Overview
Before you Suffocate your own Fool Self is a book composed of eight short stories that deal with a variety of characters undergoing a wide range of experiences in a contemporary time period. The author, Danielle Evans, refers to her stories as giving attention to characters that are trying to be heard above all the noise, and she does this by giving multiple perspectives from a variety of characters that range in age, sex, and background.
All of the main characters in this book are at crossroads, or coming of age experience in their lives, and often find themselves caught between the insider and outsider roles that society has dictated in their situation. While Danielle Evans may not agree with labeling the within her stories as specifically "insider" or "outsider", she does explain that these stories are a modern experience of how "my generation's blackness is different from my parent's blackness". We are able to see how society's racial perceptions still influence our characters, and how it aids in creating this insider/outsider predicament.
While the characters in this book do their part to navigate their decisions, it is easy to see external forces that influence their attitudes and actions in each story. The race and gender of these characters are not neutral factors, but rather these factors contribute to how others treat them, how they see themselves, and the choices that they make. These stories deal with many issues that we see today for modern black females that are faced with similar pressures and influences by society for simply being black and female. Some of these issues are still being actively battled in the immense gray area where women wish to claim sexuality and dominance over their bodies without being sexualized and exploited. What are the pay offs of controlling the Black Female Body and what are the criticisms that are exerted due to the concept of power and control?
The stories in this book, while fictional, parallel some of the same struggles, sexual politics, and self-definition issues that real modern day women encounter on a daily basis. By identifying relationships of power, dominance, perception, and treatment of the main characters in these stories, we will take a closer look at how societal forces create a limited range of agency for them and how their experiences hold true for many real life women that are forced into an insider/outsider dynamic because of their race and gender.
If you would like to use any of the materials provided on this website, you are more than welcome to!
All of the main characters in this book are at crossroads, or coming of age experience in their lives, and often find themselves caught between the insider and outsider roles that society has dictated in their situation. While Danielle Evans may not agree with labeling the within her stories as specifically "insider" or "outsider", she does explain that these stories are a modern experience of how "my generation's blackness is different from my parent's blackness". We are able to see how society's racial perceptions still influence our characters, and how it aids in creating this insider/outsider predicament.
While the characters in this book do their part to navigate their decisions, it is easy to see external forces that influence their attitudes and actions in each story. The race and gender of these characters are not neutral factors, but rather these factors contribute to how others treat them, how they see themselves, and the choices that they make. These stories deal with many issues that we see today for modern black females that are faced with similar pressures and influences by society for simply being black and female. Some of these issues are still being actively battled in the immense gray area where women wish to claim sexuality and dominance over their bodies without being sexualized and exploited. What are the pay offs of controlling the Black Female Body and what are the criticisms that are exerted due to the concept of power and control?
The stories in this book, while fictional, parallel some of the same struggles, sexual politics, and self-definition issues that real modern day women encounter on a daily basis. By identifying relationships of power, dominance, perception, and treatment of the main characters in these stories, we will take a closer look at how societal forces create a limited range of agency for them and how their experiences hold true for many real life women that are forced into an insider/outsider dynamic because of their race and gender.
If you would like to use any of the materials provided on this website, you are more than welcome to!