For my semester project I want to discuss how black women and their features are over sexualized in our society. As a result of this exploitation Black women have no real identity. Its difficult to be a successful a black women in our society when our society only sees us has hyper sexual human beings. I created a tumblr pages dedicated to this topic. After much research I stumble upon the story of Sarah Baartman, The Hottentot Venus. I used her story as the main focus of my project. As I did further research I discover the stereotypical labels that Black women were given for example, the mammy and Jezebel. The Jezebel is a promiscuous women who is always ready to satisfy her suitors needs. I also discover that after the 70's the stereotypical Jezebel is more commonly used as the representation of black women. These representations comes from the ideology from slavery that black women and their bodies were just objects here to procreate and satisfy the white slave masters needs.
As I continued my research I discovered the fabulous Melissa Harris Perry, Bryon Hurt and the radical genius Bell Hooks. After reading short excerpts from Melissa Harris Perry's Sister Citizen and Bell Hooks's Ain't I women I discover that in this society the identity of a black women is solely created based on false interpretations.Therefore our identity is forever misconstrued. Melissa Harris Crooked room theory talks about this “In one study, subjects were placed in a crooked chair in a crooked room and then asked to align themselves vertically. Some perceived themselves as straight only in relation to their surroundings. To researchers’ surprise, some people could be tilted as much as 35 degrees and report that they were perfectly straight, simply because they were aligned with images that were equally tilted. But not everyone did this: some managed to get themselves more or less upright regardless of how crooked the surrounding images were.When they confront race and gender stereotypes, black women are standing in a crooked room, and they have to figure out which way is up. Bombarded with warped images of their humanity, some black women tilt and bend themselves to fit the distortion.” ( Melissa Harris Perry).
When black women tried to over come these stereotypes its hard because there are still false representation of black women out there for example music videos. That is what Byron Hurt's Beyond Beats and Rhymes discuss. Sut Jhally founder of Media Education foundation states in the documentary "Music videos and advertisements are the only way women are represented". This makes it even harder to over come that hyper sexual stereotype when the main stream representation of black women are from music videos and advertisements. These findings are what I used to create my tumblr page.
When black women tried to over come these stereotypes its hard because there are still false representation of black women out there for example music videos. That is what Byron Hurt's Beyond Beats and Rhymes discuss. Sut Jhally founder of Media Education foundation states in the documentary "Music videos and advertisements are the only way women are represented". This makes it even harder to over come that hyper sexual stereotype when the main stream representation of black women are from music videos and advertisements. These findings are what I used to create my tumblr page.
Works cited/Bibliography
Beyond Beats and Rhymes, Dir Bryon Hurt. 2006. Film.
Ain't I A Woman: Black Women And Feminism .Bell Hooks - Boston, MA - South End Press - 1981.Print.
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. Harris-Perry, Melissa V.New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Print.
A ‘Ho’ By Any Other Color: The History and Economics of Black Female Sexual Exploitation. Bill Quigley , Dr.Edward Rhymes
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. Harris-Perry, Melissa V.New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Print.
The 19th Century Kim: 'Hottentot Venus' whose big bottom sparked a global scandal 200 years before a certain Miss Kardashian. Tim Butcher.
10 Horrifying Facts About The Sexual Exploitation of Enslaved Black Women You May Not Know. Taylor Gordon.
Jezebel Stereotypes
Three young white men and a black women, Painting
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