Student Question
What stereotypes about African-Antiguan females does Annie resist in Annie John and how do they affect her behavior?
Quick answer:
In Annie John, Annie resists several stereotypes of African-Antiguan girls, such as her mostly White teachers' attempts to subdue her and break her spirit, the idea that Black girls like her are less intelligent than their White counterparts, and the idea that with her dark skin, she is more prone to be a "slut." Her resistance affects her relationship with her mother, and this compels Annie to find new ways to resist her control.
Annie resists the stereotype that African-Antiguan girls can be made to submit, that their connections to their culture can be controlled, and that they should be forced to conform to English standards of conduct. For example, she is supposed to engage in "ladylike recreation" during recess—embroidery, chats about novels and poems, and so forth—but Annie chooses to dance and sing a "popular calypso song which usually had lots of unladylike words to it."
She also resists the stereotype that African-Antiguan girls are not as intelligent as their White counterparts. She is described on her report card as being "an unusually bright girl." Why would she be described as unusually intelligent if this were not something expected of girls like her? She also does really well in school in general, even beating out everyone else in the class for prefect.
Annie also tries to resist the stereotype of the "slutty" African-Antiguan...
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woman, as if her Black skin somehow makes her more prone to be sexually promiscuous. Her mother suggests that Annie's behavior has been similar to that of a "slut," though "she used the French-patois word for it." On the contrary, Annie could not be less interested in boys or sex; when she addresses the four boys in the street, it is because they are belittling and degrading her, not out of some prurient interest she has in them.
These stereotypes, her resistance to them, and the effects that resistance has on her relationship with her mother seem to drive Annie, eventually, to leave the island for a life that she even admits she does not want. The meanings that seem to be stamped on her skin, at least from the time she enters adolescence and she becomes aware of these meanings, compel her mother to try to teach her to live quietly and humbly rather than to fight back. This motivates her to do just about anything she can to make her mother angry or sad, and this nearly destroys their relationship in Annie's eyes.