Frederick Douglass was an active supporter of the women’s suffrage movement, speaking about the necessity of advancing the equality of women. In “My Bondage and my Freedom,” Douglass writes anecdote after anecdote to persuade readers to conclude that slavery is abhorrent. Douglass uses his mother and grandmother as examples of the way slavery specifically impacts women and familial structure and ties. He begins his stories about his mother and grandmother by telling about a moment in which the women had a positive impact on his life and then uses this foundation to expand his point to apply to all slave women and families. His moral point about the detriment of slavery to women and families is strengthened by making them symbols of slavery’s abhorrent reach.
Douglass's choice to use anecdotes of suffering women and children is especially interesting because women’s issues were pushed aside to forward the cause of abolition. It is also interesting because it portrays a different image of the repercussions of slavery than the downtrodden men laboring in fields and for reprehensible masters. The choice to increase his focus on women reflects the great influence women possessed in the abolitionist movement. Douglass carefully appeals to these women by broadening their sympathy through devices like anecdotes to encompass the women.
I think it's really interesting that you pointed this out. Last semester I took a religious studies class that focused on freedom movements in American history, and we spent some time talking about how women's rights and the abolitionist movement intersected. One thing that seems particularly significant (I think the biography of Douglass in our anthology might have mentioned it, I can't remember) is that Douglass temporarily split with the women's movement over tension surrounding the 15th Amendment. Some women opposed the 15th Amendment because its language only gave slave men the right to vote, and they wanted it to include all women of all races. It was an interesting incident of two movements, which had much in common and often helped each other out, encountering conflicting interests. It must have put Douglass in a tough situation; as you've said, he clearly had a deep respect for women, and yet he also was also an important voice for abolitionism. I think you have a point, that in writing as careful as Douglass's, the inclusion of women-oriented anecdotes may have been a purposeful choice.
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