Running a thousand Miles for Freedom is based on William and Ellen narrative of their escape from slavery during the late 1800s. Gender is an important universal aspect on which differences were base. Gender was a social construct judging the socially and culturally arranged roles that men and women were to follow. Women in the late 1800s were considered unequal to their male companion legally and socially. They were issued roles such as the peace keepers for societies and the nonworking house-wives for families. Men had roles such as the provider, the leader and the strength of the families. Women were owned by their husbands and had to follow their every desirer. Slaves as well were typically owned by white males. Ellen and William Craft, plan for Ellen to dress up as a white male in accompany of her slave (William) seeking for medical treatment in Philadelphia was brilliant idea because it was normal to see a white male traveling with a slave. In addition, Ellen knew that gender played an important role in their escape because of the status that men held in the late 1800s. Gender played an important role in their escape from slavery because it allowed them to travel their way to freedom.
This idea of gender being a root to empowerment relates to the structure of black churches previously discussed in class. In most black churches worshippers are predominantly black women, and the pastors of African American churches are nearly all male. Some black churches even think that it’s a sin for the women to step in the pool pit. History has a lot to do with the way black churches operate today. The notion of gender is socially surrounded by sexism and discrimination.