Black women are beautiful, our features are now desirous. Women are paying to have lips and derriere
pumped-up and out. No longer do we have to suck in our lips or try to hide our hips and back side. So, now we flaunt and shake what our Momma gave us, but have we gone too far? Do we have to be sexy at the supermarket, our kid’s school or at church? Yes, I said it, at church.
Let me stop right here. I am not being judgmental we can dress whatever way we want to. I am trying to point out a bigger picture. Most of our ancestor were brought to this country against their will. They were enslaved people that held on to their dignity even when they were treated like animals. On the auction block black women were stripped of their clothing and examined to see if they would be good workers and breeders. Any man at the auction could look at their nakedness. The auctioneer would describe them as good breeders, field hands or house n_______.
African Americans have not been slaves for over a hundred and fifty years, but some of us are still enslaved. We are buying what the dominant culture is selling. Social Media, Reality TV, Celebrity, Music Videos…depict black women as sexual objects. Female Artist although talented are placed on the auction block and stripped of their clothing in order to sell records, get a part in a movie, acquire followers, and become relevant. If you want to sell an image in order to make money that is your right, but do not forget that you are also contributing to the objectifying of black women and girls.
We say, “I am not who you say I am,” but we keeping dressing the part, playing the part, and living the part. If mothers and grandmothers are still walking around with their butt cheeks hanging out what are the children (both boys and girls) taking away from that example?
I know that we are more than what I see on TV or videos, but I am a 62-year-old woman who can process what I am seeing and either accept or reject it. Our young children are being raised on these over sexualized images. Their view of black women is skewed by the distorted images that they see. The distortion is further magnified if the black women in their lives looks like what they see on TV. We need to be mindful of how we show ourselves to our children and the world.
When the world sees us for who we really are they will see us as: strong, vulnerable, nurturing, loving, kind, generous etc. We are multifaceted strong, and beautiful like a diamond, and as soft as any other woman in the human race.
These are my abbreviated thoughts on the subject. I would love to hear yours!