new wave feminism

A quasi-academic look at Feminism, politics & race relations through the lens of a 20-something year old Nigerian American who was born & raised up in the (still) segregated south but has relocated to the "liberal" yet historic & traditional north.
This blog is my space for an interdisciplinary examination of race, gender, class, sexuality - all things intersectional & multi-dimensional.
Feminism the way I see it...

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Featured Posts

Posts tagged "black women"

Marriages between black women and white men could be tolerated during slavery because they were so few in number and represented no threat to the white supremacist regime. After manumission they were no longer tolerated. In the state of Kentucky, the Supreme Court was asked to judge insane a white man who desired to marry a female slave he had once owned. Once slavery ended and whites declared that no black woman regardless of her class status or skin color could ever be a “lady”, it was no longer socially acceptable for a white man to have a black mistress. Instead, the institutionalized devaluation of black womanhood encouraged all white men to regard black females as whores or prostitutes. Lower class white men, who had had little sexual contact with black women during slavery, were encouraged to believe they were entitled to access to the bodies of black women.

bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman (via wretchedoftheearth)

it’s all in the history…

(via notesonascandal)

afroglitz:

If you would like to see Miss Zee (this character) on more items in person, please make a pledge to Miss Zee’s Indiegogo page. This will help Miss Zee extend its brand. Miss Zee is a character that uplifts the diverse images of little girls of color who are underrepresented. She helps them see the beauty within themselves. Thank you!

Please reblog.

http://www.indiegogo.com/misszee?a=1219147

Black women have been taught to be selfless and strong since childhood. We are reared to love our mothers, obey our fathers, care for our siblings, and be subservient to our men. Whether we want to or not, we are instilled with all the traits of dedicated caretakers, making us, as Zora Neale Hurston once said, “the mules of the world.” Such selflessness has taken a toll on black women, forcing us to compromise our sanity and overall wellness to appease others.

For Harriet Blog | Do Black Women Give Too Much? (http://www.forharriet.com/2012/03/do-black-women-give-too-much.html?m=1)

Michelle Obama and the Myths of Black Motherhood →

So read my latest long form article about Michelle Obama and the fallout over Jesssica Valenti putting her feminist foot in her mouth.

In clinical psychiatric settings, black women are diagnosed very differently from white counterparts who present with the same symptoms. For instance, black women have considerably higher rates of anxiety disorders than white women. Blacks are diagnosed with higher lifetime rates of simple phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia. Therapists tend to view African American women as anxious or phobic while perceiving white women who describe similar emotions and behaviors as sad and depressed. Black women are more likely to be described by therapists as hostile and paranoid, and diagnosis for black women is inclined to be more severe than for white women. In these diagnostic differences we see the operation of the social construction of black womanhood that disallows sadness. Therapists are less likely to perceive a black woman as sad; instead, they see her as angry or anxious.

Melissa Harris-Perry Sister Citizen; Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America (via brashblacknonbeliever)

shit like this is why social justice is necessary in medicine and health

(via eddiesuave)

(via cijithgeek-deactivated20121104)

The MHP show discussing unemployment from the lens of black women, asking why the recovery is going especially slow for this demographic. In fact, black women lost even more jobs during the ‘recovery’ than in the actual recession…

These are just three of the dozens of times sex is shown, discussed, alluded to, made light of, seen, and overheard on “Girls.” Don’t get me wrong. The show isn’t just about sex, but it would be near impossible to have a (somewhat) realistic depiction of contemporary young people — even the ones not having sex — without sex just, well, being there.

None of this could happen with a black show. Sure, young black people find themselves in the same type of situations, but if black people were shown having the same type of sex (and having the same type of sex-related discussions) the characters on “Girls” regularly do, it goes from being thought of as “real” and “gritty” and “truly naked” to “nasty” and “pornographic.”

We — and “we” in this case is “Americans” — have a strange relationship with black sex and sexuality, too strange for me to even begin to expound on today. Interestingly enough, this is true for both white and black America. As much as we complain about the lack of real black shows on TV, we’d be just as weirded out by real black sex. Can you imagine how many petitions would be made if a popular black show had a black female character asking to put her finger in a black male character’s butt during sex?

“Girls” and the Black Sexuality Double Standard | Cluth Magazine

Clutch isn’t necessarily my go-to site for cultural criticism and race & gender analysis - but this quote popped out to me…

Melissa Harris-Perry: Why Black Hair Matters

New York Times: Black Women’s Transitions to Natural Hair →

From New York Times:

But black hair and the black body generally have long been a site of political contest in American history and in the American imagination. Against this backdrop, the transition movement has a political dimension — whether transitioners themselves believe it or not. Demonstrating this level of self-acceptance represents a powerful evolution in black political expression. If racial politics has led to an internalization of self-loathing, then true transformation will come internally, too. It will not be a performative act. Saying it loud: “I’m black and I’m proud” is one thing. Believing it quietly is another. So the transition movement is much more profound and much more powerful — and I believe it offers lessons in self-acceptance for people of all hues and all genders.

I’d be lying if I said I went natural for political reasons. I went natural because I vaguely remember my pre-perm hair texture and have been obsessed with the idea of going back to my tight curls for some years now. But I can say that this resurgence of the natural hair social/political movement made it a lot easier for me to feel comfortable in transitioning, and eventually doing the big chop about a month ago. Even now, after I completely cut my hair off people back home are all “so when do you wanna get a weave sewn in?” “where’s your flat iron” “you really need to put relaxer on it before you start working” and “that doesn’t look good.” Don’t get me wrong, there are more people who love it, but there are always those few who think the need to enlighten me to how unacceptable my hair is as it naturally grows out of my scalp. interesting…

The idea that black women must always be perfectly well-behaved — or risk shaming the community-at-large – is both unrealistic and unfair. We are fighting a battle that is unique to women of color in this country, and that is the duality of asserting our individual identities separate from stereotypical imagery, while fighting for the elevation of our communities as a whole. This places us in the precarious position of not being able to ignore the pervasive effects of reality television, while still recognizing that every, single one of these women has the right to present themselves to the world as they choose – whether anyone agrees or not.

Cluth on stereotypical imagery in shows like Basketball Wives & Real Housewives of Atlanta

So i’m writing a final paper for sociology about the dynamics of food and dinner time. Of course I’m writing a section on black women and how they are portrayed in commercials when it comes to food. But when searching “black women in commercials” I came across this KGB (a phone text-answers service. Like ask Jeeves) about hair weave.

as if everything related to black women isn’t stigmatized and undignified enough.

The worst part is that there is a type of human hair extensions called “YAKI” (not yak) but I can’t tell you how many times growing up people made comments/jones to me & any other girl with extensions about how we have horses hair in our head…

So I’m glad this commercials codifies and signs off on this type of stigmatization. Labeling black women as so ignorant they go to beauty salons so someone can put nasty animal hair on their heads. (because only black women wear weave… or I guess we’re just restricted to the “animal ass hair” variety) Because that’s not even where weave comes from but LETS ALL IGNORE THAT PART.

i need to go back to this paper but… wtf? This came out in 2009. but its not like black women aren’t used as bafoonish punch-lines to sell products everyday (cue: Mary J)

The reality is this: when Black straight men and boys are beaten, brutalized, and/or murdered as a result of state-sanctioned and/or white supremacist violence, it becomes (as well it should be) a national issue in the Black community and in a few, definitely not all, instances, the outrage moves beyond the Black community. Yet, when Black straight women, girls, and LGBTQ people are raped, sexually assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and/or murdered as a result of misogynist, patriarchal, state-sanctioned, and/or white supremacist violence, it is too often the victim’s individual issue. There are so many egregious, known and unknown, cases of racial and gender-based violence perpetuated against all Black people, regardless of their gender, gender identity, and sexuality, that it is literally impossible to write about all of them.” ~ Aishah Shahidah Simmons, “Who Will Revere Us? (Black LGTBQ People, Straight Women, and Girls)” (Part 1) for The Feminist Wire.

Read part one of this four-part article in its entirety HERE (http://thefeministwire.com/2012/04/who-will-revere-us-black-lgtbq-people-straight-women-and-girls-part-1/)

don’t y’all know heterosexual men are the default everywhere we go?

(via racialicious)

Black Women In Advertising

Book Profiles Black Women Changing the World →

As seen on The Root:

“Just in time for Women’s History Month, Crystal McCrary has released her latest book profiling the who’s who of influential black women in the 21st century. Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing Our World boasts 30 profiles of prominent black women whose efforts in fine and performance arts, media, music and acting, politics, humanitarianism and more have left an indelible mark on the world, paving the way for women of color. Inspiration is a great read for any and all aspiring female trailblazers.”

The stain of racism and sexism is not just for women and people of color. It’s all of our burdens. ALL OF US.” -Viola Davis

(via unapproachableblackchicks)