Someone said; "I don't believe the image of American Black women is nearly as stark or limited as these few... . Owed to such women as Condolezza Rice and Michelle Obama..."Really? How many stories are written about a First Lady with a ba-dunk-a-dunk? Or how nice her arms look? Or just about her looks in general? Even an accomplished Black woman like Michelle is forced into one category or another.
Excuse the the poor photo shop job - but this is how many still wish to portray Mrs. Obama.(And don't even get me started on Condolezza Rice being portrayed as W's wet nurse (Mammy archetype) or courtesan (Remember all the eyebrows being raised when The Dub kissed Ms Rice?).)
I know I'm going to get killed but I don't think she is that pretty at all. 5 at best but definitely would get passed by in general.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told all women even Hillary was classified using the same bar. I mean how many times did you hear that Chelsea was flat out ugly. I believe all women no matter how high or low are judged this way first. It's a male chauvinist world but even still most women want both to be respected and considered attractive.
FreeMan is correct. All women, regardless of race are first viewed through the attractiveness lens. This is not limited to Black women.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is some media coverage that portray these women in the pejorative archetypes you have listed, however, I would contend this is hardly the preponderance of coverage of these women. It seems to me that the majority of coverage casts these women nowhere near the images you list. I believe that if you polled people about their perception of these two women, the results would be far from the archetypes you suggest. Perhaps you are consuming the wrong media, if this is how you think the general public views these two women.
@ FreeMan - Yep.
ReplyDelete@ DPizz - Oh, I don't think this way about these women - but much of the media coverage seems to center on these points of view.