Critical Studies
Assignment 1:
The Black Female Body
Matthew De Decker
16013069
In this essay I will critically unpack the social construction and related group and self-perception of the black female body in the context of our current global society. I will do this by first talking about the theoretical framework of Moya Lloyd’s article called “Performativity, Parody and Politics” and talk about what gender is all about, then I will move on to Susie Orbach theory and talk about the messages she has written in her books on how we are bombarded by the Western ideals and how this affects the appearance of the black female body. I will discuss several media examples of how black women in the media
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When women are exposed to these insane mainstream beauty standards which are communicated everywhere, the images seen will most likely have an implication on a women’s ideas of their beauty, attractiveness, self-esteem and identity (Walker, 2014). If they don't look like the women they see on the media they consider themselves as ugly. This is especially with regard to black women, as they are vulnerable to these beauty ideals based on a white women’s physical features because of the fact that these European beauty standers are emphasising lighter skin tone and straighter hair that exclude black women and is basically impossible or very hard to obtain these features. These beauty standers can have very damaging effects to black women in the form of self-hatred and this is especially common with women with darker skin. (Bryant. 2013). These beauty standers have such an effect on the media that even when black women are featured in a magazine, they are edited to take on Eurocentric features.(Walker, 2017) Many famous black women are featured on magazine covers and one can almost tell immediately that the models have been staged and edited to take on Eurocentric features. This can be seen in (EXAMPLE A) where it shows Kerry Washington featured on two different magazine covers. You can see that there is a huge difference with regards to her skin colour. On the cover of the magazine “The InStyle Weddings’’ Kerry appears to look a lot lighter than she does on the cover of “InStyle” magazine. Kerry also takes on the Straight hair look (Slimcelebrity.com, 2017). Another example of this can be seen in (EXAMPLE B) where it shows Lupita Nyongo on the cover of two different magazines and there is a huge difference in skin tone. This a very sad example about how
In Kimberly Springer’s anthology, Skin Deep, Spirit Strong: The Black Female Body in American Culture, she has different articles in the book that are written by a variety of women. The articles in the book break down and discuss areas of history and time-periods that shaped the representation and current understanding of the black female body. Many ideals of how society preserves the black female body to be is based on historical context that the authors in Springers book further explain. The two articles that I am going to focus on are Gender, Race and Nation: The Comparative Anatomy of “Hottentot” Women in Europe 1815-17 and Mastering the Female Pelvis: Race and the Tools of Reproduction.
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
In Deborah E. McDowell’s essay Black Female Sexuality in Passing she writes about the sexual repression of women seen in Nella Larsen‘s writings during the Harlem Renaissance, where black women had difficulty expressing their sexuality. In her essay, she writes about topics affecting the sexuality of women such as, religion, marriage, and male dominated societies. In Toni Morrison’s short story, “Recitatif” there are examples of women who struggle to express their sexuality. The people in society judge women based off their appearance, and society holds back women from expressing themselves due to society wanting them to dress/act a certain way.
This essay is concerned with issues of identity, body image and the politics of hair within African American culture. It discusses the lived experiences of a number of African American women and is no way generalizable to all African American women. Nonetheless, body image and hair politics are prominent features in African American culture because they have deep historical roots and still feature in present day. Body image is generally understood as a mental image of one’s body as it appears to others (Featherstone 2010). This mental image produces body consciousness, which Samantha Kwan describes as an amplified mindfulness that one’s body does not conform to hegemonic cultural standards (Kwan 2010). In today’s modern context, hegemonic cultural norms are reproduced and widely disseminated by the mass media with the help of new technologies. These new technologies Elliott’s discusses, with some in the form of satellite television and other widely utilized media, give viewers unprecedented opportunities to view and scrutinize their favorite celebrities in close proximity (Elliott 2010).
What art succeeds in doing is transmute the sexual expression into an acceptable form - by turning it into a thing of beauty and approximating it into a haze of sublimity. In the post- modern climate of media, eros as sexuality reels dangerously on the brink of pornography. Yet what is also important is to realize that it is an important lens to view our social, political and cultural identities. At the beginning of the twentieth century, sexuality rode on the tide of social progressivism and became a vehicle for artistic expression in the novel. Also, when eros as sexuality serves as a principal theme in serious or popular literature, it is often used as a means of remarking upon the dynamics in a society. This is the point that is scrutinised and analysed in this paper where the sexuality of women is seen as an important definition and perspective in Toni Morrison’s Sula (1973).The novel explores the lives and friendship of Sula Peace and Nel Wright in the black neighbourhood dubiously named ‘The Bottom’ in the city of Medallion . The novel also investigates lives of its various female characters in this community who add to our understanding of the life of African American women. Morrison is one of the most remarkable African-American authors of the twentieth century and her novels remind readers that the position of African-Americans in the white-dominant society of the United States of
Beauty is often described as being in the eye of the beholder. However in modern western culture, the old adage really should be beauty is in the eye of the white makeup artist, hair stylist, photographer, photo shop editor, and advertiser. Beauty and body ideals are packaged and sold to the average American so that we can achieve vocational, financial, social, and recreational successes. Mass media and advertising has affected the way that women perceive and treat their own bodies as well as their self-concept. Women are constantly bombarded with unrealistic images and hold themselves to the impossible beauty standards. First, we will explore the role of media in the lives of women and then the biggest body image issue from a diversity stand point, media whitewashing.
To be labeled as a feminist is such a broad classification therefore it is divided into various subsections, one such subsection is known as hip hop feminism in which Ruth Nicole closely associates herself with throughout this essay I will thoroughly discuss this form of feminism. Ruth Nicole is a black woman that categorizes herself as a girl, by her definition a girl is far from independent. Black girlhood discusses the shared experiences of the ever-changing body, which has been marked as vibrant, Black, and female, along with memories and representations of being female. As a result, Ruth Nicole wrote Black Girlhood Celebration in order to share her personal and political motivations of working with black girls within the community. A conversation that is not often articulated about due to a language barrier. In which this discussion accurately details a means to work with black girls in such a way that does not control their body or pilfer black female individuality. Under those circumstances, Brown believes that black girls are being exploited for their physique through the use of music and instructed to conform to white norms constructed by society.
To get society out of the racist and sexist mind set schools need to be including stories written by women of different race in the curriculum. If this was included into school curriculum so many girls of different race would come to love who they are and not want to change themselves to become what society says is the “perfect” image. This goes back to Bordo’s essay and how girls view themselves in a negative light because all they have to compare themselves to is the photos of an impossibly skinny body. Bordo uses many examples of how many cultures prize voluptuous bodies instead of slim ones so if media were to use plus sized models or even normal proportioned models then that would send a message to girls that its ok to love your body. If media instead depicted pictures of women being perfect all the time and instead showed pictures of a colored women looking rough after a long day of working hard then it would show other women that it is ok to be imperfect. Many young black girls usually hate how curly their hair is so they try everything in their power to make it straight but if media showed a picture of a, black successful women that had curly hair and loved it, then it would show all the little girls that’s its ok to love your natural
She sheds a light of how early Black feminist scholars such as Collins have been criticized for relying too heavily on colonial ideology around the black female body. Subjectively neglecting the contemporary lived experience of Black women. Critiques such as these highlights the Black female agency in the representation of the body. viewing this as a human and sexual rights or health perspective has been lending to the contemporary Black feminist debates about the representation of Black female bodies and Black eroticism within the culture of
...d image of black women as purely sexualized creatures are now used by hip-hop and porn industry. Even though its survival and popularity have overcome the former representation of black sexuality, black women’s bodies are still seen as object for business purposes. We can now see black sexuality as authoritative, legitimate and powerful identity.
I chose these four journal writings because I believe they are the strongest pieces I have written from the second half of the semester. The main focus of these journals was based on readings under the women as objects topic. The oppression of women has led to females being objectified and used as gratification for men. A woman’s body and appearance have become a commodity, especially in the media. Films, television shows, music and advertisements use women’s bodies to attract their audience and sell products. The movie watched in class “Killing Us Softly 4,” highlights this fact while presenting how women are represented throughout the media. The media has set and perpetuated a particular standard of beauty that is restrictive, but for some many women completely unattainable. The women represented in the media are young, thin and have western or European characteristics. Where does that leave the majority of women that do not fall under this category? This leads to women developing eating disorders to achieve an ideal body image that is manufactured through Photoshop and other picture editing systems. Women of color, women with disabilities or any woman that does not follow this standard is not represented within the media. When a few women do break this mold and become famous, they are set at a different standard. These women’s differences become the highlighted feature of their fame. However, the one constant in the media when it comes to women is the objectification and sexualization of women. This sexualization can lead to aggression or violence against women and the perpetuation of rape culture. The images viewed in the media directly impact how women view themselves and how others view women. By examining the issues women f...
By the twentieth century, slavery had damaged black pride, and made it known that black features were inferior. When it came to black women and their hair, black women desperately wanted to match the standard of “white” beauty. Walker’s solution to this was to create a look that was Afro-American without trying to imitate whites. Walker spoke about beauty emphasizing that to be beautiful does not refer to the complexion of your skin, or the texture of your hair, but having a beautiful mind, soul, and character.
The media does not do a good job at diversifying or expanding their representatives, models, actors, employees etc. for women of colour. “Black women’s body esteem and appearance satisfaction is negatively influenced by internalizing idealized media images when these images depict black women with lighter skin and long, straight hair” (Capodilupo 274). When there is some representation of black women is seems as if the women are white washed to fit societies standards. These socially constructed beauty standards can be
EBSCO HOST. Web. The Web. The Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Madison, D. - Soyini, S. "Pretty Woman Through the Triple Lens of Black Feminist Spectatorship."
Her research was very effective; however, she did not suggest ways to change the way women are portrayed in our media. On top of that, she only used a few black magazines such as Essence, Honey and King to compare the advertisements. Arguments the author makes that contributes to the construction of the Single Black Female experience Baker analysis contributes to the sociological discussion of intersectionality and the ways in which race and gender role interconnect in the lives of African American women in the media. Baker argued that a lot of Black women are underrepresented in our media, even when displayed in our own black-oriented advertisement, it is slightly a chance for us to be portrayed in a positive way. A black woman is known as strong and independent, which is a positive trait in the African American media, to the rest of the world those traits are negative.