnants of colonialism can be found<br/>through twentieth and twenty-first-century texts.