So What?

We began this course by sharing our autobiographies and giving everyone the reason why we took this course.  One of my biggest fears is the same reason I took this course.  I am always afraid of being ignorant about one thing or another, especially other cultures.  I took African American feminism not only because it fit in with my schedule, but to get rid of some stereotypes that I had and to learn more.  Now that this class is coming to an end, I will use the knowledge that I have gained personally to not buy into the stereotypes that are given throughout the media anymore. 

I think the best way that I can affect change in the lives of the people around is to represent and stand up for what I believe… basically just being a positive role model for the people around me.  Whether we realize it or not people are watching and judging our every move every day.  If we are backing up what we believe with our actions then there should be no reason for others to doubt us.

I am also a firm believer that if you believe strongly about something, then you should speak up and let others know what you believe so strongly about.  I’m not saying we should force our beliefs down others’ throats, but if you believe in something don’t just be quiet about it.  I believe that activism is the key to education.  We can’t learn as a culture and society if we aren’t sharing our ideas. 

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

As most of you know I’m a little old-fashioned.  One day when I am gone my hope is that people would describe me as a Woman who loves the Lord when asked.  Lately in class we have discussed how African Americans are negatively portrayed in the media and the biggest issue I have is how over sexualized African American women are portrayed.  Some women buy into and give off those images, while some women are trying to break through those stereotypes.  I guess because I am so old-fashioned, it really aggravates me to see so many women showing off their bodies and trying to enlarge their body parts.  I believe that we are all made perfectly and beautiful in God’s eyes.  While I wish some women would cover up more, I also wish they knew the consequences of showing off their bodies and getting surgeries to look even more sexualized.  Doing this means that are only valued for our bodies, when we are meant to be valued for so much more! Young girls look to magazines, song lyrics, actresses, models and popular artists of how we are meant to be represented and get a negative view.  The BIGGEST impact I believe that I can start with is not supporting these images and songs that degrade women.  I don’t want to even put the filth in my vocabulary or lifestyle.  I also believe that it is my duty as a female to educate and encourage other females about how harmful a lot of these media images of women are.

Also, I have always had an interest and passion for those living in poverty.  It amazes me that with all the availability and resources that we have as Americans that the cycle of poverty continues to persist, especially for African American women.  In the future, once I am more financially stable I would love to help get people in my community on their feet because the cycle can’t be ended by one person.

Body Image

One thing I have noticed, especially since taking this course, is how much African American feminist’s works are left out of the media.  Personally not being a part of the African American community, I have had to dig a little deeper to find recent topics concerning African American feminism.  For this assignment I really wanted to find something different and the topic that came to mind was about the body image struggle.  In a post on the blog, Black Girls Run, Constance Collins writes a thought-provoking message about the stereotype that black girls are immune to having eating disorders, which is obviously just a stereotype.  When I picture someone having an eating disorder, I’ll admit that my mind does not think of a skinny, black girl.  In the African American community, black women are over sexualized and expected to be thick with curves.  This blog focuses on the black girls who do take drastic measures to become thin and how they are judged for succumbing to a “white girl’s illness”.  There is a false notion that black women are more comfortable with their bodies which is why they are thicker.  So where does that leave the black girls that don’t fit into that definition?   Collins wants to make a point that body image issues and eating disorders are not just a “white” thing, that it is a serious matter that affects all women and should not be over looked.  This was an issue I had never considered before, but certainly needs to be addressed.  The focus should be  on living a healthy life, not whether we are skinny enough or curvy enough. 

Black Women Alone

While I’m obviously not African American I have always struggled with being along.  For the majority, I really believe that most women struggle with this too.  I believe we long for someone to share our lives with and to make us not feel so lonely.  One thing I have learned through my time here at UNCC is that it’s okay to be alone.  Since my first serious relationship in college I have always been is some sort of relationship whether is was serious or not.  Even though I am only 21, most of my friends are already married or engaged.  While it took my awhile to be okay with it I have accepted the fact that it’s not my time, but my time will come soon.  God can use me, by myself without a man.  I feel that black women for the most part share the longing for company too, but I also have observed in my life that many black women are strong and confident without a man by their side which I really look up to.  

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

I think the concept of beauty comes from many things.  Specifically to me I think my concept of beauty has come from my home.  While I understand that the concept of beauty is most commonly derived from the media, I look to the way I was raised to define beauty.  Growing up, my mother always made sure that I did not leave the house without looking my best.  She always wanted me to look presentable, partly because I believe it would reflect poorly on her if I didn’t.  I am thankful for this though because you never know who you are going to run into.  I was also raised in a very Godly home and most of my parent’s teachings and the way that they raised me stemmed from the Bible.  They taught me not to look at the media for my body image, but that I should dress modestly and not care if I was wearing hammy downs or something new.

From my personal beliefs, I believe that men and women have different parameters for beauty.  Guys are too pressured to be muscular and in shape, while women are encouraged to be skinny and have an outfit pleasing to the eye.  Beauty has absolutely changed over the years though, and how beauty is defined.  However the universal want to obtain beauty has never changed.

To some extent, I believe we are all prisoners of beauty… some more than others.  I truly believe that e all want to posses’ beauty which makes us prisoners to some extent because we all care how others perceive us.

Is your hair political?

When reading the topic for this weeks blog post, I wondered to myself what it even meant for someone’s hair to be political.   I mean how often does one really get asked that question?  It wasn’t until reading Audre Lorde’s article before I could understand what the question meant.  To answer the question I would have to agree and say that yes, my hair is political and always will be.  While I have not had a horrific experience such as Lorde’s I still believe that I am judged and perceived by my appearance and hair.  Sitting in class on Monday night listening to the stories of all the black women in my class, I realized that my experience with hair as a white woman is a little different.  I got the impression that if you’re a black woman you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.  If you want to have natural hair you may be accused of following a fad, but if you don’t have natural hair you’re not good enough.  Hair is hair to me.  Although, my hair comes with an attachment.  I’ve always had long hair except for one period in my life and I remember crying like someone had died when I had gotten home after the salon.  My mother, along with all the guys I’ve dated have always not so subtlety hinted that long hair is more attractive.  The longer your hair, the more feminine you come across.  If you cut your hair too short  you have the chance of people you calling you names similar to a guy.  So yes, I would say my hair is political because it’s how people perceive me at first glance.  Unfortunately people will always judge a book by it’s cover.

Blog #4

When I first read “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh a few years ago for a class assignment it was difficult to read.  When McIntosh listed the several examples of white privilege it really hit me.  As much as I wouldn’t like to admit it, I have special privileges because I am white.  Ninety percent of the examples she gives for white privilege I could apply to my life.

I do believe that everyone experiences some sort of privilege in some aspect.  Whether you are White, Asian, Latin, African American, female, male, heterosexual, homosexual, middle or upper class we’ve all experienced privilege at some point in our lives.

Being a woman, there is a natural stereotype that all women are nurturers and that men should not take on this role in a relationship.  Personally, I love children and consider myself to have many motherly instincts; therefore I am always working with children and babysitting when I am not working at the bridal shop.  For me, being a woman holds privilege because I am more likely to be trusted around children than a man would.  In an experience a few years ago on a retreat my friends and I were babysitting at, my male friend who was also babysitting was told he was not allowed to change a child’s diaper or take a child to the bathroom alone.  I truly believe that while we may enjoy some privileges, they are also unhealthy because they buy into society’s stereotypes.

Blog #3

Since taking Feminist Thought with Dr. B, I really began to notice just how much feminism is in our everyday lives.  After taking that class I really began to examine my life and all the ways feminism plays a role.  Before I became active in taking women’s studies classes I never noticed all the efforts UNCC made to acknowledge feminism.  There are many events, but the Clothesline Project sticks out to me the most because of the visual message that it sends every year in front of the library, a high traffic area on campus.  Each year, hundreds of hand-painted, colorful t-shirts are hung to increase the awareness of violence against women whether it is verbal, physical, emotional or sexual.  UNCC has also done a wonderful job with getting feminists to come and speak at our school such as Gloria Steinem and Jennifer Baumgardner.  I had the privilege of going to Jennifer Baumgardner’s presentation of her film, I was Raped which was inspired from her first film, I had an Abortion. I truly believe that UNCC is doing a wonderful job by allowing speakers to come and making the campus more aware of issues facing women; however, I do believe that UNCC is lacking when it comes to having organizations and raising awareness for African American feminism.

Blog #2 Intersectionality

How Intersectionality has Made an Impact in My Life

1.  As a young child I can remember moving to a new town at seven years old because my dad had received a job offer.  I was raised in church so naturally when my family moved we began looking for a new Baptist church to attend.  It took my family about six months to find our new church home, but I can still remember driving through town on an Saturday afternoon asking my dad why we never visited so-in-so Baptist church and my father’s reply was “because that’s a black people church”.  Now that I am older, I whole-heartedly believe my dad didn’t mean that in a bad way, but that was just how things were growing up.  What I never understood was why race played and still plays an issue with my faith.  We all worship the same creator, who created every race there is.  Sadly, in some areas race still plays an impact on people’s lives because we are still separated. 

2. Until I started taking women’s studies classes my freshman year of college, I never realized how women and men’s gender impacts everyday life and I especially didn’t notice how me being a female impacted my opportunities.  My junior year of college I was going away on a church retreat with a local church I babysit for to the mountains to watch after the children while the parents were at the conference.  They had asked me if I had anymore friends who would be interested in coming to work as well so I asked my guy friend, who is great with children and my best friend, Krystle who is also great with children.  Once we got to the retreat they told us all the guidelines we needed to follow such as what children were breastfed and so on.  I’ll never forget the moment when they singled out my guy friend who had came to help and told him that he was not allowed to change a baby’s diaper or take a child to the bathroom by himself regardless of the child’s sex.  Men are just as capable of women as taking care of children, but there is this stereotype that women are natural nurturers and the truth is that all women are not.  I asked another one of my friends if she would like to go on the retreat, but she has no interest in children at all.  It just shocked me that they would allow a guy to watch people’s children at a church retreat, but then have rules for him to oblige by that the women did not.

3. Another example of intersectionality that I can think of regards class.  Growing up in a public school system, everyone simply wants to belong and feel accepted while they are there.  Sadly class is a big issue in school because money plays a part of feeling accepted.  Now that I’m in college I could care less where I get my clothes from or who knows where I get my clothes from.  I’ve recently started shopping at second-hand stores because I refuse to waste my hard earned money.  I can just remember how badly some kids were made fun of in middle school for wearing the same clothes every other day.  They didn’t have anything else.  Even today, it’s hard for someone to take you seriously if you don’t “look the part”.

How Intersectionality impacts African American Women through the Media

1. Immediately after reading the prompt question I think of how the media portrays Beyonce, a successful, and talented artist who is also a black woman.  If you were to see Beyonce live at one of her shows and then compare the image of her from your head to a magazine cover of her they would not look the same.  The media has taken away Beyonce’s ethnicity by lightening her skin and her hair.
2. I’m sure I am not the only one who had seen countless TV shows and movies oppressing black women by making their roles the mothers who are on welfare.  Like Collins talked about, this only puts a negative stereotype on black women and controls how society views black women.
3. Also, there are one hundred, too many music videos and songs that sexualize black women for there bodies.  It is derogatory and violent.