Tiffany Jolie Missembe!

    Malcolm X once said “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” In this essay I hope to explain to you why this statement is true. Black women’s hyper sexualization is a legacy of colonialism. Ann Stoler, distinguished University professor of Anthropology and Historical studies at the New School was the first feminist anthropologist to assert that racialized notions of sexuality and gender were not the byproduct of colonial enterprise but instead, foundational to it. In Making the Enterprise Respectable (1989), she denoted that “who could bed and who could wed” were principles upon which colonialism is based. This is a critical analysis seeing how African women were sexually exploited through rape and were forced into being concubines during slavery. The 15th century, even though white men found African women desirable they still developed the notion that the bodies of Africans were “vile”. Today, in the U.S specifically, the fear and fascination of female sexuality is projected onto Black women. White women have the privilege of “playing with” their sexuality (e.g., the “Slutwalk” movement created by Amber Rose) while women of color are defined by their sexuality. In society white women are viewed as gentle and unproblematic while Black women are seen as hard and aggressive, especially dark skin women. This demonstrates that white women receive a level of oppression as females but also have a vested interest in the harsh stereotype's Black women receive. 

    The Kardashians have become the idealized version of what women should look like in the male community because of their surgically enhanced butts, boobs, and lips, while women born with these traits naturally like Megan Thee Stallion, have received hate on behalf of their bodies being “too much” and if you’re tall then you’re “too much” and masculine on top of that. Renée Cherez, the black feminist writer, wrote about her travels to India and how on one occasion an older Indian man asked if she was a woman. She was in shock and her blood was boiling, but she laughed in an effort to hide her anger. She looked down at the 34DD’s and thought “but how”? She is 5’10, curvy, and dark skin. Growing up she hated being tall because society deemed it masculine, “According to the hetero-patriarchal white supremacist racist society we live in, there is nothing sexy or feminine about me or any other black women who share these attributes”. First Lady Michelle Obama and Serena William have also both been victims of misgendering. Obama sat down with Oprah Winfrey in February of this year and talked about her journey towards body positivity. As the first Balck First Lady, she endured a heavy amount of scrutiny during the campaign trail and even in the White House. The public picked apart her entire image, from her bare arms to her butt. “People called me all kinds of things when I was campaigning for Barack, like it was a competition”, she said. “They called me un-American, and this stuff sticks with you. Men talked about the size of my butt. There are people who were telling me I was angry. That stuff hurts… I’m a Black woman in America. And you know, we’re not always made to feel beautiful”. Her story is not too different from Serena Williams. Williams has faced a consistent flow of body shaming during her career with people calling her muscles and power “manly”. She recounts a time when she faced verbal abuse in Harper’s Bazaar U.K, “People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms, or because I’m strong…”. The false narrative of Black women being masculine is not just uncomfortable but is also dangerous when that narrative is brought into a medical setting. 

    Black women are 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women due to structural medical racism. The myth that Black people are stronger than white peoples plays a role in this. Kelly Hoffman, a U-Va. a doctoral candidate in psychology conducted a study that took 92 white people across the country and 222 white medical students and residents at the university and elsewhere. They were given a series of statements that contained accurate or inaccurate information about the biological differences between whites and blacks. 58% of the group said they believed that “blacks” skin is thicker than whites. They expected some endorsement of the false beliefs, but Hoffman described the results “outlandish”. Having medical professionals that believe such things is dangerous for obvious reasons.

    Writing this paper made me feel a lot of emotions but the most prevalent one is joy. I know that’s a weird emotion to have after doing research on these heartbreaking realities and having to relive the trauma of my childhood but, I feel joy because I’m prouder to be a Black woman than I’ve ever been before. The amount of hate we receive on the daily is unlike any other, but we persevere. I also have felt so alone throughout my life in my struggles but today I feel a new sense of community I've never known. The second emotion I feel is anger for one of the same reasons I feel joyous, nobody should have to go through this but finding out so many of us do is painful. The last emotion I feel is pity. It’s disgusting that white people have had centuries to learn from their mistakes but too many are prideful to admit they’ve done something wrong. It’s heartbreaking but I don’t have the energy to hate them for the abuse they’ve put my people through so instead I pity them. I hope this world will change but history has proven that hope is not enough so until I take my final breath, I’ll do everything in my power to actively change it.