African American Contemporary literature is the development of literary creations after World War II. The contemporary period is an important time period in terms of literature because so many new writers were introduced. Many African American women writers during this period began publishing their work. During this period of African American literature, gender and sexuality played an enormous part of importance. . In the 20th century, African American families were still dealing with slavery. Slavery brought the issues of racism and sexism, which in many cases resulted in brutalization of women and the degrading of men. In Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, eyes and memory and Gayl Jones’ Corregidora stories of gender and sexuality are told.
In Gayl Jones’ story Corregidora, it tells about a little girl by the name of Ursa. Ursa learns about Corregidora, a slave master who fathered both her grand-mother and her mother, while walking to the bus stop with her mother. Ursa learned what it meant to be a woman under slavery from the stories she was told. “Cause tha’s all they do to you, was feel up on you down between your legs see what kind of genitals you had, either so you could breed well, or make a good whore. Fuck each other or fuck them. Tha’s the first thing they would think about, cause if you had somebody who was a good fucker you have plenty to send out into the field, and then you could also make you plenty money on the side, or inside.(2563) In this story gender is