Metaphysical Dilemma
“Being a Black woman is a metaphysical dilemma I haven’t quite conquered yet.”
I wrote that in my positionality paper as a nod to the film “For Colored Girls” which is based on “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf,” a choreopoem by Ntozake Shange.
The original line goes something like:
“Being alive and being a woman is all I got, but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven’t conquered yet…” — ‘Tangie’
I’ll let you all decipher why I referenced this for my metaphorical expression.
I’m not sure if my professor caught the reference (though my professor might Google “metaphysical dilemma”), but I didn’t know how else to explain my “positionality.”
I’m posting about this because it’s been wrapped around my mind since I wrote it. What exactly is a “metaphysical dilemma?”
Metaphysical synonyms:
Dilemma synonyms:
So you get the picture now, right?
In a lot of ways, I take pride in being a Black woman. But for us to be so loud, we’re simultaneously the most unheard.
We’re the only group and class of women described as “masculine,” and not for our personal interests, though our interests could re-enforce this notion.
We’re the only group and class of women seen as sex symbols, but at the same time, we’re “ugly.”
We govern pop culture, but when one of us goes missing, the world doesn’t even notice.
So what does it really mean to be a Black woman?
