— 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)
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Women’s Lives: A Psychological Exploration by Claire A. Etaugh and Judith S. Bridges (via sociologyofgender)
Access for ALL to healthy maternal health care is a feminist issue, and a big one at that. When we don’t speak up for those who don’t have the privilege of visibility on a grand political scale: mothers die
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because no matter how much I read and “become concious” i still need TV or some sound playing in the background with a storyline that I dont need to pay FULL attention to
I was raised on TV and, thanks to Hulu, can always have some show playing in the backround to appease my senses as i multitask
right now i’m on celebrity apprentice - I know I’m not saying anything new or groundbreaking - but a major part of the work these celebrities do to raise awareness and funds for their charities, is actually just selling themselves.
The first episode all these celebrities came to raise money for something just for the photo op and the sound bite of “we gotta do this for the kids” or something contrived… we have this savior rhetoric of “doing this means we are saving the world”. If i ever make it big (thats a big if), I can’t say that I wouldn’t utilize my connections to raise money for a charity that I know needs the money - but philanthropy becomes a status symbol for socialites and that is almost as troubling as the causes they try to support.
I mean, the individuals who are able to benefit from the money raised - i’m glad its being done. BUT instead of letting Americans feel uplifted because they donated to a cause/tweeted about it/cried a few tears for “make a wish” while watching Celebrity Apprentice - but why not continue the discourse? attack the systemic barriers that are putting these charities to work? encourage people to inform themselves outside of hearing sound-bites on TV?
and then there’s the whole “men vs women” dynamic. Because everyyyythinggggg always boils down to gender stereotypes
omg i’m watching a show about fashion… countdown to problematic subject matter…
Such a weird concept. Women do better at school because we are socialized to be obedient….
More on the exotification & hypersexualization of black men. Imagine being a black man who has to deal with the fact that most women they encounter are going to impose these ideals on to them and expect nothing more than them to be this hyper-aggressive, sexual object. When you cross cultural lines, gender power structures can definitely work the other way…
and while we’re sitting here trying to place value on which ism is more pervasive in society lets take a look at this graphic on pay equity. Note that the “women make 75 cents to every mans dollar” factoid that everyone quotes all the time - this is actually the statistic for white men in comparison to white women ONLY. As a whole, white women earn more than all men of color. Women of color, as you can imagine, are at the bottom, while hispanic men actually earn less then black women.\
So can we stop trying to simplify this “well sexism is such a bigger, more ignorerd problem” when one of the main examples used to highlight sexism (the 75cents to a dollars statistic) literally leaves out every single person of color - male or female - and acts as though we don’t even exist.
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Morris / Perceptions of Black Girls in Classrooms
Educators spend more time trying to force young black girls into what they feel is “acceptable” femininity that actually ENGAGING with them about the school work becomes secondary to making sure they are “ladylike” enough.
“no one wants an unladylike, aggressive, self-reliant girl so put down those books and cross your legs”
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Morris / Perceptions of Black Girls in Classrooms
its funny because this quote can easily be interpreted to mean that this is a *good* distinction. Like “black women don’t feel included in traditional forms of femininity, but that’s okay because it makes them stronger.” It’s a double edged sward, because in one sense black girls are able to live the life they are socialized into - but once they go from areas where they are one of many WOC to an instance where you are the only black girl in their class - it’s hard for your LACK of “traditional femininity” to not visibly mark you as a defected “other.”
— (via unapproachableblackchicks)
I mean, i’m sure no one is surprised by this - but these are the things we should be looking at and critiquing more harshly and actively. When organizations like the oscar selection group has a disproportionate amount of privilege on their board - these are the tastemakers that dictates the popular culture of society. Popular culture is never going to adjust unless we start analyzing institutions like these…
From Colorlines:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that votes for the Oscars, is nearly 94 percent white and 77 percent male, according to a Los Angeles Times study published Sunday. Blacks are about 2 percent of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2 percent.
And all of this year’s five nominated directors are white men, and none of the 21 producers of the nine best picture nominees is a person of color.
The Times spent several months investigating who was part of the closely guarded and secret roster list of academy voters. Times reporters confirmed the identities of more than 5,100 Oscar voters — more than 89 percent of all active voting members — and found that they are mostly white, male and have a median age of 62.
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”Ladies” or ”Loudies”? : Perceptions and Experiences of Black Girls in Classrooms by Edward W. Morris
The wage gap - most recent calculations:
With white men at the default, white females earn more than black and hispanic males. Black women, however, also make more than hispanic males, with hispanic women at the bottom of the earning heirarchy.
Why this chart fails to include any type of asian - i don’t even know.
