Chelsea A. – The Worlds of Ntozake Shange and Digital Storytelling

Black Sexism and Black Backlash Presentation

I really enjoyed my presentation from last week primarily focusing on Black Macho and the Myth of the Black Superwoman by Michele Wallace. The themes that came up in this particular reading were issues that I’ve been researching and noticing for a while now. The thing that struck me the most was that the tension and the hostility between black men and women stems from 50 years ago during the civil rights movement.

The civil rights movement for many black people was supposed to be seen as solidarity between black men and black women trying to fight one cause, white supremacy. However, there were underlying issues such as the erasure of black womens’ importance in the movement. The main thing that I was especially fascinated about was black mens’ sudden preference for white women and their hate for black women. Due to the patriarchal norms of the 1950s, it seemed like the downplaying of black women’s role in the civil rights movement was also normalized into American society. The most interesting part was that many of the black men in the civil rights movement began dating white women that participated in the movement. Wallace made sure to delve deeper into the history of why black men began pursuing white women. Because black men were emasculated during slavery and reconstruction, they felt that it was an accomplishment or an achievement to have à white woman on their arm. This made him feel more like a man. I already knew the perfect video that would fit this situation, the Iyanla Fix My Life episode from three years ago that was supposed to help dispel the stereotype of the “angry black woman”. Iyanla Vanzant set the stage for a difficult conversation and the black men in the video let their hate for black women be known. I was not expecting that the same reasons that the black men used in the video from 2016 were the same reasons that black men used in 1979. It is honestly disappointing that 40 years later, we hear the same baseless excuses.

However, it makes sense why the same stereotypes are still being displayed today. Even though we have made some progress as a nation from the 60s and 70s, we still have a long way to go. Many of the same harsh realities of racism and discrimination still persist today in 2019. Although the excuses and stereotypes that that black men in the Iyanla video made were baseless and problematic, we still see a link between the men of the 60s versus the men of 2016. Black men are still being emasculated but in different ways than they were in the past. Therefore, they continue to push the same stereotypes of black women to still find a way to feel more masculine. As problematic as their statements are, it is important to see that we as a people are still facing the same harsh realities of racism and discrimination.

“A Dying Colonialism” and its ties to “Porque tu no m’entrende”- Chelsea Blogpost #1

Every rejected veil disclosed to the eyes of colonialists horizons

until then forbidden

piece by piece- the flesh of Algeria laid bare

Every veil that fell,

every body that became liberated from the traditional embrace of the haïk–

every face that offered itself to the bold and impatient glance of the occupier–

was a negative expression,

of the fact that Algeria was beginning to deny herself,

and was accepting the rape of the colonizer.

Algerian society– with every abandoned veil,

seemed to express its willingness

and attend to the master’s school,

and to decide to change its habits-

under the occupier’s direction and patronage.

-Algeria Unveiled, “A Dying Colonialism” by Frantz Fanon (42-43)

Reading this passage by Frantz Fanon captured my attention in the way that Fanon details the impact of colonialism on the women in Algeria under France’s rule. The pressures that many Algerian women were faced with between what was their normal ways of dressing and what the native culture accepted, versus what the infiltration of European colonialism deemed restrictive and having tp adapt to the new culture. This passage has added onto my already existing knowledge of what life was like for many African nations under the rule of European powers. And these restrictions expanded beyond the continent as well. Even during the times of slavery and Jim Crow, black women were (and still are) subjected to the European standard of beauty. The way that white women looked and dressed was to be envied and copied.

It’s interesting to see that the pressures of fitting into the societies that white people have crafted, is a dilemma that women of color have been facing for over 400 years now. What was normal for women prior to European contact is now seen as uncultured and barbaric. When white people come into a society and try to change what was already there, it seems that what they bring to a country and its culture is the “right way” to do things. When the European standard of beauty is forced upon women of color, we tend to doubt ourselves and eventually give into the standards. In the case of the Algerian women, the decision to take off the haïk and wear less clothing is like accepting defeat and allowing the colonizer to dictate how women should be allowed to dress. Anything that is traditional is barbaric and “limits” the rights of women.

As Shange says in “Porque tu no m’entrende?”, we must “break through the grids of colonial contrivance and discover who has truly been round and about us, who is round and about us”. This is how I relate both of these examples to my own life. As a curvy black woman with type 4 natural hair living in America, I still face these colonial restraints that stemmed from my great great grandmothers all the way down to me. If one thing has not changed, it’s the fact that we all dealt with the pressures of the European standard of beauty. It causes you to doubt yourself. How will people think of me when my hair is in its natural state? Am I less desirable because I am not on the thinner side of the weight spectrum? Am I not worthy enough because my skin is darker? Should I become something that I am not? These are the questions that I am faced with as I walk through this world. One thing for certain that I have learned from both texts is that the European standard of beauty has always been there, but it is now my job to break the grids of colonial contrivance and love me for who I am.