Manhood of Freedom

Suppose you ask any student in our entire university, "What does it mean to be a man?" You will be hit with multiple different answers. These answers may consist of "a strong person," an "emotionally tough person," or someone who matches everyone's personal standards. For Frederick Douglass, being a "man" means having self-respect for oneself, a person who urges resistance to oppression. As he was enslaved, Douglass mentions that a fight with Mr. Covey was pivotal in his life. He says, "This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave....It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my manhood." (Douglass 73) This fight with Mr. Covey greatly affected him as he gained more self-confidence and revived his determination to be freed again. He was able to achieve his dignity again, realizing that he was worth something; these qualities had been removed from him his entire life as an enslaved person, like many other African Americans who were enslaved at the time. As Fredrick Douglass stood up to Mr. Covey, he asserted his identity. It showed Mr. Covey that he was more than just an "item," more than just a free labor tool. He was able to show him that manhood he discovered within himself as he was able to show he had control of his own body and that nobody was subjected to owning him. For someone who was known as a "chattel" by law and society, manhood was a status ripped away from every single enslaved person. Still, he came to the realization it was something he had to reclaim through his determination to fight this oppression. His journey from being enslaved, to freedom, and then to being an inpirational writer is a testman of true manhood not the type of man hood that is achieved by validation from others, as I mentioned in the beginning. Does this change what manhood means to you?