This is what I wrote for a class grade in my Global Justice class at the University of Houston College of Social Work. I was supposed to send it to newspapers in Houston, but I never did. So here it is… for my fellow radical feminists. This blog entry will also be linked in the Nov. 24 Carnival of Radical Feminists.
Masses of stereotypes about black women flood across America from the “mammy” to the “jezebel”. They differ in scope, but above all else, what they have in common is this: black women and sexuality. The topic of black women and sex get people fired up in America.
If one types in the words “black women and sexuality” on Google, one will find an array of topics on how sex is viewed from the black female perspective. On the other hand, if one searches for “black women and sex”, the opposite is true. The perspective changes from one of black women to how others view the relationship between black women and sex. Fundamentally, the view that America has of black women and sex is one of sexual domination and exploitation.
The most popular tool used in America to dominate and exploit black women is none other than popular media. Take for example the new jam “Stronger” by Kanye West. Why do does Kanye feel the need to package Kate Moss (a white woman) as a black woman? The answer is harder to swallow than most Americans care to admit.
Americans have little empathy for black women who are sexually dominated and exploited. In pop media, Americans passively accept the desensitization of sexually dominated and exploited black women every day. How many Americans were in an uproar about Don Imus? Most of the people who were universally pissed off were American women.
American women differ in their cultural experiences, but all American women can agree that we are universally sexually objectified in mainstream media. As we women viewed in disgust at the racist and women-hating words Imus spewed at the Rutgers basketball team, there was an immediate connection between these female athletes and ourselves. Women today are fed up with feminine and racial identity being viewed as commodity to be sold without truthful representation.
All parts of my female and racial identity are angry. I cannot deny that I am affected by what I see and how others see me, but I also find comfort knowing that I am not alone in this struggle. There is no denying that we women are seen as how others perceive us. How others perceive us has a huge effect on our self-esteem. When black women are misrepresented in pop media all women are misrepresented. The misrepresentation of black women in the media is a painful example to all American women that the way we are portrayed is a bold face lie.
Can America empathize with the images of sexually vulnerable black women? I believe that all Americans can if they allow it. The problem we face as Americans is that we continually choose not to. When we shut ourselves away from empathizing with others different than us, we risk loosing our sense of humanity. We passively practice dehumanizing people on a daily basis to justify our lack of empathy for others who are different than we are. How do we passively practice dehumanization? We accept dehumanization when the #1 Billboard song in America is “Crank that (Soulja Boy)”. Mainstream rapper Soulja Boy Tell’em can successfully sell a song where he says the word “hoe” 30 times in his lyrics – and Americans still buy album.
Megan Williams is an example of where popular media has continually failed to show empathy for sexually vulnerable black women. When the news of Megan William’s incident managed to reach the mainstream media outlets, her story paled in comparison to the exposure given to Michael Vick, OJ Simpson, and Britney Spears. America was more interested in the controversy surrounding the lives of superstars rather than the real life horror of a sexually vulnerable black woman. Concern for Megan Williams only became priority in the mainstream media after thousands of outraged bloggers emailed complaints on the lack of news coverage on her story.
Americans show empathy for vulnerable black women, but not nearly enough. Only through empathy in those who are different than we are will our country be able to be the America we really want to be – a country that leaves sexism and racism as a relic of the past.















![[large][AnimePaper]scans_Bleach_ganjyu-san_47971 [large][AnimePaper]scans_Bleach_ganjyu-san_47971](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2332774930_eb2c222318_t.jpg)